176 Fun Facts About Golf

How many holes are in a standard round of golf?

18 holes became the standard after St Andrews trimmed its round from 22 holes in 1764, merging short holes that golfers had played once going out and again coming home.

What is the term for one stroke under par on a hole?

A birdie is one stroke under par. Atlantic City Country Club claims the word: by its account a player called a fine approach "a bird of a shot" around 1900, and the score that followed became a birdie.

Which country is widely regarded as the birthplace of golf?

Scotland holds golf's earliest written record, and it is a ban: a 1457 act of the Scottish parliament outlawed the game, and the order had to be repeated twice before 1500.

What color jacket is awarded to the winner of the Masters Tournament?

The green jacket first went to a champion in 1949, when Sam Snead won; each new winner may take it home for a year, after which it must stay at the club for good.

Tiger Woods was given which first name at birth?

Eldrick is the name on his birth certificate. His father Earl, a US Army officer, called him Tiger after Vuong Dang Phong, a South Vietnamese officer and wartime friend who carried the same nickname.

What do golfers call the nervous twitch that wrecks a player's short putts?

The yips make a golfer's hands jerk on short putts. Tommy Armour, a major champion credited with popularising the word, is said to have used it to explain why he gave up tournament golf.

What is the maximum number of clubs a golfer may carry in their bag during a round?

14 has been the limit since 1938, when the USGA stepped in because players such as amateur champion Lawson Little were hauling more than 20 clubs around the course.

By which nickname is Jack Nicklaus known?

The Golden Bear suited the big, blond Ohioan, and Jack Nicklaus made it his own: when he left his agent to run his own affairs, he named the company Golden Bear.

What is a "bogey" in golf?

A bogey is one stroke over par, but in 1890s Britain it was the target score itself: golfers played against an imaginary Colonel Bogey, named after a music-hall song about the Bogey Man.

What trophy does the Champion Golfer of the Year lift after The Open Championship?

The Claret Jug is shaped like the silver jugs once used to pour claret, the red wine of Bordeaux; each champion must hand it back before the next Open and keeps only a replica.

What does "par" mean in golf?

Par is the strokes a skilled golfer should need for a hole, and it always allows for two putts, which is why no hole has a par lower than 3.

Which famous golfer was known as "The King"?

Arnold Palmer became "The King" as the first superstar of golf's television age: his charisma helped make the sport a television event in the 1950s and 60s, and his fans called themselves Arnie's Army.

The Ryder Cup is a competition between teams from which two regions?

The Ryder Cup pits a team from the United States against a team from Europe. Originally it was USA vs Great Britain, but it expanded to include all of Europe in 1979 to make the competition more balanced.

What is an "albatross" in golf?

An albatross is three strokes under par on one hole, usually a 2 on a par 5; because it takes a full shot holed from long range, it is far rarer than a hole-in-one.

Which golfer won the 1991 PGA Championship after getting into the field as the ninth alternate?

John Daly, 25, got in only when Nick Price withdrew for the birth of his first child; he took on Price's caddie and beat Bruce Lietzke by three strokes.

What is a "mulligan" in golf?

A mulligan is an unofficial do-over shot: the player replays a stroke and does not count it, which the Rules of Golf never permit. One popular origin story credits Canadian golfer David Mulligan in the 1920s.

Which PGA Tour event is often called golf's unofficial "fifth major"?

The Players Championship is owned and run by the PGA Tour, which has long promoted it as a fifth major: none of the four real ones was founded or is run by the tour.

Before wooden pegs caught on in the 1920s, golfers teed up the ball on a small heap of what?

Sand, pinched into a little heap for each drive, was the tee for centuries; the wooden peg won out only in the 1920s, when dentist William Lowell marketed his red-topped Reddy Tee.

Which golfer was known as "The Black Knight"?

Gary Player of South Africa earned the nickname "The Black Knight" for his all-black wardrobe. He won nine majors and completed the career Grand Slam at the 1965 U.S. Open.

What does "dormie" mean in a golf match?

A match is dormie when a player leads by as many holes as remain, such as 3 up with 3 to play: the leader can no longer lose in regulation, only win or be held to a tie.

Tiger Woods won the 2008 U.S. Open, his last major for almost 11 years, in a playoff at which course?

Torrey Pines, San Diego's municipal course, staged the 2008 U.S. Open: Woods beat Rocco Mediate in a playoff on a badly injured left knee, had surgery days later and did not win another major until 2019.

What does relief from a penalty area, such as a pond, cost a golfer?

One shot is the price of relief from a penalty area, the name the 2019 rules gave to water hazards; a golfer may instead play the ball as it lies, even from the water, at no cost.

Which par 3, just over 100 yards long, is the shortest hole at Pebble Beach Golf Links?

The 7th is a short flick downhill on a calm day, but the ocean wind decides the club: in the gale on the last day of the 1992 U.S. Open, Tom Kite needed a 6-iron, missed the green, holed his next shot and went on to win.

What do golfers call the piece of turf that a club cuts out of the ground during a shot?

