USGA Golf Time Line Chronology

USGA Golf Time Lie Chronological History

The foundation of the United States Golf Association on Dec. 22, 1894 marked the formal organization of American golf, establishing a centralized body to write the Rules, conduct national championships and establish a national system of handicapping. The USGA also plays a prominent role as the game's historian in the United States, collecting, displaying and preserving artifacts and memorabilia at its Museum and Archives in Far Hills, N.J.

USGA History: 1894 - 1910

1894
In September, William G. Lawrence wins a "national amateur championship" at Newport (R.I.) Golf Club. In October, Laurence B. Stoddard wins a "national amateur championship" at St. Andrew's Golf Club.
C.B. Macdonald, runner-up in both events, calls for the formation of a governing body to run a universally recognized national championship.
The Amateur Golf Association of the United States - soon to be called the United States Golf Association - is formed on Dec. 22. Charter members are Newport Golf Club, Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, The Country Club (Brookline, Mass.), St. Andrew's Golf Club (Yonkers, N.Y.), and Chicago Golf Club.
America's first golf magazine, The Golfer , is published in New York, N.Y.

1895
Charles B. Macdonald wins the first official U.S. Amateur championship at Newport Golf Club. The first U.S. Open is held the next day at the same club, almost as an afterthought to the Amateur. Horace Rawlins wins the $150 first prize over a field of 11.
Mrs. Charles S. Brown (Lucy Barnes) wins the first U.S. Women's Amateur championship at the Meadow Brook Club in Hempstead, N.Y.
Golf in America: A Practical Manual , by James Lee, is the first golf book written in the U.S.

1896
James Foulis wins the second official U.S. Open, held at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club.
John Shippen, an African-American professional, and his friend Oscar Bonn, a Shinnecock Indian, compete in the U.S. Open despite a threatened boycott by the other contestants. Shippen finished fifth.

1897
Yale wins the first collegiate golf championship.
Joe Lloyd is victorious in the third U.S. Open, held at Chicago Golf Club.
H.J. Whigham wins his second U.S. Amateur

1898
Beatrix Hoyt wins her third straight U.S. Women's Amateur at Ardsley Club in New York. Two years later, she retires at the age of 20.
Coburn Haskell and Bertram Work design and patent a wound-rubber golf ball, which flies farther than the gutta-percha ball.
The United States Open expands to 72 holes from 36 and is held for the first time at a separate course from the Amateur.
The term "birdie" is coined at Atlantic City Country Club in New Jersey when Ab Smith says a fellow member hit a "bird of a shot" and suggests a double payoff for scoring one under par on a hole.

1900
British star Harry Vardon shows Americans how to play the game. In the country for an exhibition tour, he wins the U.S. Open over fellow Englishman J.H. Taylor. Vardon becomes the first sports figure in history to endorse a product, using his "Vardon Flyer" ball througout the tour.
Americans Charles Sands and Margaret Abbott win gold medals in golf in the Olympic Games in Paris.
Walter J. Travis, who took up golf in 1896 at age 35, wins the U.S. Amateur.

1901
Walter Travis wins his second straight U.S. Amateur Championship and publishes an instruction book,Practical Golf . He's the first to win a major championship playing a Haskell wound-rubber ball.
Willie Anderson ties Alex Smith with a record-high 331 in the U.S. Open and takes the playoff with an 85.
Pinehurst resort in North Carolina opens the first nine holes of its No.2 course.

1902
Willie Anderson wins the Western Open with a 299 total; the first time 300 is broken for 72 holes in an American event.

1903
Walter Travis, known as "The Old Man," wins his third U.S. Amateur at age 41.
Oakmont Country Club opens near Pittsburgh, Pa., quickly gaining a reputation as one of the nation's toughest tests because of its penal style of architecture.
Willie Anderson sets a U.S. Open record with a 72 in the final round and a 303 total.
Americans claim Australian-born Walter Travis as the first of their own to win the British Amateur. He uses the center-shafted Schenectady putter.

1905
Twenty-five-year-old Willie Anderson wins his third consecutive U.S. Open and fourth in five years. It is also his last Open victory; he dies in 1910.
Harry Vardon publishes The Complete Golfer , which explains, among other things, the Vardon grip.

1906
Three-time runner-up Alex Smith finally wins the U.S. Open, becoming the first to break 300 for the 72-hole championship. His brother, Willie, is second.
In Great Britain, William Taylor applies for a patent on a dimple design for golf ball covers.

1907
Pinehurst Resort in North Carolina adds the back nine holes to its No.2 course. It is the seminal work of Donald Ross, who goes on to design hundreds of courses in the United States.
Margaret Curtis beats her sister Harriot in an all-in-the-family final of the U.S. Women's Amateur.

1908
Jerry Travers wins his second consecutive U.S. Amateur.
Three-time U.S. Amateur champion Walter Travis shows he's jack-of-all-trades by founding American Golfer magazine and serving as its first editor. He's also a golf course designer.

1909
Robert Gardner becomes the youngest U.S. Amateur champion at age 19.
New U.S. President William Howard Taft is the first golf-loving occupant of the White House.
The USGA rules that caddies, caddie-masters and greenkeepers past the age of 16 are professionals. The age would be raised to 18 in 1930, 21 in 1945, until the ruling was rescinded in 1963.

1910
Arthur F. Knight obtains a patent for a seamed, tubular, steel golf shaft. Steel shafts, however, are still illegal.
The R&A bans the center-shafted putter, while the USGA keeps it legal, marking the first time that the USGA diverges from an R&A equipment ruling.
Alex Smith wins his second U.S. Open by beating his other brother, Macdonald.

