Golf: Tournaments, Players and Courses

See also: Golf (Rules and Equipment).

The Open

The Open Championship was first played (first winner was Willie Park, Scotland) in		1860
Course that hosted the first 12 Open Championships, 1860–72 (not played 1871)		Prestwick
Alternated with Prestwick and St. Andrews, 1872–91		Musselburgh Links
The Open first played outside Scotland (Royal St. George's, Sandwich, Kent)		1894
Club that organises the Open		Royal and Ancient
The Open: trophy since 1870 (replaced the original "Championship Belt"); officially known as the Golf Champion Trophy		Claret jug
The Open: the Silver Medal is awarded to the		Highest–placed amateur
The only non–Anglophone winner, until 1967 (French, 1907)		Arnaud Massy
Jersey player, won six times 1896–1914 (still a record)		Harry Vardon
1951: course on the north Antrim coast, the only one outside Scotland and England ever to host the Open – won by England's Max Faulkner (also the birthplace of Graeme McDowell, 2010 US Open winner)		Royal Portrush
Last amateur to win the Open (1926, 1927, 1930). Won the Grand Slam of the time (Open and Amateur tournaments, US and UK) in 1930; instrumental in establishing the Augusta National course and the Masters tournament		Bobby Jones
Ended a run of ten US wins, 1934; also won in 1937 and 1948 (England)		Henry Cotton
First South African Open champion (4 wins, 1949–57)		Bobby Locke
The only player in the 20th century to win three consecutive Opens (1954–6); also won in 1958 and 1965; the last apart from Tom Watson to win it five times		Peter Thomson
Argentine player, won the Open 1967; only the second non–Anglophone winner		Roberto deVicenzo
1969: the only British winner of the Open between Max Faulkner (1951) and Sandy Lyle (1985)		Tony Jacklin
US player, missed a 30–inch putt to lose the 1970 Open play–off to Nicklaus		Doug Sanders
Won 5 Opens, 1975 – 83, including lowest total in 1977 (268, beaten by Greg Norman's 267 in 1993); finished as runner–up in 2009, aged 59, in a play–off – after leading for much of the tournament		Tom Watson
Won the Open at Lytham St. Annes, 1979 and 1988; also at St. Andrews in 1984		Seve Ballesteros
1985 (Royal St. George's): the first British winner since Jacklin in 1969		Sandy Lyle
Won the Open at Muirfield, 1987 and 1992; also at St. Andrews in 1990		Nick Faldo
Set a tournament record score of 267, 1993 – beating Tom Watson's 268 of 1977		Greg Norman
French player: gave away a 3–shot lead in the 1999 Open (Carnoustie), by unwisely playing a shot from the burn (stream) on the final hole		Jean van der Velde
Won in 1999 after van der Velde's blunder – the first UK winner since Faldo in 1992, and the last before Clarke in 2011; still the last GBR winner (up to and including 2016)!		Paul Lawrie (Scotland)
Irish player, won in 2007 and 2008		Padraig Harrington
Beat Tom Watson by six strokes in the 2009 (four–hole) play–off		Stewart Cink

US Open

US Open first played (first winner was Horace Rawlins, England)

1895

The US Open was won by English or Scottish players every year from 1895 until 1910, except 1900 when the winner was Harry Vardon of Jersey. (Three English players won it in this period, and eight Scottish – including Willie Anderson who won it four times and Alex Smith who won twice.) The first US winner was John McDermott in 1911 (and 1912). Since then, the only non–US winners (up to and including 2020) have been:

1920	(Jersey)		Ted Ray
1924	(England)		Cyril Walker
1925	(Scotland)		Willie Macfarlane
1965	(South Africa)		Gary Player
1970	(England)		Tony Jacklin
1981	(Australia)		David Graham
1994, 1997	(South Africa)		Ernie Els
2001, 2004	(South Africa)		Retief Goosen
2005	(New Zealand)		Michael Campbell
2006	(Australia)		Geoff Ogilvy
2007	(Argentina)		Angel Cabrera
2010	(Northern Ireland)		Graeme McDowell
2011	(Northern Ireland)		Rory McIlroy
2013	(England)		Justin Rose
2014	(Germany)		Martin Kaymer