Divot is an old Scots word for a slab of turf, the kind once cut to roof cottages; golf borrowed it for the piece a club tears out in striking the ball.

Who became the first Japanese man to win a major at the 2021 Masters?

Hideki Matsuyama's closest pursuer, Xander Schauffele, hit into the water and made a triple bogey with three holes left, so Matsuyama could drop a shot at the last and still win by one.

Which club is typically used for the longest shots hit off the grass rather than a tee?

A 3-wood is the longest club most golfers hit off the turf. It is still called a wood, though persimmon heads gave way to metal after TaylorMade's metal clubs appeared in 1979.

What do golfers commonly call the flagstick marking the hole?

The pin is golfers' name for the flagstick. Since 2019 it may be left in the hole while putting; before that, a putt that struck it cost a penalty.

Bobby Jones, the amateur who won golf's 1930 Grand Slam, earned his living in which profession?

Law was Bobby Jones's trade: admitted to the Georgia bar in 1928, he joined his father's Atlanta practice, played golf only as an amateur and retired from competition at 28.

Which biennial team event is professional women's golf's equivalent of the Ryder Cup?

The Solheim Cup, first played in 1990, is named after Karsten Solheim, the club-maker whose company agreed to bankroll it when the women's tours wanted a Ryder Cup of their own.

What is a "condor" in golf?

A condor is four strokes under par, in practice a hole-in-one on a par 5; only a handful have ever been recorded, usually by cutting the corner of a hole that bends sharply.

Which golfer is nicknamed "Lefty"?

Phil Mickelson is "Lefty": naturally right-handed, he learned the game mirroring his father's swing and plays left-handed, winning six majors including three Masters.

The 2019 rewrite of golf's rules lowered the height for dropping a ball from the shoulder to where?

Knee height replaced shoulder height when the rules were rewritten for 2019; the same overhaul cut the time allowed to search for a lost ball from five minutes to three.

Which Texan won 11 consecutive PGA Tour events in 1945?

Byron Nelson won 18 tournaments in 1945, 11 of them in a row, then retired from full-time golf at 34 to become a rancher.

What is "Amen Corner" at Augusta National?

Holes 11, 12, and 13 got the name from writer Herbert Warren Wind, who coined it in Sports Illustrated after the 1958 Masters was decided along that stretch.

What is a "links" golf course?

A coastal layout on sandy ground is a links, from an Old English word for a ridge; the sandy soil was no good for crops, which is how such land came to be left free for golf.

Which format is decided by holes won rather than total strokes taken?

In match play each hole is a separate contest, won, lost or tied, so one disastrous hole costs a player just that hole; the Ryder Cup is played entirely this way.

What decides the winner under golf's Stableford system?

Points scored relative to par on each hole are added up and the highest total wins; a wrecked hole just scores nothing, so a Stableford player can pick up the ball and move on.

Which South Korean golfer won the 1998 U.S. Women's Open at 20, after a 20-hole playoff against an amateur?

Se Ri Pak, the youngest champion the event had seen, needed 20 extra holes to shake off college amateur Jenny Chuasiriporn, also 20, and ended it by holing a long putt.

Which golf league launched in 2022 with backing from Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund?

LIV Golf took its name from the Roman numeral for 54, the number of holes its events were first played over; for its 2026 season it switched to the 72 holes that other tours play.

At which Augusta National par-3 do players skip balls across the water in practice rounds?

The 16th, named Redbud, is where practice-round crowds chant "Skip it!" until players oblige, bouncing a low shot off the pond and up towards the hole.

In which state's seaside resort town was the first U.S. Open played, in 1895?

Rhode Island's Newport staged the first U.S. Open straight after the first U.S. Amateur: 11 men played four loops of nine holes in a day, and the winner was the host club's own 21-year-old English assistant, Horace Rawlins.

Which American holed a 45-foot putt on the 17th at the 1999 Ryder Cup, sparking premature team celebrations?

Justin Leonard's putt sent US players and wives running onto the putting surface while José María Olazábal still had a putt to tie the hole; he missed, and the half point completed a comeback from 10-6 down.

What shot did Tiger Woods hole at the 2005 Masters after the ball hung on the lip?

A chip-in for birdie: the ball crept down the slope, seemed to stop on the lip and then dropped. Woods still needed a playoff to beat Chris DiMarco for the title.

Which caddie carried Tiger Woods's bag from 1999 to 2011, the years of most of his major wins?

Steve Williams had already worked for Greg Norman and Raymond Floyd when he took over the bag in 1999; Woods fired him in 2011, and Williams moved on to caddie for Adam Scott.

Which famously exclusive New Jersey course is often ranked the best in the world?

Pine Valley Golf Club was the obsession of Philadelphia hotelier George Crump, who sold his hotel to fund it and died in 1918 with four holes still unbuilt.

Which American won both the Masters and the U.S. Open in 2015, aged just 21?

Jordan Spieth took the U.S. Open when Dustin Johnson, with a 12-foot putt to win, three-putted the final hole; at 21 he was the event's youngest champion since Bobby Jones in 1923.