1911

Johnny McDermott signals the end of dominance by Scottish-born professionals in early American golf by becoming the first native to win the U.S. Open. At 19, he's also the youngest winner ever.
Englishman Harold Hilton is the first player to win the British and U.S. Amateur in the same year.
The USGA increased yardage for determining par:
Three - up to 225 yards
Four - 225 to 425 yards
Five - 426 to 600 yards
Six - 601 yards and over

1912

JOHNNY MCDERMOTT WINS HIS SECOND CONSECUTIVE US OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP IN CHICAGO.

John Ball wins his eighth British Amateur championship - still a record number of victories in a major event.
The USGA introduces a handicap limit of six on entrants for the U.S. Amateur.

1913

Twenty-year-old American amateur Francis Ouimet stages the game's biggest upset, beating English stars Harry Vardon and Ted Ray in a playoff to win the U.S. Open at The Country Club in Brookline, Mass. The resultant headlines spark a surge of interest in the game in America.
Jerry Travers wins his fourth U.S. Amateur.

1914

Harry Vardon wins his sixth British Open, one more than each of the other two members of the "Great Triumvirate," J.H. Taylor and James Braid.
Walter Hagen, a stylish 21-year-old professional, wins the first of his two U. S. Open titles, leading after every round.
Francis Ouimet becomes the first with career U.S. Open and Amateur titles, beating Jerry Travers in the final of the U.S. Amateur.

1915

Jerry Travers adds the U.S. Open to his four U.S. Amateur crowns, then retires at age 28.
All British and Canadian championships are suspended because of World War I. They resume in Canada in 1919 and Britain in 1920.

1916

The amateur run on the U.S. Open continues. Chick Evans is the third amateur to win in four years, shooting a record 286. He is also the first to capture the U.S. Open and Amateur titles in the same year.
Fourteen-year-old Bobby Jones makes his U.S. Amateur debut, reaching the quarterfinals at Merion Cricket Club.
The Professional Golfers' Association of America is formed in January. In October, Jim Barnes wins the first PGA Championship, taking the $500 first prize.

1917

The USGA championships (U.S. Open, U.S. Amateur, U.S. Women's Amateur) and the PGA Championship are suspended in 1917 and 1918 because of World War I.
Bobby Jones, 15, wins the Southern Amateur.
Par yardage is again changed:
Three - up to 250 yards
Four - 251 to 445 yards
Five - 446 to 600 yards
Six - more than 600 yards

1918

George Crump, founder and designer of Pine Valley Golf Club, dies; only 14 holes of the New Jersey course have been completed. The remaining holes open within a few years.
Among the fund-raising tours by professional and amateur golfers for the war effort, the Dixie Kids -- featuring Atlanta teenagers Perry Adair, Watts Gunn, Bobby Jones and Alexa Stirling -- raise $150,000 for the Red Cross.

1919

Pebble Beach Golf Links opens on California's Monterey Peninsula.
The first golf book to use high-speed sequence photography - Picture Analysis of Golf Strokes , by Jim Barnes - is published.

1920

Harry Vardon, 50, competing in his third U.S. Open, plays the last seven holes in even fives to finish second, one stroke behind his English countryman, 43-year-old Ted Ray. Ray becomes the oldest man to win the Open (a record that will stand until 1963).
Alexa Stirling wins her third consecutive Women's Amateur (1916, 1919, 1920 -- the championship wasn't held in 1917 and 1918).
The USGA creates the Green Section for turfgrass research.
The USGA and R&A agree to a standard ball - 1.62 inches in diameter and 1.62 ounces.

1921

Jim Barnes romps to a nine-stroke win in the U.S. Open and President Warren Harding, a USGA Executive Committee member, presents the trophy at Columbia Country Club near Washington, D.C.
Jock Hutchison wins the British Open using deep-grooved irons; they were banned four years later.

1922

A Cinderella story: 20-year-old Gene Sarazen, a sixth-grade dropout from a working-class family, wins the U.S. Open and PGA Championship.
An admission fee ($1) is charged for the first time at the U.S. Open.
Walter Hagen becomes the first American-born player to win the British Open.
Intended for all interested countries, the first Walker Cup match between amateurs from the United States and Great Britain (the only taker) is held at National Golf Links of America in Southampton, N.Y. The United States wins.
Public-course golfers get their own tournament - the USGA's Amateur Public Links Championship.
Glenna Collett wins her first of six U.S. Women's Amateur titles.
Walter Hagen is the first professional to found a golf equipment company under his name.

1923

Winged Foot Golf Club opens, with 36 holes designed by A.W. Tillinghast. Designers like Tillinghast, Alister MacKenzie and Donald Ross make the 1920's the Golden Age of golf architecture.
After several near-misses in the U.S. Open and U.S. Amateur, Bobby Jones, 21, claims his first major title by beating Bobby Cruickshank in a playoff for the U.S. Open.
The Texas Open, in its second year, has golf's biggest purse yet - $6,000. Walter Hagen wins. The tournament is part of a growing winter circuit for the professionals.
Gene Sarazen beats Walter Hagen in a classic 38-hole final at the PGA Championship when a tree stops Sarazen's ball from going out of bounds on the deciding hole.

1924

Steel-shafted clubs are permitted in the United States by the USGA as of April 11; the R&A continues to ban their use in Great Britain until 1929.
Bobby Jones wins the first of his five U.S. Amateur titles, at Merion Cricket Club in Ardmore, Pa.
Walter Hagen's unmatched reign begins in the PGA Championship - he wins the first of four consecutive titles.
The USGA introduces sectional qualifying rounds for the U.S. Open.

1925

Willie Macfarlane shoots a record 67 in the second round of the U.S. Open and goes on to defeat Bobby Jones in a playoff.
The first complete fairway irrigation system is installed at Brook Hollow Golf Club in Dallas, Texas.
The Havemeyer Trophy, which goes to the U.S. Amateur champion, is destroyed in a fire at Bobby Jones' home club, East Lake, in Atlanta.

