Golf Compendium

Millions of dollars — in some cases, tens of millions of dollars — are at stake in golf's major championships today. But how much was at stake in the beginning? The beginning of the PGA Championship was in 1916. How much money were the golfers playing for in that first PGA Championship? Very, very little by modern standards — but a lot by the standards of the time.

There have been many playoffs at the PGA Championship, one of the four majors of men's professional golf, over the years. The tournament dates to 1916, and for its first 40(ish) years was contested at match play. The PGA switched to stroke play for its major championship in the late 1950s.

In the history of the PGA Championship (which dates to 1916), which golf courses have been used as the host site most often? One golf course has been the site five times, two have been the site four times, and multiple other courses have hosted three times each.

Tommy Beck was an amateur golfer whose game never took him to the heights. Edgar Guest was a professional poet whose prowess with the pen made him, at one time, one of the most famous writers in the world. Their lives intersected at the 1954 U.S. Amateur Championship when Beck disqualified himself after breaking the rules, inspiring Guest to write a poem entitled Victory .

Frances Griscom was one of the earliest champions of women's golf in the United States. Her biggest achievement was winning a U.S. Women's Amateur Championship, one of the few (and by miles the biggest) women's golf events of her era. She also had a role in inspiring the Curtis Cup.

The abbreviation "cc" stands for "cubic centimeters" and is used to let golfers know, primarily, the size of wood and wood-like hybrid clubheads.

You know those holes on your home golf course, or any course you play regularly, that always seem to give you trouble? Those holes you know very well, but always seem to somehow mess up on? Don't you just hate those holes? Well, in the golf game named Hate 'Em, you'll like those holes — because you get to write down pars on them before the round even begins.

No, a "come-backer" is not a golfer who comes back (comes from behind) to win a tournament. A come-backer is the putt you have left after running your previous putt past the hole.

The Seattle Open Invitational was a PGA Tour golf tournament best-remembered for being the site of Jack Nicklaus' first "regular" tour win, and for being one of Byron Nelson's 18 wins in 1945.

Alfonso Angelini was one of the "Three Musketeers" of post-World War II Italian golf. He won national opens across Europe in the pre-European Tour days of the continental golf circuit.

Who was the No. 1 player in men's golf at the end of 1987? Which golfers finished the year ranked the highest in the Official World Golf Ranking? Below is the year-end list of 1987's top-ranked golfers.

Quick: Do you think Ben Hogan had a great record in playoffs? Almost everyone will answer yes to that question. It only makes sense, given that Hogan is one of the greatest ever to play the game and has a historical reputation as a finisher and an intimidator. But, surprisingly, the correct answer is no: Ben Hogan had a losing record in playoffs, including in major championship playoffs.

Who was the No. 1 player in men's golf at the end of 1988? Which golfers finished the year ranked the highest in the Official World Golf Ranking? Below is the year-end list of 1988's top-ranked golfers.

In the history of the PGA Tour, what is the most times a single tournament has been won the by same golfer? That record is eight: Eight wins by one golfer in the same tournament. But two different golfers have done that, and they did it three times between them. Let's take a closer look at this record.

Who was the No. 1 player in men's golf at the end of 1989? Which golfers finished the year ranked the highest in the Official World Golf Ranking? Below is the year-end list of 1989's top-ranked golfers.

Ken Bousfield was one of the top English golfers of the 1950s and 1960s, one whose competitive playing career extended from the 1940s to the 1970s. He was a member of the Great Britain & Ireland team in the Ryder Cup six times.

The first Asia-born golfer to win a major championship was Chako Higuchi of Japan, who won the LPGA Championship in 1977. In the men's majors, the first Asian golfer to win didn't come along until 2009, when Y.E. Yang of South Korea won the PGA Championship.

Who was the No. 1 player in men's golf at the end of 1990? Which golfers finished the year ranked the highest in the Official World Golf Ranking? Below is the year-end list of 1990's top-ranked golfers.

Who was the No. 1 player in men's golf at the end of 1991? Which golfers finished the year ranked the highest in the Official World Golf Ranking? Below is the year-end list of 1991's top-ranked golfers.

Tiger Woods has a remarkable record in the Arnold Palmer Invitational: eight career wins in this one tournament. That ties the PGA Tour record for most wins in the same event. And that's not the only record Woods has set in the tournament founded by Palmer.

Brian Barnes was a British golfer whose pro career began as a "Butten Boy" in the 1960s, before he grew into a consistent European Tour winner in the 1970s. But what he's most-famous for is beating Jack Nicklaus in match play twice in the same day.

The Greater Manchester Open was a golf tournament played annually over a 7-year period from the mid-1970s to the early 1980s. It was part of the European Tour schedule, and was played near Manchester, England. It was a 72-hole event.

What happens when you lose your cool over a missed putt during a casual round of golf? You might slap your putter at the ball a couple times, missing the hole, until you are finally able to tap it in. Hey, who's counting. But we don't expect that sort of tantrum to get the better of a pro tour golfer. In 1968, at the French Open, it did. And Brian Barnes ' tantrum resulted in a score of 15 on a par-3 hole.

Who was the No. 1 player in men's golf at the end of 1992? Which golfers finished the year ranked the highest in the Official World Golf Ranking? Below is the year-end list of 1992's top-ranked golfers.

The Oldsmobile Classic was a golf tournament on the LPGA Tour in the 1990s. It was played in Michigan for nearly a decade, and was won by a different LPGA golfer each time.

The golf game called Wolfman is a game for a group of three golfers. On each hole, two of the golfers pair up to play as a team against the third member of the group. The golfer playing solo is called the Wolfman; the two golfers who pair up are the Hunters. But which golfer plays solo on each hole is determined by the golfers' tee balls.

Who was the No. 1 player in men's golf at the end of 1993? Which golfers finished the year ranked the highest in the Official World Golf Ranking? Below is the year-end list of 1993's top-ranked golfers.

Who was the No. 1 player in men's golf at the end of 1994? Which golfers finished the year ranked the highest in the Official World Golf Ranking? Below is the year-end list of 1994's top-ranked golfers.