Which US president and Augusta National member asked the club to cut down a pine he kept hitting?

Dwight Eisenhower raised it at a club meeting in 1956; chairman Clifford Roberts adjourned the meeting on the spot to avoid refusing him, and the Eisenhower Tree stood until an ice storm in 2014.

Who beat Jack Nicklaus by a shot in the 1977 Open's "Duel in the Sun"?

Tom Watson and Jack Nicklaus, paired for the last two rounds at Turnberry, matched 65s on the third day before Watson edged the fourth by a shot; third place finished ten strokes behind Nicklaus.

What is the golf slang term for scoring an eight on a single hole?

An 8 looks like a snowman's body, hence the name; two of them on one scorecard is a very bad day.

Which ten-time major winner played the PGA Tour's 2003 Colonial tournament?

Annika Sörenstam was invited to the 2003 Colonial in Fort Worth, becoming the first woman to play a PGA Tour event since Babe Zaharias in 1945; she missed the cut after two rounds.

The earliest Open champions were presented with which prize?

A red leather belt with a silver buckle went to each champion for a year; the rules let anyone who won three years running keep it, and when that happened in 1870 a new prize had to be found.

Who was the first European golfer to win the Masters?

Seve Ballesteros won the 1980 Masters at 23 after a scare: ten strokes ahead with nine holes to play, he hit into water twice, saw most of the lead vanish and then steadied to win by four.

In British golf slang, a 7 and 6 win is named after which licence that once cost seven and six?

A 7 and 6 win is called a "dog licence" because a British dog licence cost seven shillings and sixpence (written 7/6, later 37½p) for more than a century; the match ends after 12 holes.

If a golfer swings at the ball and misses it completely, how is the attempt counted?

As one stroke: a whiff, or air shot, counts in full because the player meant to hit the ball, whereas a swing made with no intent to strike it does not.

King James II banned golf in 1457 because young men were playing it instead of practising what?

Archery: the 1457 Act complained that golf and football kept men from practising with the bow. James III renewed the ban, and it faded after James IV took up golf himself around 1502.

Which prestigious trophy is awarded to the winner of the PGA Championship?

The Wanamaker Trophy is named for Rodman Wanamaker, the department-store owner who hosted the 1916 lunch at which the PGA of America was planned, then paid for the trophy and the first prize fund.

What type of golf club is used for short, high-trajectory shots around the green or out of hazards?

A wedge has more loft than any other club, and its angled sole, known as bounce, lets the head glide through soft ground or long grass instead of digging in.

In golf slang, what is the "nineteenth hole"?

The clubhouse bar is the nineteenth hole: the joke is that a round does not end at the last hole but wherever the golfers gather afterwards to talk it over with a drink.

What is another name for a hole-in-one?

An ace is a hole-in-one. Nearly all of them are made on par 3s, for the plain reason that almost every longer hole is too far to reach with a single shot.

What nickname is given to the 17th on the Old Course at St Andrews?

The Road Hole is named for the road and stone wall beside its putting surface; the drive is blind, played around the corner of a hotel that stands where railway sheds once did.

Which course architect did Bobby Jones bring in to co-design Augusta National, laid out on a former plant nursery?

Alister MacKenzie, who also designed Cypress Point and Royal Melbourne, never saw his Augusta course host a Masters: he died in January 1934, weeks before the first one was played.

What do golfers call holing out in two shots from just off the putting surface?

Up and down is literal: the first shot gets the ball up onto the putting surface and the single putt that follows gets it down into the hole.

Which company's oversized Big Bertha driver, launched in 1991, took its name from a giant German gun?

Callaway named its 1991 driver after the German Big Bertha howitzer; its steel head was far larger than usual, which made off-centre hits more forgiving.

Which body governs golf for most of the world outside the United States and Mexico?

The R&A took the job in 2004, when the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews spun off its rule-making and went back to being a private members' club; the USGA covers the United States and Mexico.

What is the standard diameter of a golf hole on the green?

4.25 inches was the width of the tool used to cut holes at Musselburgh, where a blacksmith was paid £1 for a hole-cutter in 1829; golf's rule-makers later made that size standard everywhere.

Who captained America in the first six Ryder Cups?

Walter Hagen captained the U.S. from the first match in 1927 through 1937 and played in the first five; shut out of the changing rooms at the 1920 Open, he is said to have dressed in a limousine parked at the front door.

What term describes an area of long grass or natural vegetation bordering the fairway and green?

Rough is grass cut higher than the fairway to punish shots that miss the short grass; under the Rules of Golf, though, the two are simply parts of one 'general area'.

What is the collar of slightly longer grass ringing the putting green called?

The fringe is designed to slow and stop balls rolling off the putting surface; cut slightly higher than the green, it is also known as the apron or 'frog hair'.

What do golfers call the crowd of spectators at a tournament?

The gallery sometimes gets in the way: when a ball accidentally strikes a spectator there is no penalty, and it is normally played from wherever it comes to rest.