1926

Bobby Jones is the first to win the U.S. and British Opens in the same year.
Walter Hagen beats Leo Diegel in the final of the PGA Championship. The night before, when a carousing Hagen is told his opponent had long since gone to bed, he replies, "Yes, but he isn't sleeping."
Walter Hagen wallops Bobby Jones, 12 and 11, in a 72-hole challenge match billed as the "World Championship."
Jess Sweetser is the first American to win the British Amateur since Walter Travis in 1904 - and the first United States native ever.

1927

Walter Hagen wins his fourth consecutive PGA Championship.
The United State Department of Agriculture says it has developed "the perfect putting green grass" -- creeping bent.
Bobby Jones wins the British Open and U.S. Amateur, and publishes Down the Fairway.
The United States whips Great Britain 9-1/2 to 2-1/2, in the inaugural Ryder Cup match at Worcester Country Club in Massachusetts.

1928

Cypress Point Golf Club opens in Pebble Beach, Calif.
Walter Hagen wins the British Open. He would take his final title in the championship the following year at Muirfield.
Bobby Jones and Glenna Collett continue to dominate amateur golf. Jones wins the U.S. Amateur final by a 10 and 9 margin. Collett claims the Women's Amateur, 13 and 12.

1929

Great Britain evens the fledgling Ryder Cup series by winning on its home turf at Moortown, England.
Twenty-year-old Horton Smith sweeps out of Missouri to win eight professional tournaments, including four in a row in the spring.
The world's two best women amateurs meet in the British Ladies Amateur. Great Britain's Joyce Wethered beats America's Glenna Collett, 3 and 1, at the Old Course in St. Andrews, Scotland, claiming her fourth British title.
The U.S. Amateur goes to the West Coast for the first time, at Pebble Beach Golf Links. Bobby Jones is the victim of a first-round upset.

1930

Bobby Jones wins the Grand Slam - the U.S. Open, U.S. Amateur, British Open and British Amateur - then retires at age 28.
Glenna Collett wins her third consecutive U.S. Women's Amateur.
The onset of the Depression brings a slowdown in golf-course construction, which lasts through the end of World War II.
Seventeen-year-old Ben Hogan registers as a professional at the Texas Open.

1931
The USGA mandates use of a larger and lighter ball (1.68 inches and 1.55 ounces). This so-called "balloon ball" is very unpopular, and after only one year the USGA increases the allowed weight to 1.62 ounces, keeping the size at 1.68 inches. Meanwhile, the R&A stays with the 1.62-inch, 1.62-ounce ball.
The concave-faced wedge is banned, but Gene Sarazen perfects his design of the sand wedge, with a wide flange, which will remain legal.
Bobby Jones films a series of instructional movies, How I Play Golf .
Billy Burke is the first to win a U.S. Open using steel shafts. It takes him seventy-two extra holes (two thirty-six-hole playoffs) to beat George Von Elm.

1932
Gene Sarazen wins the U.S. Open and British Open, with record scores of 286 and 283, respectively. He finishes the U.S. Open with a record 66.
The first Curtis Cup Match, between women amateurs of the U.S. and Great Britain, is won by the United States, 5-1/2 to 3-1/2.

1933
Augusta National Golf Club, founded by Bobby Jones, has its grand opening in January.
Johnny Goodman is the fifth, and most recent, amateur to win the U.S. Open.

1934
Horton Smith wins the first Augusta National Invitational. Its name will be changed to The Masters in 1939.
Lawson Little wins the U.S. Amateur and British Amateur, the "Little Slam," a feat he will repeat in 1935.
England's Henry Cotton ties the British Open record with a 67 in the first round and breaks it with a 65 in the second. His victory is the first by a Briton in eleven years.
Virginia Van Wie wins the U.S. Women's Amateur for the third consecutive year.
Joseph C. Dey, Jr., is appointed Executive Secretary of the USGA. He will hold the post for thirty-four years.
Helen Hicks becomes one of the first women to turn professional. There are no professional tournaments, but she promotes products for Wilson-Western Sporting Goods Company.

1935
Gene Sarazen strikes the most famous shot in the history of The Masters - a double eagle on Augusta National's fifteenth hole, which ties Craig Wood during the final round. Sarazen wins the playoff the next day.
Glenna Collett Vare wins her sixth U.S. Women's Amateur.

1936
Lawson Little turns professional instead of going for a third consecutive U.S. Amateur - British Amateur sweep.
Unheralded Tony Manero closes with a 67 to win the U.S. Open with a record 282.
In winning the U.S. Amateur, Johnny Fischer is the last to capture a national championship using hickory-shafted clubs.

1937
Sam Snead bursts onto the professional circuit with five victories.
The first Bing Crosby National Pro-Am is held at Rancho Santa Fe in San Diego. It will move to Pebble Beach in 1947.
Byron Nelson wins The Masters, making up six strokes on fellow Texan Ralph Guldahl on the twelfth and thirteenth holes of the final round.
Denny Shute wins his second consecutive PGA Championship.
The United States wins the Ryder Cup on British soil for the first time.

1938
A new USGA Rule limits players to fourteen clubs. Some players (e.g., Lawson Little) have been carrying as many as twenty-five. The Rule is designed to restore shot-making skill.
Sam Snead wins eight tournaments and shatters the earnings record with $19,534.
Ralph Guldahl wins his second consecutive U.S. Open, and third consecutive Western Open.
Patty Berg, twice a runner-up, wins the U.S. Women's Amateur at age twenty.

1939
The Ryder Cup is canceled because of the war in Europe.
Byron Nelson wins the U.S. Open in a playoff over Craig Wood and Denny Shute after Sam Snead makes an eight on the seventy-second hole.