Masters

Founded in 1934 by Bobby Jones as the Augusta National Invitation Tournament; the current name was adopted in 1939				Masters
Before 1983, all players had to use				Local caddies
The Masters is played at				Augusta, Georgia
Special award to the winner of the Masters				Green jacket

US PGA

US PGA Championship first played (first winner was Jim Barnes, USA)		1916
US PGA Championship changed from matchplay to strokeplay		1958

World Matchplay Championship

World Matchplay Championship (inaugurated 1964) is played at		Wentworth
First British winner of the World Matchplay Championship (1987)		Ian Woosnam
Northern Ireland golfer, won the rival WGC Matchplay Championship (held in the USA) in its second year (2000)		Darren Clarke

USA v Europe

Men	Professional		Ryder Cup
	Amateur		Walker Cup
Women	Professional		Solheim Trophy
	Amateur		Curtis Cup

In the two amateur competitions, it's still Great Britain and Ireland that play against the USA (not Europe).

The Walker Cup was founded by the maternal grandfather of

George Bush (Sr.)

Ryder Cup

Ryder Cup first played			1927
Venue for the first Ryder Cup tournament; also hosted the US Open two years earlier, and until 2014 was the only course to have hosted the Ryder Cup and both the Men's and Women's US Opens			Worcester Country Club, Worcester, Massachusetts
First away victory (US, captained by Walter Hagen, won at Southport & Ainsdale)			1937
The USA's only Ryder Cup defeat between 1933 and 1985	Year		1957
	Venue		Lindrick, Rotherham
	UK captain		Dai Rees
USA's opponents in the Ryder Cup changed from UK to UK & Ireland			1973
USA's opponents in the Ryder Cup changed from UK & Ireland to Europe			1979
USA lost the Ryder Cup, first time for 28 years			1985
USA's first ever home defeat (Europe captained by Jacklin, US by Nicklaus)			1987
Number of players on each team in the Ryder Cup			12
Total number of points at stake in the Ryder Cup (since 1979 – 8 foursomes, 8 fourballs, 12 singles)			28
Points to win a Ryder Cup			14½
Youngest ever Ryder Cup player (aged 19)			Seve Ballesteros
First to sink the winning putt in a Ryder Cup (1987), and later to captain a winning team (1997)
English golfer, scored a hole in one for Europe in the 2006 Ryder Cup			Paul Casey
Played in a record 11 Ryder Cup tournaments (1977-97), winning a record 25 points			Nick Faldo
European Ryder cup captain 1991–5, succeeding Tony Jacklin (1983–9)			Bernard Gallagher
Youngest ever Ryder Cup player (1991: Spanish, aged 19 – broke Faldo's record)			Sergio Garcia
Missed the putt that would have retained the Ryder Cup for Europe, in 1991			Bernhard Langer
Irish golfer: sank a 10–foot putt on the 18th hole in his match against Jim Furyk at The Belfry, in 2002, that won the match for Europe			Paul McGinley
Italian player, halved the final match of the 2012 Ryder Cup with Tiger Woods, to secure Europe's remarkable comeback from 6-10 down after 3 days to win 14½–12½			Francesco Molinari
Original choice as European captain for the 2023 tournament – replaced after signing up to the controversial LIV Golf tour (Swedish player)			Henrik Stenson
Second (after Ballesteros) to have sunk the winning putt in the Ryder Cup (1985) and captained a winning side (2002)			Sam Torrance

The 2001 event was postponed for 12 months (to September 2002) because of the 9/11 attacks. The Ryder Cup was played in even years from then until 2018.