What is a golf hole whose fairway runs straight and then bends sharply called?

A dogleg is named for its shape: the fairway runs straight from the tee, then bends left or right like a dog's leg, so the tee shot has to be placed.

What is the short, low golf shot from just off the green that rolls most of the way to the hole?

A chip is played with a shortened swing from close to the green: the aim is to land the ball safely on the putting surface and let it roll out towards the hole.

What is the term for a golf shot played with a high loft, designed to stop quickly on the green?

A pitch is played with one of the most lofted clubs in the bag, so the ball does most of its travelling in the air and rolls little after it lands.

In golf, what is the informal concession of a very short putt, counted as holed without being struck, called?

A gimme is never allowed in stroke play: the putt counts only because opponents or partners agree it would not be missed, which is why friendly rounds are full of them.

Which shot comes off the hosel and squirts sharply right, for a right-handed golfer?

A shank is struck on the hosel, the hollow socket where the shaft joins the clubhead, so it is the socket and not the face that sends the ball off at a severe angle.

Who won the 1999 U.S. Open months before dying in a plane accident?

Payne Stewart holed a 15-foot par putt on the final green to win by a single stroke, a year after taking a four-shot lead into the last round of the same championship and losing it.

In an Ambrose, or Texas Scramble, what happens after every player on a team has teed off?

The best position is chosen, then every player hits the next shot from that spot, and the team repeats the routine until the ball is in the hole.

What is the term for a golf shot that curves severely from left to right for a right-handed golfer?

A slice curves hard from left to right for a right-hander because the clubface is open to the path of the swing at impact, which puts sidespin on the ball.

Who won the 2020 U.S. Open at Winged Foot by six shots?

Bryson DeChambeau began the final round two shots behind, then shot a 67, the day's only round under par, and finished as the only player under par for the week.

Which golf wager covers the front nine, the back nine and the full 18?

A Nassau is three bets in one, so a golfer thrashed on the front nine still has the back nine to play for; it is said to have been devised at Nassau Country Club on Long Island by its captain, John B. Coles Tappan.

What is the numerical measure of a golfer's ability, in strokes, that lets players of different standards compete fairly?

A handicap is the number of strokes taken off a weaker player's score, which lets a beginner beat an expert; since 2020 one World Handicap System has replaced six regional ones.

In golf, what term describes leading a tournament after every single round?

Wire-to-wire means leading from start to finish, as Brooks Koepka did at the 2019 PGA Championship, though he began the final round seven shots clear and won by only two.

What warning is shouted if a golf ball is heading towards other players or spectators?

'Fore!' was in use as a Scots warning cry by 1881; one theory is that it shortens 'fore-caddie', the helper sent ahead to watch where balls landed.

Who won the 2019 Open at Royal Portrush, the first held in Northern Ireland since 1951?

Shane Lowry of Ireland won by six strokes at Royal Portrush, while home favourite Rory McIlroy opened with a quadruple-bogey eight in a round of 79 and missed the cut by a single stroke.

Which team event pits the United States against an International Team with no Europeans?

The Presidents Cup takes its International Team from everywhere but Europe; in 2003 a sudden-death playoff between Tiger Woods and Ernie Els was halted by darkness and the captains agreed to share the cup.

In golf, which format has two teammates take alternate shots with the same ball?

Foursomes partners play one ball in strict alternation and also take turns on the tee: one drives at the odd-numbered holes, the other at the even.

In which golf format do two teammates each play the hole separately, with the lower score counting?

Fourball puts four balls in play when two pairs meet: every golfer plays their own, and only the better score of each pair counts at each hole, hence its other name, better ball.

Who is the only golfer to win the Open Championship four times in a row?

Young Tom Morris won his first Open at 17, and his third in a row in 1870 let him keep the prize for good; with nothing left to play for, no Open was held in 1871, and he won again in 1872.

Old Tom Morris held which job at St Andrews for 39 years, until 1903?

Old Tom Morris was greenkeeper, formally Keeper of the Green, from 1864 to 1903, and introduced the practice of top-dressing greens with sand; he was also a clubmaker, ballmaker and course designer.

Which six-time Open champion gave his name to the overlapping grip most golfers use?

Harry Vardon made the overlapping grip famous but did not invent it: the Scottish amateur Johnny Laidlay was using it years earlier. Vardon's six Open wins are still the record.

Which 20-year-old amateur won the 1913 U.S. Open with a 10-year-old caddie at his side?

Francis Ouimet grew up across the street from The Country Club in Brookline, the host course; with 10-year-old Eddie Lowery beside him he beat two British stars in an 18-hole playoff.

What did Ben Hogan collide with in the 1949 crash that nearly killed him?

Ben Hogan's Cadillac hit a Greyhound bus head-on in fog near Van Horn, Texas, in February 1949; he threw himself across his wife Valerie and survived, returning to win the 1953 Masters, U.S. Open and Open.

Bobby Jones's 1930 Grand Slam consisted of the open and amateur championships of which two countries?