1940
The Walker Cup is canceled because of the war. The British Open and Amateur are also canceled.
Ben Hogan wins his first individual title, the North & South Open, then takes the next two events as well.
Jimmy Demaret, the most colorful golfer of his generation, wins the first of three Masters titles despite Lloyd Mangrum's tournament-record round of 64.
Ed "Porky" Oliver would have tied for first in the U.S. Open, but he is disqualified from the playoff. While trying to beat a storm, Oliver and five other players start the final round before their scheduled starting times. Lawson Little defeats Gene Sarazen for the title.
Bryon Nelson beats Sam Snead, one up, in a match of titans for the PGA Championship.

1941
Craig Wood ends a string of frustrating runner-up finishes in major events by winning both The Masters and the U.S. Open.
The USGA develops a machine for testing golf-ball velocity at impact. Plans for limiting initial velocity are put on hold until after the war.

1942
A Rule change authorizes players to stop play on their own initiative if they consider themselves endangered by lightning.
The USGA cancels all its championships for the duration of the war. The PGA of America continues its Tour schedule, though it is an abbreviated one.
The United States government halts the manufacturing of golf equipment.
Sam Snead wins the PGA Championship. He had been granted a delay of several days before induction into the Navy so he could play in the event.
Byron Nelson beats Ben Hogan in a playoff for The Masters.
Ben Hogan wins the Hale America National Open, a charity event for the Navy Relief Fund and the USO. He shoots a second-round 62 en route to a 17-under-par total.

1943
The war takes a heavy toll on competitive golf. The PGA Tour is reduced to only three tournaments. There is no PGA Championship.
The Masters is canceled for the duration of the war.

1944
The PGA Tour is back up to 22 tournaments, though many players remain in military service.
The Tam O'Shanter Open offers a record purse of $42,000 and is won by Byron Nelson, who is exempt from military service because of a blood disorder.

1945
Byron Nelson wins a record 11 consecutive tournaments from March through August, and 18 during the year. While fields aren't at full strength, Sam Snead and Ben Hogan each are on hand for part of the year.
Ben Hogan sets a 72-hole scoring record with 261; two weeks later, Byron Nelson breaks it with 259.

1946
Ben Hogan wins 13 PGA Tour events, including the PGA Championship, but loses The Masters and U.S. Open by one stroke.
Sam Snead wins the British Open at the Old Course in St. Andrews, Scotland. On passing the course on a train on his way to the championship, Snead declares, "That looks like an old, abandoned golf course."
The first U.S. Women's Open is held, and the only one ever waged at match play. Patty Berg is the champion.
Byron Nelson retires at age 34 after winning six tournaments during the year.

1947

The USGA revises and simplifies the Rules of Golf, going from 61 Rules to 21. The R & A doesn't go along, however.
South African Bobby Locke storms onto the PGA Tour with six victories.
The U.S. Open is televised - but only locally - on KSD-TV in St. Louis.
Babe Didrikson Zaharias is the first American to win the British Ladies' Open Amateur. She turns pro later in the year.
Golf World magazine begins publishing.

1948

The first U.S. Junior Amateur is played, with Dean Lind beating future U.S. Open champion Ken Venturi in the championship match.
Bobby Locke wins the Chicago Victory National Championship by 16 strokes, establishing a PGA Tour record.
Ben Hogan captures the first of four U.S. Opens with a record score of 276. He also wins the PGA Championship.
Golf Journalmagazine - originally USGA Journal Combining Timely Turf Topics - appears.
African-American professionals Ted Rhodes and Bill Spiller finish in the top 25 at the Los Angeles Open, one of the few tournaments open to African-Americans. They remain excluded from most PGA Tour events under a rule that leaves the decision up to tournament sponsors

1949

Sam Snead wins The Masters by finishing 67-67. Later, he adds the PGA Championship.
Marlene Bauer, 15, wins the inaugural U.S. Girls' Junior Championship, and turns pro later in the year.
The Ladies Professional Golf Association, under dynamic tournament manager Fred Corcoran, replaces the struggling Women's Professional Golf Association.
Louise Suggs wins the U.S. Women's Open by 14 strokes

1950

Ben Hogan returns to the Tour a year after nearly being killed in an automobile accident and wins the U.S. Open at Merion in an 18-hole playoff.
Jimmy Demaret wins his third Masters.
Babe Zaharias wins the U.S. Women's Open by nine strokes.
Sam Snead wins 11 events on the PGA Tour.
1951

The USGA and R&A hold a joint conference and agree on a uniform Rules of Golf worldwide, effective the following year. The only remaining difference is the size of the ball (the R&A permits a diameter of 1.62 inches compared with the USGA's 1.68 inches). The stymie is abolished, center-shafted putters are legalized (in Britain center-shafted putters had been illegal since 1909), and the out-of-bounds penalty is made stroke and distance.
Ben Hogan wins The Masters and a second consecutive U.S. Open. The latter victory comes at Oakland Hills, deemed a "monster" after its redesign by Robert Trent Jones Sr., in 1950.
Golf Digest begins publishing.

1952

General Dwight David Eisenhower is elected U.S. President. During his eight years in office, his cottage at Augusta National becomes the "Little White House."
Jack Burke Jr. wins four consecutive events on the PGA Tour, second in history to Byron Nelson's 11.
Patty Berg shoots an LPGA-record 64 in the Richmond Open.
Julius Boros captures the U.S. Open. He also wins the biggest first-place prize, $25,000, at the World Championship.

1953

Ben Hogan takes the three majors he enters - The Masters, U.S. Open and British Open. It is his fourth U.S. Open title.
The first nationally televised tournament, the World Championship, ends with a moment of high drama when Lew Worsham holes out from 135 yards to eagle the final hole and win by one.
Tommy Armour's popular instruction book, How to Play Your Best Golf All the Time, published .

