50 Fun Facts About Famous Golfers

Which golfer won the 1997 Masters by 12 strokes and later held all four major titles at once?

Tiger Woods was 21 at that Masters, the tournament's youngest winner. His run of four straight majors across 2000 and 2001 became known as the Tiger Slam.

Which golfer survived a head-on crash with a bus in 1949 and won the US Open the following year?

Ben Hogan dived across his wife just before impact, which saved him from the steering column. Doctors doubted he would walk unaided again; 16 months later he won at Merion.

Which golfer, followed by fans known as an Army, gave his name to a drink of iced tea and lemonade?

Arnold Palmer saw his half-and-half drink go into mass production in 2001. Back in 1967 he was the first man to reach $1 million in PGA Tour career earnings.

Which golfer, right-handed in daily life, plays left-handed after mirroring his father's swing?

Phil Mickelson copied his right-handed father like a reflection, and the nickname Lefty followed. He was 50 when he won the 2021 PGA Championship.

Which golfer won two track and field golds at the 1932 Olympics before winning ten women's majors?

Babe Zaharias also took silver in the high jump at those Los Angeles Games. Before golf she had been a three-time All-American in basketball.

Which Australian, known as the Great White Shark, lost the 1996 Masters after leading by six?

Greg Norman shot 78 that Sunday and lost by five. He spent 331 weeks as world number one, yet both of his major wins came at the Open Championship.

Which golfer played the 2003 Colonial, becoming the first woman in a PGA Tour event since 1945?

Annika Sörenstam was cheered through every hole in Fort Worth but missed the cut, let down by her putting. In 2001 she had become the first woman to shoot 59 in competition.

Which golfer, nicknamed the Golden Bear, won a sixth Masters title at the age of 46?

Jack Nicklaus played the back nine in 30 that Sunday for a final round of 65. It was the last of his 18 major championships.

Which golfer won the 1991 PGA Championship as the ninth and final alternate, with no practice round?

John Daly got the call the evening before the first round, when Nick Price left for the birth of his child, and he even used Price's caddie. He was a virtual unknown at the time.

Which golfer from Holywood, Northern Ireland, completed the career Grand Slam at the 2025 Masters?

Rory McIlroy birdied the first playoff hole to win that Masters, ending ten years without a major. He was the first European to win all four.

Which South African, known as the Black Knight, was the first non-American to win all four majors?

Gary Player completed the set at the 1965 US Open. Also known as Mr Fitness, he went on to design more than 400 golf courses around the world.

Which Spaniard won the 1979 Open after hitting his tee shot among parked cars on the 16th hole?

Seve Ballesteros still made a birdie on that hole. He had learned the game on the beaches near his village, using a 3-iron his brother gave him at eight.

Which amateur golfer won all four major titles of 1930, then retired from competition at 28?

Bobby Jones earned his living as a lawyer and never turned professional. After retiring he founded Augusta National and co-founded the Masters.

Which golfer won seven majors but never the US Open, where he finished runner-up four times?

Sam Snead once missed a 30-inch putt on the final playoff hole of a US Open. He was still winning on the PGA Tour at 52, in Greensboro in 1965.

Which golfer, known as the Merry Mex, was struck by lightning at the 1975 Western Open?

Lee Trevino suffered spinal injuries in the strike near Chicago. Before turning professional he had served four years in the US Marines as a machine gunner.

Which golfer, a five-time Open champion, led the 2009 Open at the age of 59 before losing a playoff?

Tom Watson needed only a par on the 72nd hole to win but missed from eight feet. He said later that coming so close had torn his guts out.

Which English golfer won the 1987 Open at Muirfield with a final round of 18 consecutive pars?

Nick Faldo had rebuilt his swing under coach David Leadbetter in the mid-1980s to contend in majors. He went on to win six of them and was knighted in 2009.

Which golfer, a four-time major winner, is nicknamed the Big Easy for his height and fluid swing?

Ernie Els won the South African Amateur a few months after turning 17. After his son's autism diagnosis he launched a yearly charity pro-am in Florida.

Which golfer, known for his plus fours, won the 1999 US Open months before dying in a plane crash?

Payne Stewart holed a 15-foot par putt on the last green at Pinehurst to win by a stroke. A bronze statue of his celebration now stands behind that green.

Which golfer won five consecutive LPGA tournaments in 1978, during her first full season on tour?

Nancy Lopez won nine times that year and was named both the tour's top rookie and its best golfer. She also made the cover of Sports Illustrated.

Which golfer hit a ball lying against a tree with his eyes shut at the 1999 PGA Championship?

Sergio García saw the low fade run up onto the green, yet lost by a stroke. He finally won a major at his 74th attempt, at the 2017 Masters.

Which golfer led the 2016 Masters by five before hitting two balls into the water at the 12th?

Jordan Spieth made a quadruple bogey on that par three and let the title slip away. A year earlier, aged 21, he had won both the Masters and the US Open.

Which US Open champion, a physics major in college, plays irons that are all cut to the same length?

Bryson DeChambeau, nicknamed the Scientist, asked his coach for a matching set so that his posture never had to change. His whole method grew out of a physics-based golf book he was given at 15.

Which golfer was arrested on his way to the 2024 PGA Championship, then shot 66 the same day?

Scottie Scheffler was released in time for his second round after a traffic incident, and the charges were dropped within two weeks. That summer he won Olympic gold in Paris.

Which golfer became women's world number one at 17 and later won Olympic gold, silver and bronze?

Lydia Ko was born in Seoul and moved to New Zealand at the age of four. Her gold at Paris 2024 completed the set and qualified her for the LPGA Hall of Fame.

Which golfer, daughter of an Australian Open tennis champion, won Olympic gold at the Tokyo Games?