Jones's 1930 Grand Slam took in the Open and Amateur championships of the U.S. and the U.K.; with nothing left to win, he retired from competitive golf at the age of 28.

What did Gene Sarazen score with his 'shot heard round the world' at the 1935 Masters?

A double eagle: Sarazen holed a 4-wood at the 15th in the final round to catch Craig Wood, then beat him by five strokes in a 36-hole playoff the next day.

Which club did Gene Sarazen claim to have invented, debuting it secretly at the 1932 Open?

Sarazen built up the flange of the sand wedge with solder so that the sole, not the leading edge, met the sand first; he kept it secret in practice at the 1932 Open at Prince's, won, and took the U.S. Open too.

Before winning 10 golf majors, Babe Didrikson Zaharias won Olympic medals in which sport?

Babe Didrikson won track and field gold in the javelin and 80-metre hurdles and silver in the high jump at the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics, then helped found the LPGA in 1950.

Which golfer won five consecutive LPGA starts in 2024, capped by the Chevron Championship?

Nelly Korda's fifth straight win came at the Chevron Championship, the major she had missed two years earlier with a blood clot in her arm; only Nancy Lopez and Annika Sörenstam had won five in a row before.

Where did Seve Ballesteros hit his tee shot on the 16th, yet still make birdie, en route to the 1979 Open?

Seve's drive on the 16th at Royal Lytham finished in a temporary car park; he took a free drop, hit to the green and holed for birdie, winning the first of his five majors.

Which golfer won the Masters in 1989, 1990 and 1996?

Nick Faldo won the Masters in 1989, 1990 and 1996, the last after Greg Norman squandered a six-shot final-round lead; Faldo also won three Opens for six majors in all.

Which Australian golfer is nicknamed 'the Great White Shark'?

Greg Norman picked up the name at the 1981 Masters, his first, where the blond Queenslander's attacking golf took him to fourth place; he later built a business empire under a shark logo.

Phil Mickelson became the oldest major champion at 50 in 2021 on which South Carolina island?

Kiawah Island's Ocean Course staged the 2021 PGA Championship, where Mickelson, without a major since 2013, held off Brooks Koepka and Louis Oosthuizen by two shots.

Who became the first European to complete golf's career Grand Slam by winning the 2025 Masters?

Rory McIlroy completed the set at his 11th attempt, beating Justin Rose at the first hole of a sudden-death playoff after ten years without a major; only five men had done it before him.

Which golfer won Olympic gold in Paris in 2024 after taking the Masters that April?

Scottie Scheffler began the final day at Le Golf National four shots back, then tied the course record with a 62 to take gold by one from Tommy Fleetwood, four months after his second Masters win.

The 2023 Ryder Cup was held at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club near which city?

Marco Simone, just outside Rome, saw Europe win 16½-11½; the cup was secured when Tommy Fleetwood won the 16th to go two up with two to play against Rickie Fowler.

Who won the men's gold medal when golf returned to the Olympics in Rio in 2016?

Justin Rose won golf's first Olympic gold since 1904 by two shots from Henrik Stenson, having made the Games' first hole-in-one in round one; the world's top four men had all stayed away.

Which stone bridge on the Old Course at St Andrews was first built for shepherds moving their livestock?

The Swilcan Bridge is thought to be at least 700 years old and was built to get livestock over the Swilcan Burn; golfers now cross it on the 18th, and Open champions pose on it for farewell photographs.

Fourteen holes on the Old Course at St Andrews share which feature?

Double greens: seven vast greens each serve two holes, a relic of the days when golfers played out and back to the same holes; only the 1st, 9th, 17th and 18th have a green of their own.

Which metal replaced hickory in golf club shafts during the 1920s and 1930s?

Steel shafts were legalised in America in 1924, and in 1931 Billy Burke became the first golfer to win a major championship with them; hickory lives on only in nostalgic 'hickory golf' events.

Which ball, moulded from dried tree sap, replaced golf's feather-stuffed featherie after 1848?

The guttie was moulded from gutta-percha, by tradition first tried by St Andrews student Robert Adams Paterson; far cheaper and tougher than a featherie, it soon took over the game.

Which astronaut hit two golf balls on the Moon in 1971 with a makeshift six-iron?

Alan Shepard fixed a Wilson six-iron head to a sampling tool and swung one-handed in his stiff suit; he joked that the second ball went 'miles and miles', but film analysis later put it at about 40 yards.

The 1980 comedy Caddyshack is set at which fictional golf course?

Bushwood Country Club grew out of co-writer Brian Doyle-Murray's memories of working at Indian Hill Club in Winnetka, Illinois; many of the film's characters were based on people met there.

Happy Gilmore is a failed player of which sport before he takes up golf?

Happy Gilmore is a failed ice hockey player whose slapshot-style drive powers a quest to save his grandmother's house; Adam Sandler's 1996 comedy got a Netflix sequel in 2025.

Which Florida course is famous for its par-3 17th, the 'Island Green'?