1954
The U.S. Open is televised nationally for the first time. Also new - the holes are roped for gallery control.
Babe Zaharias wins the U.S. Women's Open by twelve strokes a year after undergoing cancer surgery.
Sam Snead beats Ben Hogan in a playoff to win The Masters after amateur Billy Joe Patton falters on the final nine holes of regulation play.
The World Championship has the first $100,000 purse, with $50,000 going to the winner - five times more than the next largest first prize. Bob Toski earns the windfall.

1955
Unheralded Jack Fleck stuns Ben Hogan with his U.S. Open playoff win at The Olympic Club.
Arnold Palmer scores his first professional victory in the Canadian Open.
Life Magazine pays Ben Hogan $20,000 for a cover story revealing the "secret" he discovered nine years earlier which rid him of a hook.

1956
Jack Burke, Jr., makes up an eight-stroke deficit on amateur Ken Venturi to win The Masters. Burke also takes the PGA Championship.
Australian Peter Thomson wins his third consecutive British Open.
Cary Middlecoff captures his second U.S. Open title.
Yardage for guidance in computing par are increased to current levels:
Three - up to 250 yards
Four - 251 to 470 yards
Five - 471 yards and over

1957
Jackie Pung finishes as the apparent winner of the U.S. Women's Open, but is disqualified for signing an incorrect scorecard. Betsy Rawls takes the title.
Bobby Locke wins his fourth British Open with a record tying 279.
Great Britain triumphs in the Ryder Cup for the first time since 1933.
Ben Hogan publishes an instructional classic: Five Lessons: The Modern Fundamentals of Golf .
Charlie Sifford wins the Long Beach Open, an event "cosponsored" by the PGA.

1958
A new USGA system provides just one handicap for golfers, not "current" and "basic."
Arnold Palmer wins his first of four Masters titles.
At age twenty-three Mickey Wright sweeps the U.S. Women's Open and LPGA Championship.
The PGA Championship changes from match play to stroke play. Dow Finsterwald claims the title.
The USGA and R&A organize the World Amateur Golf Council, and hold the first World Amateur Team Championship at the Old Course in St. Andrews, Scotland. Bobby Jones serves as captain of the American squad.

1959
Mickey Wright wins her second consecutive U.S. Women's Open.
Bill Wright becomes the first African-American player to take a national championship, claiming the U.S. Amateur Public Links.
Nineteen-year-old Jack Nicklaus captures first of two U.S. Amateur titles.
Betsy Rawls wins 10 LPGA tournaments.

1960
Arnold Palmer, golf's most popular player, has his greatest year. He wins The Masters with birdies on the last two holes, the U.S. Open with a final-round 65, finishes second in the British Open, and wins eight PGA Tour events.
Betsy Rawls wins her fourth U.S. Women's Open.

1961
Mickey Wright wins three majors - the U.S. Women's Open, LPGA Championship, and the Titleholders - and 10 events in all.
The PGA of America drops the Caucasians-only clause from its constitution, allowing African-Americans to become members.
Arnold Palmer wins the British Open; his appearances in the event starting in 1960 convince more American players to make the trip.
Jerry Barber sinks monster putts of 40 and 60 feet on the last two holes to tie Don January for the PGA Championship; Barber then wins the 18-hole playoff by a stroke.
Anne Quast Sander wins the U.S. Women's Amateur by a record 14 and 13 margin over Phyllis Preuss.
There are now 5 million golfers in the United States, according to the National Golf Foundation.

1962
Rookie professional Jack Nicklaus beats hometown favorite Arnold Palmer to win the U.S. Open in a playoff at Oakmont Country Club near Pittsburgh.
Arnold Palmer wins The Masters, British Open, and seven PGA Tour events.
Mickey Wright wins 10 tournaments for the second consecutive year.
For the first time, water hazards are marked with painted lines at the U.S. Open.

1963
Arnold Palmer is the first player to surpass $100,000 in earnings in a single year.
Jack Nicklaus wins The Masters and PGA Championship.
At the age of 20 years, 6 months, Ray Floyd is the youngest player to win a PGA Tour event (the St. Petersburg Open) since 1928.
New Zealand's Bob Charles becomes the only left-hander to win one of the four major championships, claiming the British Open.
Mickey Wright wins 13 events on the LPGA Tour.
Clubmakers are experimenting with the casting method for making irons, enabling them to create a larger "sweet spot" than forged blades offer.

1964
Pete Brown becomes the first African-American to win an "official" PGA Tournament, taking the Waco Turner Open.
Ken Venturi wins the U.S. Open despite suffering from heat prostration during a 36-hole final day at Congressional Country Club outside Washington, D.C.
Mickey Wright wins her fourth U.S. Open, one of 11 tournaments she captures during the year.
Bobby Nichols wins the PGA Championship with a 72-hole total of 271.
Arnold Palmer, for the fourth time, wins The Masters.

1965
Sam Snead earns his 81st and final PGA Tour victory in the Greater Greensboro Open, while becoming the Tour's oldest winner ever at 52 years, 10 months.
The U.S. Amateur changes from match play to stroke play. The U.S. Open is held over four days instead of three; no more 36 holes on the final day.
Jack Nicklaus wins The Masters by nine strokes with a record 271 total. Tournament host Bobby Jones says Nicklaus "plays a game with which I am not familiar."
Gary Player joins Ben Hogan and Gene Sarazen to become the third player in history to win all four majors when he captures the U.S. Open. The South African is the first foreign winner of the Open in 45 years. He donates his winners check back to the USGA in support of junior golf.
Peter Thomson earns his fifth British Open.

1966
Billy Casper wins the U.S. Open in a playoff after Arnold Palmer drops a seven-stroke lead over the last nine holes of regulation at The Olympic Club in San Francisco, Calif.
Jack Nicklaus takes his third Masters in four years and second in a row. He also is the British Open champion, becoming the fourth player to win all four major events.

1967
Jack Nicklaus takes the U.S. Open with a record total of 275 at Baltusrol Golf Club in New Jersey.
Catherine Lacoste of France becomes the only amateur to win the U.S. Women's Open.
Forty-five-year-old Charlie Sifford wins the Greater Hartford Open.