Year		Venue		Europe captain		USA captain		Winners
2008		Valhalla (Louisville, Kentucky)		Nick Faldo		Paul Azinger		USA
2010		Celtic Manor (Newport, Gwent)		Colin Montgomerie		Corey Pavin		Europe
2012		Medinah Country Club (Illinois)		Jose Maria Olazabal		Davis Love III		Europe
2014		Gleneagles		Paul McGinley		Tom Watson		Europe
2016		Hazeltine National (Chaska, Minnesota)		Darren Clarke		Davis Love III		USA
2018		Le Golf National, Saint–Quentin–en–Yvelines (Paris), France		Thomas Bjorn		Jim Furyk		Europe
2021		Whistling Straits (Haven, Wisconsin)		Pádraig Harrington		Steve Stricker		USA
2023		Marco Simone, Guidonia Montecelio, near Rome		Luke Donald		Zach Johnson		Europe

The 2020 Ryder Cup was postponed due to the COVID–19 pandemic, and played in September 2021. The 2022 competition was subsequently postponed until 2023.

Tournaments

This section is for questions where the answer is the name of a tournament (whether or not it has its own section elsewhere), and questions about tournaments that aren't covered in any other section.

Often described as "the fifth major": played every May since 1974 (since 1982 at the Tournament Players Club course at Sawgrass, near Jacksonville, Florida)		Players Tournament
The Wanamaker Trophy (named in honour of the department store magnate who established this tournament in 1916) is awarded to the winner of the		US PGA
The PGA European Tour's Order of Merit was renamed in 2009, becoming the Race to ...		Dubai

For a few years in the early 2000s, the winner of the Italian Open won, as well as a cash prize, his own weight in

Cheese

Players

Tiger Woods's first major (aged 21 years, 104 days – the youngest ever winner)		Masters, 1997
The record winning margin (for any Major tournament) by which Tiger Woods won the US Open in 2000		15 strokes

First European and second non–US winner of the Masters (1980, 1983)		Seve Ballesteros
Youngest winner (23 in 1980) of the Masters, before Tiger Woods (21 in 1997)
American golfer, b. 1931: US Open champion 1959 and 1966, Masters champion 1970: the protagonist in the 1969 film Kes had the same name		Billy Casper
New Zealander – Open champion 1963, the first left–handed golfer to win a major.  Knighted in 1999		Bob Charles
US golfer, known for his unconventional appearance, attitude and personal life; won the PGA Championship in 1991 and the Open in 1995 (in a playoff against Costantino Rocca); the only double major winner not to have appeared in a Ryder Cup		John Daly
The first non–American to finish at the top of the Ladies' PGA money list; winner of the Ladies' European Tour Order of Merit a record seven times between 1985 and 2006; appoionted a Dame (DBE) in 2014		Laura Davies
The only non–US winner of the US Open in the 1990s (1992, 1997); (British) Open winner 2002; initials TEE! (actual first name Theodore )		Ernie Els
Second British winner of the Masters (1989 – the year after Lyle), and second to win it back–to–back (1989,1990); last before Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson to win more than four majors		Nick Faldo
Irish golfer: on retirement in 1997, became a pundit for CBS; likened Colin Montgomerie's face to "a bulldog licking its own piss off a nettle", but denied dubbing him "Mrs. Doubtfire" (a nickname that American fans took to with relish)		David Feherty
US golfer: won eleven majors – more than anyone else except Nicklaus and Woods – including four Opens and five US PGAs, between 1914 and 1929		Walter Hagen
US golfer: won nine majors – more than anyone else except Nicklaus, Woods and the above, and tied with Player in fourth place – including the Open in 1953, when he also won the Masters and the US Open		Ben Hogan
Last British winner of the US Open, before Justin Rose in 2013 (1970)		Tony Jacklin
Born 1997 in Seoul, emigrated to New Zealand with her family aged 12; turned pro in 2013, after 130 weeks as world amateur No. 1; youngest ever winner of a women's major (2015), and youngest ever world No. 1 of either gender (also 2015)		Lydia Ko
Second European winner of the Masters (1985)		Bernhard Langer
Third European and first British winner of the Masters (1988); won the Open at Sandwich, 1985		Sandy Lyle
Winner of the Masters in 2004, 2006 and 2010 – also won the US PGA in 2005 and the (British) Open in 2013; has also finished as runner–up in the US Open a record six times		Phil Mickelson
Nicknamed Lefty (is right–handed, but learnt by mirroring his right–handed father)
Became the oldest ever winner of a Major tournament in 2021, winning the US PGA title (for the second time, 16 years after his first win) at the age of 50
Order of Merit winner on the European Tour seven consecutive times, 1993–9 (and also in 2005); came second (or joint second) in five majors, 1993–2004 – but never won one; "arguably the best golfer never to have won a major"		Colin Montgomerie
Most Major wins: 18, 1962–86 (3 Opens, 4 US Opens, 5 PGAs, 6 Masters); also finished second a record 19 times (including the US Open in 1960 as an amateur), and made a record 73 top–10 finishes over 39 years (1960–1998); most Masters wins (6); first to win back–to–back Masters (1965, 1966)		Jack Nicklaus
1958–64: 4 Masters, 1 US Open, 2 Opens; never won the PGA; first golfer to win a million dollars in prize money		Arnold Palmer
First non–US winner of the Masters (1961, 1974, 1978)		Gary Player
First non–US winner of the US PGA (1962, 1972)
First non–US winner of the US Open since 1925 (1965)
First non–US golfer to head the US money winners' list
Also won The Open in three different decades (1959, 1968, 1974)
Made his 52nd (and last) appearance at the Masters, 2009 (first appeared 1956; missed 1957, 1973). Last played in the Open 2001, US Open 1989, US PGA 1985
The only non–US player to win the "career grand slam"; won 9 majors altogether, more than any other non–US player
First to win the "career grand slam" (all four Majors in a career – 1922–35). (Four others have done it since: Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods)		Gene Sarazen
First Australian winner of the Masters (2013 – his only Major)		Adam Scott
The first ever official number one player in women's golf (2006)		Annika Sörenstam
In 2015, became the youngest Masters champion since Woods in 1997, and youngest US Open champion since Bobby Jones in 1923 (both aged 21); blew a 5–stroke lead on the last 9 holes of the 2016 Masters, eventually finishing 3 strokes behind winner Danny Willett (equal second with Lee Westwood)		Jordan Spieth
Former British and US Open champion, survived being struck by lightning in the Western Open in Chicago, 1975		Lee Trevino
Second English and third British winner of the Masters (after Lyle and Faldo – 2016)		Danny Willett
Only player ever to win four consecutive Major tournaments, and thus hold all four titles simultaneously		Tiger Woods (2000–1)
1987: first golfer to win more than £1 million in a year		Ian Woosnam
1991 Masters champion: after a dip in form in the later 1990s, might have been a surprise winner of the 2001 Open Championship but for a two–stroke penalty for taking out too many clubs in the final round
Canadian long drive champion, whose drive was declared the fastest ball in sport (in a Sports Science TV programme) 2009 – beating the fastest ever ball measured in jai alai (see Which Sport?)		Jason Zuback