TPC Sawgrass got its Island Green by accident: so much sand was dug from around the 17th that a crater was left, and Alice Dye suggested the island idea. The hole measures only 137 yards.

By how many strokes did Tiger Woods win his first Masters in 1997?

Woods won by 12 after playing his first nine holes in 40: he came home in 30, covered the last 63 holes in 22 under par and left Tom Kite a distant second.

Which 46-year-old won the 1986 Masters with a closing back nine of 30?

Jack Nicklaus was behind the leaders until the closing holes, then came home in 30 for a 65 to win by a single stroke: his sixth Masters and his 18th and last major.

Which Frenchman threw away a three-shot lead on the final hole of the 1999 Open at Carnoustie?

Jean van de Velde needed only a double-bogey six but took seven, at one point removing his shoes and socks and wading into the Barry Burn; he then lost a three-man playoff to Paul Lawrie.

Who beat 59-year-old Tom Watson in a playoff to win the 2009 Open?

Stewart Cink won the four-hole playoff after Watson, needing a par at the last to become the oldest major champion, missed from eight feet; it remains Cink's only major.

Whose record of 82 PGA Tour wins did Tiger Woods equal in 2019?

Sam Snead won his 82nd title at 52, still the oldest winner in PGA Tour history, yet never won the U.S. Open, where he finished second four times; Woods caught him at the Zozo Championship in Japan.

Which golfer won 88 LPGA Tour events, more than anyone on the LPGA or PGA Tour?

Kathy Whitworth won her 88 titles between 1962 and 1985 and was LPGA Player of the Year seven times, yet her best finish in the U.S. Women's Open was second, in 1971.

Which country does Lydia Ko, the 2024 Olympic women's golf champion, represent?

New Zealand's Lydia Ko was born in Seoul and moved as a child; her Paris gold, after silver in Rio and bronze in Tokyo, gave her the last point she needed for the LPGA Hall of Fame at 27.

Which golfer was struck by lightning at the 1975 Western Open, injuring his spine?

Lee Trevino was hit along with Jerry Heard and Bobby Nichols; he needed surgery on a damaged spinal disc, later joked that 'not even God can hit a 1-iron', and still won the 1984 PGA.

Which season-long points race gave men's professional golf its first playoff system in 2007?

The FedEx Cup had a flaw at first: in 2008 Vijay Singh piled up so many points that he only had to finish the final event to win, so the points system was changed to keep the finale alive.

Which golfer, 'the Hawk', hosted the first Masters Champions Dinner in 1952?

Ben Hogan, the defending champion, hosted the first dinner in 1952; it is still held on the Tuesday of Masters week, and each year's defending champion chooses the menu.

Where do amateurs in the Masters field traditionally get to stay during Masters week?

The Crow's Nest, at the top of the clubhouse, has room for five amateurs; since 2021 the club has also sold a wheat ale named Crow's Nest, on sale only during the tournament.

The 'Arnold Palmer' drink named after the golfer combines lemonade with what?

Iced tea and lemonade: Palmer liked three parts unsweetened tea to one of lemonade, and by his own account the name spread after a woman heard him order one in Palm Springs and asked for 'that Arnold Palmer drink'.

Which PGA Tour career-earnings mark did Arnold Palmer become the first to pass in 1968?

Palmer passed $1 million in 1968, the year he finished one stroke behind Julius Boros at the PGA Championship, the only major he never won; he was runner-up in it three times.

Which actor plays former golf prodigy Roy McAvoy in the 1996 film Tin Cup?

Kevin Costner's Roy McAvoy refuses to lay up at the last hole of the U.S. Open and finally holes out for a 12; golf analyst Gary McCord coached Costner's swing and appears in the film as himself.

The Ryder Cup honours Samuel Ryder, an English businessman who grew rich selling what by post?

Garden seeds in penny packets made Ryder rich. He only took up golf at 50, when a friend urged fresh air after an illness, and later donated the gold trophy.

Which US president had a White House putting green built, then had the squirrels plaguing it trapped?

Dwight D. Eisenhower had the green installed in 1954. Richard Nixon later removed it, and George H. W. Bush put it back in 1991.

Which monarch was accused of playing golf at Seton Palace while supposedly mourning Lord Darnley?

Mary, Queen of Scots was charged with playing 'pell-mell and golf' after her husband's murder in 1567. Scholar George Buchanan sneered that her amusements 'were plainly not adapted to women'.

In the golf comedy Tin Cup, which actor plays Roy McAvoy, the washed-up owner of a driving range?

Kevin Costner hit many of the character's shots himself. The finale, in which McAvoy keeps firing balls into the water, was based on a real incident.

Which name for the twitch that ruins short putts did golf champion Tommy Armour popularise?

The yips drove Armour himself out of tournament play. The word now covers any sudden, unexplained loss of a practised skill, from cricket bowling to baseball throwing.

Which South African golfer is nicknamed 'The Big Easy' for his tall frame and fluid swing?

Ernie Els stands 6 ft 3 in and won four majors between 1994 and 2012. South Africa's developmental circuit for young professionals is called the Big Easy Tour.

