Memories of a true New Orleans event

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Stage a PGA TOUR tournament long enough, and it is sure to provide more than its share of thrills and chills, heartbreak and heartache. And 60 tournaments over a 70-year span represents a long, long time.

That would make the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, which celebrates its golden anniversary this week, the 11th-oldest tournament on TOUR. It has delivered its share of golden moments in its glorious past.

Here are five sparkling memories from the event that still shine brightly today.

Lee Trevino grabbed a pen and wrote his own line in the Zurich Classic of New Orleans' history book. (Greenwood/GettyImages)

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1974 -- It's not a moment, but a tournament, one played perfectly by Lee Trevino. If truth be told, Trevino did miss three greens and two fairways, but when you don't make a bogey in 72 holes of tournament golf, there is only one word that can describe the performance: PERFECT. That's how Trevino, who had never gone bogey free before, tore up Lakewood Country Club as he cruised to an eight-shot victory over Bobby Cole. "Now I don't have much to look forward to in the way of perfection,'' Trevino said. "I don't think I can ever top this.'' No player has won a tournament without making a bogey since, although Geoff Ogilvy came close last week with just one in capturing the World Golf Championships-CA Championship.

1965 -- It was called the "shot heard 'round the world'' in golf in 1965. A former U.S. Open champion named Dick Mayer, who basically had been out of sight and out of mind for quite a spell, authored the beauty -- a 100-foot pitch-in for a birdie on the 72nd hole at Lakewood to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. When it trickled in, the improbable shot sent shock waves rumbling across the landscape. It clearly affected Bruce Devlin, who was just 8 feet away from the cup on the 18th hole thinking he had a birdie putt to win until Mayer's miracle. "I was too stunned to sink it,'' he said as Mayer stole a one-shot victory, the last of his career.

2001 -- This isn't a moment. It's an electric weekend, one enjoyed by David Toms and a horde of LSU Tigers, who roared while Toms, an LSU alumn, blew the doors off par at English Turn Golf and Country Club on his way to a two-shot victory over Phil Mickelson. Toms tripped the light fantastic, posting a Saturday 63 and a Sunday 64 as throaty cries of L-S-U, L-S-U reverberated across the Jack Nicklaus-designed layout with every birdie and eagle Toms carded. The supercharged atmosphere has never been equaled as Toms became the first native Louisianan to take the crown.

1995 -- Davis Love III arrived in New Orleans with his back squarely against an Augusta National Golf Club wall. Love had to win in the Crescent City to get in The Masters. So Love did just that, in dramatic fashion. It just took a little longer than expected after a final-round charge by Louisiana native Mike Heinen, who closed with a 66 to third-round leader Love's 71. But Love got the job done with a birdie two on the second playoff hole; altered his travel plans and came within a shot of winning the coveted Green Jacket.

1990 -- Greg Norman had been Twayed by Bob, who holed out for birdie from a buried lie in a bunker on the 72nd hole of the 1986 PGA Championship. Then he got Mized by Larry and the miracle chip shot at The Masters in 1987. Earlier in 1990 The Shark was Gamezed by Robert, who holed a 167-yard 7-iron for an eagle 2 on the 72nd hole of the Arnold Palmer Invitational to beat Norman by a stroke. So there was Norman a few weeks later, standing by the scorers' tent, having just finished off a sterling 6-under-par 66 in brutal conditions in the final round of the Zurich Classic at English Turn. Norman capped the round by hitting a 1-iron approach that punched a hole into a gale on the 470-yard, par 4. It came to rest two feet from the cup that appeared to set up a winning birdie. That's when he got Frosted by David, who couldn't reach the final green and then somehow holed a shot from the bunker for birdie to beat Norman by a shot. "Did that go in?'' Norman asked when he heard the roar of the crowd. He was gone in an instant when the reply came back in the affirmative.