On this day in 1949, Lloyd Mangrum won the Los Angeles Open golf tournament and admitted that he wore a lucky pair of pajamas under his pants. If he hadn’t worked as an assistant to his brother before going pro the guy could have ended up working as a motorcycle accident lawyer. Every good lawyer needs a pair of lucky pajamas under his pants.

Mangrum was born in Trenton, Texas. He became a professional golfer at age fifteen, working as an assistant to his brother Ray, the head professional at Cliff-Dale Country Club in Dallas. He joined the PGA Tour in 1937 and went on to win 36 events on the Tour. He might have won more if his career had not been interrupted by service in World War II. While training for the D-Day landings, Mangrum was offered the professional’s job at the army’s Fort Meade golf course, which would have kept him out of combat, but he declined. He won two Purple Hearts and was wounded in the Battle of the Bulge. His best years on tour came after the war. He led the PGA Tour money list in 1951 and won the Vardon Trophy for the lowest scoring average on the tour in 1951 and 1953.

Mangrum’s only major championship win came at the 1946 U.S. Open, though he was runner-up in four majors and third in five more. He lost in playoffs at the 1940 and 1950 U.S. Opens. He finished in the top ten at The Masters Tournament ten consecutive years. In 1940 he shot a tournament record 64 in the opening round of The Masters, a record that stood for decades until Nick Price shot a 63 in 1986.

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