1968
Croquet-style putting, recently employed by Sam Snead, is ruled illegal by the USGA.
The Tournament Players Division is created within the PGA.
Roberto De Vicenzo loses The Masters when he signs an incorrect scorecard for one stroke higher than he actually shot. He would have been in an 18-hole playoff with Bob Goalby, who is declared the winner.
Lee Trevino is the first player to break 70 for all four rounds in a U.S. Open, winning with a record-tying 275 total.
Forty-eight-year-old Julius Boros is the oldest player to claim a major title, winning the PGA Championship.
Jo Anne Gunderson Carner wins her fifth U.S. Women's Amateur.
Arnold Palmer becomes the first player to top $1 million in career earnings.
Kathy Whitworth and Carol Mann each win 10 tournaments on the LPGA Tour.

1969
Jo Anne Carner is the last amateur to win an LPGA Tour event, the Burdine's Invitational.
Tony Jacklin is the first homebred player to win the British Open in 18 years.

1970
Mickey Wright retires from full-time competition at age 34, while Jo Anne Carner turns professional at age 30 after an outstanding amateur career.
England's Tony Jacklin wins the U.S. Open.
Jack Nicklaus wins the British Open in a playoff after Doug Sanders misses a 3-foot putt on the 72nd green.
Lanny Wadkins beats Tom Kite by one stroke to win the U.S. Amateur.
1971

Lee Trevino becomes the first player to win the U.S., British, and Canadian Open with his three victories in a four-week stretch. Tiger Woods would match that feat in 2000.
Astronaut Alan Shepard takes the game to new frontiers by hitting a 6-iron shot during a walk on the moon.
With his PGA Championship victory, Jack Nicklaus becomes the first player to win all the majors twice.
The number of golfers in the U.S. has doubled in the last 10 years - there are now 10 million.

1972

Jack Nicklaus wins The Masters and U.S. Open, then is thwarted in his bid for the Grand Slam by Lee Trevino in the British Open.
The Colgate-Dinah Shore Winners Circle debuts on the LPGA Tour, offering the first six-figure purse in women's golf -- $110,000.
Spalding introduces the two-piece Top-Flite ball, constructed with a solid core inside a durable synthetic cover.
Title IX legislation is passed by Congress, forcing colleges to provide more opportunities for female athletes. The expansion of women's college golf increases the talent pool of the LPGA Tour.
Carolyn Cudone wins her fifth consecutive USGA Senior Women's Amateur, a record for any USGA event.

1973

Johnny Miller becomes the U.S. Open Champion, firing a record 63 in the final round at Oakmont.
Tom Weiskopf takes five tournaments, including the British Open, in a two-month stretch.
Gene Sarazen, age 71, scores an ace on the "Postage Stamp" hole during the British Open at Royal Troon.
Ben Crenshaw bursts onto the PGA Tour by winning his first event as a member, the San Antonio Texas Open.
The U.S. Amateur returns to match play; the winner is Craig Stadler.
Kathy Whitworth is the LPGA Player of the Year for the seventh time in eight years.
The graphite shaft is introduced.

1974

Johnny Miller wins eight PGA Tour events.
Deane Beman becomes Commissioner of the PGA Tour.
The Tournament Players Championship makes its debut.
The Muirfield Village Golf Club, designed by Jack Nicklaus and Desmond Muirhead, opens near Nicklaus' hometown of Columbus, Ohio.
Sandra Haynie sweeps the U.S. Women's Open and LPGA Championship.

1975

Jack Nicklaus wins his fifth Masters in a classic battle with Tom Weiskopf and Johnny Miller. Nicklaus also takes his fourth PGA Championship.
Lee Elder becomes the first African-American to play in The Masters.
Nineteen-year-old Amy Alcott wins in just her third LPGA Tour event.

1976

Ray Floyd wins The Masters with a record tying 271 total.
Judy Rankin, with $150,734 in earnings, becomes the first LPGA Tour player to earn more than $100,000 in a season.
The USGA adopts the Overall Distance Standard for golf balls, limiting them to 280 yards under standard test conditions.
Jack Nicklaus leads the PGA Tour in earnings for the eighth and final time.

1977

Al Geiberger is the first PGA Tour player to break 60, shooting a 59 in the Danny Thomas Memphis Classic.
Tom Watson hits the big time, besting Jack Nicklaus in both The Masters and the British Open. Watson's 268 sets a British Open record.
The U.S. Open is the first American golf event to provide television coverage of all 18 holes.
A major championship is decided by sudden death for the first time when Lanny Wadkins beats Gene Littler in the PGA Championship at Pebble Beach.

1978

Nancy Lopez gives the LPGA Tour a boost by winning five tournaments in a row, and nine in all, during her first full season.
Gary Player takes his third Masters by shooting a 64 in the final round, then wins the next two events as well.
Jack Nicklaus's third British Open title gives him at least three wins in all four majors.
The Legends of Golf debuts, an event that will lead to the birth of the Senior Tour (now called the Champions Tour).

1979

TaylorMade introduces its first metal wood. In the next decade, metal woods will become predominant.
The USGA plants a tree overnight at the Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio to block a shortcut taken by several players in the first round of the U.S. Open.
Sixty-seven-year-old Sam Snead shoots a 66 during the Quad Cities Open.
Twenty-two-year-old Seve Ballesteros wins the British Open at Royal Lytham & St. Annes.

1980

Jack Nicklaus captures the U.S. Open (his fourth) and PGA Championship (his fifth) at age 40. He shoots a U.S. Open record 272 in the Open at Baltusrol and ties the 18-hole record with a 63.
The USGA adds the U.S. Senior Open to its list of Championships. Roberto De Vicenzo is the inaugural Champion.
Tom Watson leads the PGA Tour money list for an unprecedented fourth consecutive year. He wins six U.S. events and the British Open.
The Tournament Players Club at Sawgrass, designed by Pete Dye, opens near Jacksonville, Fla. It is the first "stadium course," and the first course of the PGA Tour's TPC network.
The USGA introduces the golf ball Symmetry Standard to the Rules of Golf.