Courses

Amen Corner (see below) and Rae's Creek (named after a former landowner) are features of		Augusta National
Course near Sutton Coldfield, Warwickshire: venue for the US's first Ryder Cup defeat for 28 years (1985), and 3 of the next 4 European hostings		The Belfry
Irish club (in Co. Kildare) that hosted the 2006 Ryder Cup		K Club
Home since 1891 of the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers; overlooks the Firth of Forth; has hosted the Open 16 times, but in 2016 the R&A announced that it was no longer eligible to host the championship; ten months later, members voted to accept women members for the first time		Muirfield
Course in Kent that in 1894 became the first outside Scotland to host the Open Championship		Royal St. George's
Town near Dover – one of the historic Cinque Ports – in which the above course is situated		Sandwich
Old, New, Jubilee: courses at		St. Andrews
Cartgate, Corner of the Dyke, The Road, Tom Norris; the Valley of Sin is a depression on the approach to the 18th green		St. Andrews Old Course
Course on the Firth of Clyde, with a famous view of Ailsa Craig: venue of four Open tournaments (first in 1977); bought by the Trump Organisation in 2014		Turnberry
Spanish course that hosted the 1997 Ryder Cup		Valderrama

Nickname of the 11th, 12th and 13th holes at Augusta

Amen Corner

The shortest hole on any championship course (125 yds)	Name		The Postage Stamp
	It's the 8th hole at (course)		Troon

© Haydn Thompson 2017–24