Nelly Korda was the first American woman to win Olympic golf gold since 1900. Her father Petr won the 1998 Australian Open, and her brother Sebastian also plays professional tennis.

Which golfer became the first Japanese man to win a major by taking the 2021 Masters?

Hideki Matsuyama's caddie bowed to the 18th fairway once the tournament was over, as a gesture of Japanese respect. Ten years earlier Matsuyama had been the leading amateur at Augusta.

Which South Korean golfer won the 1998 US Women's Open after a famous shot from a water hazard?

Se Ri Pak is honoured for that shot with a statue outside the stadium in Gongju. Her win inspired a generation of Korean women who followed her onto the LPGA Tour.

Which golfer retired in 2010 at the age of 28 while ranked women's world number one?

Lorena Ochoa had held the top ranking for 158 straight weeks when she stepped away. She was the first Mexican golfer of either sex to be ranked number one.

Which golfer earned the nickname Boom Boom for his long driving and won the 1992 Masters?

Fred Couples won that Masters after his ball rolled back towards the water but stayed on the bank. The same year he became the first American to top the world rankings.

Which golfer won nine times in 2004, including the PGA Championship, to become world number one?

Vijay Singh was born in Lautoka, Fiji, and grew up in Nadi. His winnings that season came to a then-record $10.9 million.

Which golfer won 11 consecutive tournaments in 1945 and retired at 34 to become a rancher?

Byron Nelson won 18 tournaments in all that year. Nicknamed after the English poet for his gentlemanly conduct, he later had a PGA Tour event named in his honour.

Which golfer, the first native-born American to win the Open, once hired a car as his dressing room?

Walter Hagen hired the car at the 1920 Open in Deal because professionals were refused entry to the clubhouse. He went on to win 11 majors.

Which golfer made a double eagle at the 1935 Masters and introduced the modern sand wedge?

Gene Sarazen holed that shot at the par-five 15th with a wood. He had unveiled his sand wedge at the 1932 Open, keeping it secret during practice rounds, and won.

Which golfer from Jersey won the Open Championship six times and popularised the overlapping grip?

Harry Vardon did not invent the grip that bears his name: Johnny Laidlay had used it a few years before him. Most golfers still hold the club that way.

Which Scottish golfer won four Open Championships in a row and kept the Challenge Belt for good after the third?

Young Tom Morris first won the Open at 17 and had four titles by 21. He died in St Andrews on Christmas Day 1875, aged 24.

Which amateur golfer, aged 20, won the 1913 US Open with a 10-year-old caddie carrying his bag?

Francis Ouimet grew up across the street from the 17th hole of the course, The Country Club in Brookline. He beat two British stars in a playoff before record crowds.

Which Scot won eight European Tour Order of Merit titles but was runner-up in five majors?

Colin Montgomerie topped the European money list every year from 1993 to 1999. For all that dominance at home, he never won a tournament on the PGA Tour.

Which German, a two-time Masters champion, became the first official world number one in 1986?

Bernhard Langer won those Masters in 1985 and 1993 despite repeated battles with the yips, a twitch in the putting stroke. In 2020, aged 63, he made the cut at Augusta.

Which 1991 Masters champion was penalised two strokes at the 2001 Open for carrying 15 clubs?

Ian Woosnam still finished third. He kept his caddie on after the mistake, then fired him two weeks later when the man failed to turn up for a tee time after a night of drinking.

Which Frenchman waded barefoot into the water while losing a three-shot lead at the 1999 Open?

Jean van de Velde had watched his second shot at the final hole bounce off a grandstand railing and a stone wall. His triple-bogey seven put him in a playoff, which he lost.

Which Argentine missed a playoff at the 1968 Masters after signing for the wrong score?

Roberto De Vicenzo's playing partner wrote a 4 where he had made a 3, and once signed, the higher score had to stand. He had won the Open Championship only the year before.

Which golfer became the first Black man to play in the Masters, teeing off at Augusta in 1975?

Lee Elder earned his invitation by winning the 1974 Monsanto Open, his first PGA Tour victory. He shot 74 and 78 at Augusta and missed the cut.

Which golfer won 13 women's majors from 1958 to 1966 and once held all four titles together?

Mickey Wright won 82 LPGA Tour events in all. One of the great men's champions of her day said her swing was the best he had ever seen.

Which golfer won 88 LPGA Tour tournaments, a total nobody has matched on the men's or women's tour?

Kathy Whitworth collected those wins between 1962 and 1985. In 1981 she became the first woman to reach $1 million in career earnings on the LPGA Tour.

Which South Korean golfer won the first three women's majors of 2013 and seven in her career?

Inbee Park was only the fourth LPGA golfer to win three majors in one calendar year. In 2016 she took the first women's Olympic golf gold awarded in 116 years.

Which Englishman was fourth at the 1998 Open as a 17-year-old amateur, then missed 21 straight cuts?

Justin Rose turned professional the day after that Open and recovered to win the 2013 US Open. At Rio 2016 he won gold and made the first hole-in-one in Olympic golf.

Which golfer won the 2020 Masters, played in November, with a 20-under-par total of 268?

Dustin Johnson won by five strokes, and his total beat the old Masters record by two. A decade earlier a penalty for grounding his club in a bunker had cost him a playoff place at the PGA Championship.

Which golfer became the first Australian Masters champion by holing a birdie putt in a 2013 playoff?

Adam Scott had birdied the 72nd hole, only to be caught and taken to extra holes. A year earlier he had finished runner-up at the Open Championship.

Which golfer from Honolulu played the PGA Tour's 2004 Sony Open as a schoolgirl, aged just 14?

Michelle Wie was the fourth woman to play a PGA Tour event. She later studied at Stanford, but as a professional she was barred from the university's golf team.