Which golfer, known for his plus fours and ivy caps, died when a Learjet crashed in October 1999?

Payne Stewart had won his third major only months earlier. The jet failed to pressurise and flew on autopilot until it ran out of fuel and came down in a field.

Which former US official became one of Augusta National's first two female members in 2012?

Condoleezza Rice, a former Secretary of State, was admitted alongside financier Darla Moore. The club had been all-male since it opened in the 1930s.

Se Ri Pak won two majors as a 1998 LPGA rookie, inspiring a wave of champions from which country?

South Korea took to golf after her wins, and champions such as Inbee Park followed her to the LPGA. A statue in Gongju recreates her famous escape from a water hazard.

Until 1952, what did golfers call an opponent's ball that blocked the path to the hole on the green?

A stymie had to be chipped over or putted around, because the blocking ball stayed where it lay. The frustration gave English the verb 'to stymie'.

What was boiled and stuffed, a top hat's worth per ball, into the leather golf balls of the 1700s?

Feathers were softened by boiling, then crammed into a hand-sewn pouch and painted. Even an experienced maker managed only a few balls a day, so they were costly.

What did 1800s golfers find a smooth gutta-percha ball gained once it picked up nicks and scuffs?

A truer flight came with every nick, so makers began cutting patterns into new balls with knives, hammers and chisels: the ancestors of the modern dimple.

Coburn Haskell hit on the modern golf ball in 1898 by idly winding what at a Goodrich plant?

Rubber thread wound into a ball bounced almost to the ceiling, so his host suggested adding a cover. The lively 'Haskell' soon replaced the solid guttie.

The dimples on a golf ball create a thin turbulent layer of air that clings to it, reducing which force?

Drag falls because the clinging air leaves a narrower wake behind the ball. The same dimples also boost the lift from backspin, so a dimpled ball far outflies a smooth one.

Titleist's founder blamed a missed putt on his golf ball and had his dentist check it with what?

An X-ray showed the core sitting off-centre. Phil Young X-rayed more balls, found most were just as lopsided, and set out to build a better-balanced one.

Which golf ball won on its PGA Tour debut in October 2000 and soon became the most played on tour?

Pro V1 abandoned the wound, liquid-centred construction of earlier top-of-the-line balls. Billy Andrade won with it in Las Vegas the first week players could use it.

Which retailer's bargain own-brand golf ball led to a 2017 court fight with the maker of Titleist?

Costco and Acushnet, Titleist's parent, sued each other over the warehouse chain's low-cost Kirkland Signature ball, then settled out of court the following year.

Biodegradable golf balls have been made from wood, cornstarch or which animal's shells?

Lobster shells were a return to old habits. The earliest golf balls all broke down naturally, until vulcanisation brought in materials that do not.

What kind of ball does a golfer play to save time when the first shot may be lost or out of bounds?

A provisional must be announced as one before it is hit; just saying 'I'll play another' is not enough. If the first ball turns up in play, the spare is picked up.

Caustic fluid inside early liquid-centred golf balls injured the eyes of which group, who cut them open?

Curious children who dissected a ball could be hurt by the alkali inside. Makers dropped caustic fillings by the 1920s, though some later cores still burst when cut.

The 'British ball', legal in much of the world until 1990, differed from the American golf ball how?

It was smaller, which left a narrower wake and gave extra distance, especially in high winds. The larger American size then became the single world standard.

Which Central and South American tree sap covered the wound golf balls used for much of the 1900s?

Balata gave a soft feel, but a thinned iron shot could cut a 'smile' into it. Tougher Surlyn resin and urethane covers displaced it from the 1960s onward.

What kind of golf ball has a row of X's stamped over its brand name before being sold cheaply?

A factory second has failed its maker's quality checks, usually over a flaw too small to affect its flight. An 'X-out' is still barred from events that require a listed ball.

Golfers with slower swing speeds are usually steered towards a golf ball with which characteristic?

Low compression means a softer ball that a gentle swing can still squash against the clubface. Swings above about 105 mph are matched with firm, high-compression balls.

Under the Rules of Golf, what happens when a ball breaks into pieces after a player's stroke?

Replay without penalty is the ruling: the stroke does not count and another ball is played from the same spot. A ball that is merely scratched has to stay in play.

In stroke play, what penalty does a golfer get for making a stroke at someone else's ball by mistake?

Two strokes is the general penalty, and nothing hit with the wrong ball counts. The player must go back and finish the hole with the right one.

The USGA paid $1.4 million to take the Polara golf ball off sale because its uneven dimples let it do what?

Self-correct in flight it did: normal dimples round the equator and shallow ones elsewhere steadied its spin. Over 300,000 were sold before a 1981 rule banned lopsided designs.

In golf slang, what is a ball called when it sits half-buried in sand, ringed by a little crater?

A fried egg shows only the top of the ball, like a yolk in its white. On grass the same half-buried ball is simply said to be plugged.

Which three-letter golf term describes how a ball is resting on the ground, cleanly or half-buried?

