Golf Compendium

You probably know that Gene Sarazen won the 1935 Masters in a playoff after scoring his famous double eagle in the final round. That's how the tournament ended for Sarazen. But do you know how that tournament started for Sarazen? It started with him using his driver to chase a thief out of his hotel room at 4 in the morning.

The Ameritech Senior Open (called the SBC Senior Open its last few years) was a pro golf tournament on the Champions Tour, the men's senior tour in the U.S. It was played in the Midwest, taking place over the years in Ohio, Michigan and Illinois. It was scheduled for 54 holes.

Has a golfer ever played his way into a golf tournament on the Champions Tour through the Monday qualifier and then won that tournament? Yes — and it has happened more on the senior circuit than on any other U.S.-based tour.

John Paul Cain didn't turn pro as a golfer until he was 52. Then he embarked on an improbable Champions Tour career in which he won tournaments both as a Monday qualifier and as a sponsor exemption.

Each year after the conclusion of The Masters Tournament, the winner is presented with the club's famous "Green Jacket." But what happens after the presentation ceremony is over — does the golfer get to keep the jacket?

On March 26, 2015, on the 17th hole of the AT&T Oaks Course at TPC San Antonio, during the first round of the PGA Tour's Texas Open, Aaron Baddeley did something remarkable: He holed out a drive on the par-4. But it was not a hole-in-one.

The Green Jacket is awarded every year to the winner of The Masters Tournament in one of the most well-known traditions in golf. But who was the first golfer to be awarded the Green Jacket after winning The Masters?

Tiger Woods left the ranks of amateur golfers and turned professional way back in 1996. But do you know exactly where he made his pro debut, and how he fared in that tournament?

What is the most strokes by which anyone has won The Masters Tournament? The largest margin of victory in any Masters is 12 strokes. That is also the only double-digit win; there really haven't been a lot of Masters blowouts.

Joe Turnesa won more than a dozen PGA Tour tournaments in the 1920s and 1930s, becoming the winningest member of the famous family of golfing brothers. He came close to winning two majors, too, only being denied by two of the biggest names in golf history.

The News Chronicle Tournament was a men's pro tournament that ran from the mid-1930s into the early 1950s, with a break due to World War II. It was named after its sponsor, the Brighton, England, newspaper.

The United States Golf Association (USGA) stages the biggest golf tournaments in the United States for amateurs and professionals. How many of those USGA championships has Tiger Woods won?

Which golfers have finished second most often in The Masters Tournament? Three very good golfers share that record, which is four second-place finishes.

Arnold Palmer was the first golfer to win The Masters four times, and the first golfer to play the tournament 50 times. In fact, Palmer played in The Masters for 50 consecutive years, beginning in 1955 and continuing through 2004. Following is a look at Palmer's four wins, plus his scores and finish in every Masters Tournament he played.

Did you know that a European tour golfer once made holes-in-one on back-to-back holes during tournament play? And that one of them happened on a par-4 hole ? It's true, and it's also the only known time a tour player, during a tour event, aced consecutive holes.

Cecil Leitch was an English amateur golfer who was the dominant player in British Women's golf in the 1910s and part of the 1920s. Although World War I undoubtedly cost her victories, she won the French Ladies Amateur five times, the British women's Amateur a record four times, and had multiple other significant wins.

In older golf books and periodicals, one sometimes runs across accounts of matches in which one golfer is said to have "received a half." What does that mean? It's an old golf handicapping term that we're going to explain.

"Trouble" is the name of a golf side game in which the object is to "earn" the fewest points, because points are "awarded" for negative achievements: things like hitting into water or 3-putting.

Big Break Mesquite was the eighth season of the Golf Channel's reality/competition television series, in which golfers competed in challenges and matches for prizes including money and exemptions into tour events.

In the history of The Masters Tournament, which golfers have recorded the most Top 5 finishes? How about finishing in the Top 10 most often? You can view those lists here, along with the golfers who had the most Top 25 finishes.

Which golfers have posted the best scores for nine, 18 and 72 holes at The Masters Tournament? Who won the most, finished second the most, posted the most Top 10s? Who played the most, ran off the longest birdie streak, made the most eagles? All these Masters tournament records and more are included here.

What's the most-famous year of any golfer in PGA Tour history? What's the best year any golfer has ever had on the PGA Tour? "Byron Nelson in 1945" is an answer to both those questions that immediately comes to mind. Perhaps only Tiger Woods' 2000 season is really in the running as a challenge to Nelson's incredible 1945 achievements. So we're going to run down what Nelson did on the PGA Tour in 1945, looking at every tournament he played.

After his Major League Baseball career ended, Sam Byrd embarked on a new career as a professional golfer. And he was a pretty good one, winning a half-dozen times on the PGA Tour. He challenged Byron Nelson multiple times in Nelson's record-setting 1945 year, including in the final match of the PGA Championship. And Byrd has the distinction of being the only person who has played in both baseball's World Series and golf's Masters Tournament.

What is the term golfers use for a score of 3-under par on a hole? That is albatross. No, wait, it's double eagle. No, it's albatross. It's double eagle — it's both. Both terms are used by golfers, and some golfers have strong opinions about which of the two terms is correct.

Par: Par 4 Length: 450 yards Name: Pampas The No. 7 hole at Augusta National Golf Club is a tight driving hole that requires accuracy off the tee.

The World Match Play Championship was a men's professional golf tournament played from the 1960s into the 2010s. It might best be remembered as the Volvo World Match Play Championship, since the car-maker was the last of several title sponsors.

Par: Par 3 Length: 180 yards Name: Juniper The No. 3 hole at Augusta National Golf Club is a straighforward par-3 that, playing downhill, lets many Masters participants today play it with a short iron.

Eben Byers was a winner of the U.S. Amateur Championship in 1906, and he was a finalist in the championship match on two other occasions. But he is better-known to history for the gruesome death he suffered, and its impact on safety regulations in the United States.