Golf Compendium

Who is the youngest golfer ever to win the British Open? This major, the first professional golf tournament ever, dates all the way back to 1860. That's a long list of winners to consider.

Genevieve Hecker was a two-time winner of the U.S. Women's Amateur Championship in the first decade of that tournament's history. She also won one of the few other big tournaments that existed for women in the early 1900s four times. And she has a notable place in the history of golf instruction.

What is the longest playoff in PGA Tour history? What we are talking about here are sudden-death playoffs. In earlier times, many (most) PGA Tour events scheduled 18-hole, next-day playoffs. Beginning in the late 1950s and especially in the early 1960s, nearly all tournaments that used those 18-hole, next-day playoffs switched to the sudden-death format.

Who are the oldest golfers ever to win the British Open? Overall, the answer is a golfer who has "Old" right there in his very name — how appropriate!

You play a stroke, then walk to up to see where your golf ball landed and how it is sitting. What you discover is that the lie is neither great, nor terrible. It's somewhere in-between. You have, in other words, an iffy lie.

We usually talk about winners in golf. But the runners-up can sometimes be just as interesting. For example, in major championships. Who finished second the most in the British Open? The two names on the list are two of the biggest in golf history.

The Women's PGA Championship is one of the major championships of women's professional golf. Do you know which golfers have carded the lowest scores in the tournament's history? Some big names (no surprise) appear on the lists below for lowest 72-, 18- and 9-hole scores. But there are also some surprises.

The Addington Foursomes was a team tournament played in London, England, in the 1930s. The tournament paired one pro with one top amateur golfer, and they played foursomes match play against other such teams.

Auguste Boyer was a French golfer who, from the late 1920s until the onset of World War II, wracked up more than a dozen national titles across European. While he never won the British Open, he was one of the best Continental golfers of that era.

The 2021 U.S. Open was the 121st time this golf tournament was played. It produced the first Spanish winner in this tournament's history.

The 2025 U.S. Open golf championship will be the 125th time this tournament is played. The U.S. Open, run by the United States Golf Association (USGA), is one of the four major championships of men's professional golf. It is the third major of the year, played after The Masters and PGA Championship and before the British Open.

Have you ever heard a golfer or golf broadcaster use the expression "horses for courses"? Do you know what it means when used in a golf context? It's an old expression that comes out of Great Britain and originally did emerge from the horse-racing scene.

The 2024 U.S. Open golf championship was the 124th time this major championship of men's professional golf was played. The golfer who won it became a two-time champion.

How many golfers in the history of the major championships of men's professional golf have won the very first major they ever played? Not many! The total stands at six, but, really, it's more like four.

The 2023 U.S. Open golf championship was the 123rd time this major championship of men's professional was played. The winner was a first-time major champion.

Fred Herd is one of the least tournament-experienced winners in major championships: He played in only four of them. But he won one of those, and that U.S. Open win gives Herd his place in the game's history.

Have you ever heard of a golf game called "putting syndicate"? You can think of it as a skins game, but based only on the golfers' putts taken on each green. Take the fewest putts, win the hole.

The Bluegrass Invitational was a women's professional golf tournament on the LPGA Tour, played annually in Kentucky in the 1960s and 1970s. One of the biggest controversies in LPGA history began in this tournament.

James Foulis was a golf professional from Scotland who had a large impact on American golf around the dawn of the 20th century, particularly in Chicago and the Midwest. He was a club pro, a course designer, a golf inventor, oh, and also a U.S. Open winner .

The 2022 U.S. Open golf championship was the 122nd time this major championship of men's professional golf was played. The winner claimed the trophy on the same golf course where, nine years earlier, he won the U.S. Amateur Championship.

During a television broadcast once, Paul Azinger and Nick Faldo were discussing the 1987 British Open , won by Faldo and in which Azinger finished tied for second place. Azinger had a three-stroke lead with nine holes to play, and a one-stroke lead with two holes left. But, Faldo said of Azinger, "Somebody couldn't get it into the clubhouse."

The 2019 U.S. Women's Open was the 74th time this tournament was played. The winner was another first-timer — not just her first time winning this tournament, winning a major, but also her first LPGA Tour win.

Who are the youngest and oldest golfers to make the cut in the U.S. Open golf championship? The list of golden oldies below includes nothing but legends. The list of young whippersnappers ... doesn't. Well, with one exception.

The 2018 U.S. Women's Open was the 73rd playing of this major championship. The USGA instituted a new playoff format this year, and it immediately came into play.

The 2017 U.S. Women's Open was the 72nd time this major championship was played. The winner was a young KLPGA standout earning her first victory outside her home country.

The U.S. Women's Open is the biggest tournament in women's professional golf. And most of the biggest names in women's professional golf have won that tournament . But not all! In fact, you'll probably be surprised to learn that some of the greatest legends in LPGA Tour history never won the U.S. Women's Open.

The 2016 U.S. Women's Open was the 71st time this major championship was played. The winner was Brittany Lang, who came from two off the lead in the final round to force a playoff with Anna Nordqvist, then won that playoff.

How many double eagles (albatrosses) have been made in the U.S. Open? Three is the number recorded by the United States Golf Association, which runs the tournament that is one of the four major championships of men's professional golf.

The 2014 U.S. Women's Open was the 69th time this golf tournament was played. And this one is remembered as the site of Michelle Wie's first win in a major championship. She was the only golfer to finish under par, and won by two strokes.

Do you know who the "leader in the clubhouse" is in a golf tournament? It's actually quite an easy term to understand: Among those golfers who have finished the round being played, the one who has the lowest score is called the leader in the clubhouse.