1981

Kathy Whitworth is the first woman golfer to top $1million in career earnings.
The USGA adds the U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship for players 25 and older, an event in which career amateurs won't have to face college golfers, who often dominate the U.S. Amateur.
Tom Kite finishes in the top 10 in 21 of 26 tournaments and leads the PGA Tour money list.

1982

Tom Watson takes his only U.S. Open, chipping in on the 71st hole to beat Jack Nicklaus at Pebble Beach.
Juli Inkster takes her third consecutive U.S. Women's Amateur, the first to accomplish this feat in 48 years.
Kathy Whitworth breaks Mickey Wright's record for career LPGA victories by winning her 83rd event. She will later take five more.
Jan Stephenson wins the LPGA Championship, and the next year, the U.S. Women's Open.

1983

For the fifth time, Tom Watson is the British Open champion.

1984

Golf instruction videotapes begin to hit the market.
Hollis Stacy takes her third U.S. Women's Open to go with her three U. S. Girls' Junior titles.
Forty-year-old Lee Trevino is the PGA titleholder, giving him two U.S. Open, British Open, and PGA titles.

1985

The USGA introduces the Slope System to adjust handicaps according to the difficulty of the course being played.
Europe beats the U.S. in the Ryder Cup for the first time since 1957 (the Great Britain and Ireland team was expanded to include all of Europe in 1979). Two years later, the European team wins for the first time on U.S. soil.
T.C. Chen drops a four-stroke lead in the U.S. Open at Oakland Hills by double-hitting a chip shot and making a quadruple bogey on the fifth hole. Andy North wins the championship.

1986

Forty-six-year-old Jack Nicklaus wins his sixth Masters and 18th professional major.
Forty-three-year-old Ray Floyd wins the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in Southampton, N.Y., the first Open played at the club in 90 years.
Bob Tway holes out from a greenside bunker on the 72nd hole to break a tie and beat Greg Norman in the PGA Championship.
Pat Bradley wins three LPGA majors - the Nabisco Dinah Shore, LPGA Championship, and du Maurier Classic.
Greg Norman wins nine events worldwide (two in the U.S., three in Europe, and four in Australia).
There are now 20 million golfers and 12,384 courses in the U.S.

1987

Larry Mize beats Greg Norman in a sudden-death playoff at The Masters by holing a 100-foot pitch on the second extra hole.
Judy Bell becomes the first woman elected to the USGA Executive Committee.
The PGA Tour tops $30 million in prize money; the new season-ending Nabisco Championship is the first $2 million event.
Nick Faldo pars all 18 holes of the final round in the British Open to win his first major.
Craig Stadler is disqualified from the Shearson Lehman Brothers Andy Williams San Diego Open for kneeling on a towel to play a shot, then signing an incorrect scorecard.

1988

Mary Bea Porter interrupts her qualifying round for the LPGA's Standard Register Classic to resuscitate a boy who had fallen into a nearby swimming pool.
Seve Ballesteros wins his third British Open - one of seven victories during the year in seven different countries.
Curtis Strange becomes the first player to collect $1 million in season earnings on the PGA Tour.
The groove wars begin. The USGA rules that Ping Eye2 irons don't conform to the Rules because the grooves are too close together. Karsten Manufacturing, maker of Ping, files suit. A settlement will be reached in 1990 under which new Pings are modified to conform and existing Pings are deemed acceptable.

1989

The PGA Tour announces it will ban square-groove irons next year, but Karsten Manufacturing wins a court injunction against the move. Four years later, in an out-of-court settlement, the Tour reverses itself and permits square grooves.
Curtis Strange wins his second consecutive U.S. Open, the first to do so since Ben Hogan (1950 and 1951).

1990

After a controversy at the PGA Championship site Shoal Creek Country Club in Birmingham, Ala., the PGA of America and PGA Tour announce they will not play tournaments at clubs that have no African-American or women members.
Robert Gamez beats Greg Norman in the Nestle Invitational by holing a seven-iron from 176 yards on the 72nd hole.
Hale Irwin, at age 45, becomes the oldest U.S. Open winner.
Nick Faldo becomes the first player since Jack Nicklaus (1965 and 1966) to capture consecutive Masters titles. He also wins the British Open.
Phil Mickelson sweeps the U.S. Amateur and NCAA Championship, a feat not accomplished since Jack Nicklaus.
The R&A adopts the American-sized ball (1.68 inches) as standard all over the world.

1991

Long-hitting rookie John Daly overpowers the field in the PGA Championship, after making the field as an alternate.
Amateur Phil Mickelson wins the PGA Tour's Northern Telecom Open at age 20.
Chip Beck shoots a 59 during the Las Vegas Invitational to tie Al Geiberger's PGA Tour record.
Payne Stewart claims the U.S. Open at Hazeltine in a playoff with Scott Simpson.

1992

Fred Couples' victory at The Masters puts him over $1million in earnings in the second week of April.
The PGA Tour tops $50 million in purses; the LPGA and Senior Tours both go over $20 million.
Ray Floyd, at age 49, wins the Doral Ryder Open 29 years after his first PGA Tour victory. Later in the year, he wins on the Senior Tour.
Betsy King wins the LPGA Championship by 11 strokes with a 72-hole record 267.
John F. Merchant, a Connecticut attorney, is the first African-American elected to the USGA Executive Committee.
Nick Faldo captures his third British Open.