Lie has a second meaning in golf: the angle between a club's shaft and the sole of its head. A bad one on the course can make the next stroke far harder.

Which junior event for golfers aged 7 to 15 holds its national finals at Augusta National each spring?

Drive, Chip and Putt is free to enter and tests three skills separately. Entrants must come through local, sub-regional and regional qualifying to reach the final.

Which Texan won two U.S. Junior Amateur titles before taking two major championships in 2015 aged 21?

Jordan Spieth won the junior title in 2009 and 2011. In 2015 he took the year's first two majors and went to the third chasing three in a row.

As a two-year-old in 1978, Tiger Woods putted against which comedian on The Mike Douglas Show?

Bob Hope was golf-mad himself, playing in as many as 150 charity tournaments a year. A golf club was his regular prop on stage and in his TV specials.

Guan Tianlang made the cut at the 2013 Masters aged 14 despite being docked a stroke for what?

Slow play cost the Chinese schoolboy a shot, yet he was the only amateur in the field to reach the weekend. No one so young had made the cut in a men's major.

Which Hawaiian golfer qualified for a USGA amateur championship aged 10 and turned pro just before turning 16?

Michelle Wie played the PGA Tour's Sony Open at 14 and shot 68, then the lowest round by a woman in a men's tour event.

What is the name for the strip of turf an iron shot rips out, which golfers are expected to replace?

A divot takes its name from an old Scottish word for turf. Courtesy says to put it back, or to fill the scar with sand.

In a group of golfers, who traditionally has 'the honour', the right to hit first on the next hole?

Whoever just scored best keeps the honour until someone beats them; after a tied hole the order stays the same. At the very start it comes down to the draw or a coin toss.

Which name is given to hitting as soon as it is safe, rather than waiting for the farthest player to go?

Ready golf is officially encouraged in stroke play, where going out of turn costs nothing. In match play an opponent can still cancel the shot and have it hit again.

As a nine-year-old on a TV chat show, Rory McIlroy showed off by chipping golf balls into what?

A washing machine was his practice target at home too. He had just won an under-10 world title in Florida, and he often fell asleep holding a club to drill his grip.

The Junior Ryder Cup differs from the main event because each 12-strong team is split equally between whom?

Boys and girls, all aged 18 or under, play some sessions apart and others as mixed pairs, so half of every team sheet belongs to each.

In 2006 a Canadian club maker paid for a golf ball weighing just 3 grams to be hit from where?

The International Space Station shot was struck by cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin during a spacewalk, after a crewmate set the tee up on a ladder outside the airlock. A normal ball weighs about 46 grams.

A much-embellished tale from Pyongyang Golf Course credits which man with 11 holes-in-one in a single round?

Kim Jong-il was first said to have made five holes-in-one, by a course regular talking to a reporter in 1994. Retellings raised it to 11, in the first round ever played there, before 17 bodyguards.

Canada's George Lyon, an early Olympic golf champion, went up to collect his trophy in what unusual way?

Walking on his hands suited a 46-year-old joker whose 'coal-heaver's swing' looked more like a cricket stroke. He had batted for Canada at cricket too.

Maurice Flitcroft, who bluffed his way into qualifying for the 1976 Open and shot 121, did which day job?

Crane operator Flitcroft had only ever hit balls on fields near his home. Some of the professionals paired with him were so angry that they demanded their entry fees back, and got them.

From 1996 to 2013, a lake on Carbrook golf course in Queensland was home to several of which animals?

Bull sharks were trapped in the lake when two nearby rivers flooded. The club put them on its logo and ran a monthly 'Shark Lake Challenge'.

The World Ice Golf Championship was staged on shelf ice near Uummannaq in which territory?

Greenland's course was billed as the world's northernmost. Ice golfers putt on maintained patches of snow or ice that are called 'whites'.

Which shock-rock singer called his memoir 'Golf Monster' and credits the game with ending his drinking?

Alice Cooper says he simply replaced one addiction with another. Golf also brought him an unlikely friendship with country star Glen Campbell, a neighbour he played with nearly every other day.

Prison View Golf Course, which serving inmates may not play, lies in the grounds of which US penitentiary?

Angola, as the Louisiana State Penitentiary is known, lets outsiders play its nine holes. Convicted felons and anyone on an inmate's visiting list are turned away.

What carried Brad Fabel's ball off the island green and into the water at the 1998 Players Championship?

A seagull needed several tries to grip the ball in its bill before flying it out over the lake. Fabel was allowed to put a ball back where the first had come to rest.

At the 1949 Open, Harry Bradshaw chose to hit a ball that had stopped against the broken glass of what?

A beer bottle lying on the course cost him dearly: he could only nudge the ball forward, finished level with Bobby Locke, then lost the play-off.

Nullarbor Links, said to be the world's longest golf course, runs along 1,365 km of highway in which country?

Australia's Eyre Highway course was dreamed up over red wine at a roadhouse, as a way to break up the long drive and fight driver fatigue. Players get a scorecard stamped along the way.