1993

Bernard Langer wins his second Masters.
Greg Norman wins his second British Open. Norman's 267 total sets a British Open record.
For the third consecutive year, Tiger Woods is the U.S. Junior Amateur champion. No other player has repeated in the event.
Sarah LeBrun Ingram becomes the first player to take the U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur Championship twice. The event began in 1987.

1994

Nick Price wins the British Open at Turnberry, aided by a final-round eagle on the 17th hole.
Tim Finchem succeeds Deane Beman as Commissioner of the PGA Tour.
Arnold Palmer bids farewell to the U.S. Open in a stirring march up the 18th fairway at Oakmont.
Patty Sheehan wins the U.S. Women's Open at Indianwood, her second in three years.
Nick Price wins his second major of the year -- the PGA Championship at Southern Hills.

1995

Corey Pavin claims the USGA's Centennial U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills.
Ben Crenshaw wins The Masters just days after the death of his mentor and teacher Harvey Penick.
Tiger Woods wins his second consecutive U.S. Amateur Championship, held at Newport (R.I.) Country Club.
At St. Andrews, John Daly captures the British Open, his second career major.
The European team wins the Ryder Cup at Oak Hill by the margin of 14½-13½.

1996

Judy Bell becomes the first woman elected President of the USGA.
Nick Faldo overtakes Greg Norman to win The Masters.
Tiger Woods wins his third consecutive U.S. Amateur Championship at Pumpkin Ridge. Later, he joins the PGA Tour, wins twice, and earns Rookie of the Year honors.
Tom Watson wins the Memorial Tournament - his first victory in nine years.
Kelli Kuehne wins her second consecutive U.S. Women's Amateur title, and later adds the British Ladies Open Amateur.
Annika Sorenstam wins her second consecutive Women's Open Championship, held at Pine Needles.

1997

Tiger Woods wins The Masters in record fashion, with an 18-under-par total and a 12-stroke margin of victory.
Ernie Els wins the U.S. Open at Congressional, his second in four years.
The first Ryder Cup is held on Continental European soil, at Valderrama in Spain. The European team wins.
Justin Leonard wins the British Open at Royal Troon, carding a final-round 65.
Jack Nicklaus competes in the U.S. Open at Congressional -- his 150th consecutive major championship.

1998

Lee Janzen wins his second U.S. Open title of the 90's at The Olympic Club in San Francisco, Calif.
Casey Martin is awarded the right to ride in a golf cart at the U.S. Open.
Mark O'Meara, at age 41, becomes the oldest player to win The Masters and the British Open in the same year.
Vijay Singh, with a victory at the PGA Championship, wins his first major; it is the first major championship claimed by a player from Fiji.
Se Ri Pak, a 19-year-old phenom from Korea, captivates the LPGA Tour with major wins at the U.S. Women's Open and the LPGA Championship.

1999

Thirteen-year-old Aree Wongluekiet becomes the youngest winner in USGA history by capturing the Girls' Junior championship at Green Spring Valley Hunt Club.
The U.S. wins the Ryder Cup in dramatic comeback at The Country Club in Brookline, Mass.
Paul Lawrie, a native of Scotland, wins the British Open in a three-way playoff when Frenchman Jean Van de Velde collapses on the 72nd hole.
Jose Maria Olazabal wins his second Masters.
The U.S. Senior Open attracts record crowds of over 250,000 in Des Moines, Iowa.
Payne Stewart wins his second U.S. Open title at Pinehurst, sinking a dramatic par putt on the 72nd hole. Tragically, he perishes along with five others in a plane crash four months later.
Juli Inkster smashes the U.S. Women's Open scoring record at Old Waverly. Later in the year, with a victory in the Safeway LPGA Golf Championship, she earns entry into the LPGA Hall of Fame.
The USGA implements testing protocol for "spring-like" effect in metal woods.

2000

The USGA celebrates the 100th playing of the U.S. Open, U.S. Amateur, and U.S. Women's Amateur, as well as the 75th playing of the U.S. Amateur Public Links.
Shigeki Maruyama cards a 58 in sectional qualifying for the U.S. Open.
At 10 years of age, Michelle Wie becomes the youngest player to compete in a USGA women's amateur competition when she qualifies for the Women's Amateur Public Links in Aberdeen, N.C.
Tiger Woods rolls to a record 15-stroke victory at the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach (Calif.) Golf Links. It is Woods' first Open title and his seventh USGA championship. He would go on to win the season's final two major championships, the British Open at St. Andrews and the PGA Championship at Valhalla, becoming the first golfer since Ben Hogan in 1953 to win three majors in a year.
By defeating Anna Schultz, 3 and 2, in the final of the Women's Mid-Amateur, Ellen Port becomes only the second player in the championship's history to win three Women's Mid-Amateur titles, joining Sarah LeBrun Ingram.

2001

Tiger Woods is the first player to hold all four professional-major titles at one time when he captures The Masters in April. It becomes known as the "The Tiger Slam."
Retief Goosen of South Africa wins the U.S. Open at Southern Hills in an 18-hole playoff over Mark Brooks.
Karrie Webb rolls to an eight-shot victory at the U.S. Women's Open at Pine Needles and joins six others (Mickey Wright, Donna Caponi, Susie Maxwell Berning, Hollis Stacy, Betsy King and Annika Sorenstam) as back-to-back winners of this championship.
Annika Sorenstam becomes the first female golfer to ever shoot a 59 in an LPGA event, achieving the feat at the Standard Register PING in Phoenix, Ariz.
Christina Kim registers the lowest 18-hole score in any USGA championship when she fires a 62 in the second round of stroke-play qualifying at the U.S. Girls' Junior at Indian Hills Country Club in Mission Hills, Kan.
James Vargas establishes a U.S. Junior 36-hole stroke-play scoring record of 132 at Oak Hills Country Club in San Antonio, Texas.
Meredith Duncan outlasts Nicole Perrot in a 37-hole thriller for the U.S. Women's Amateur title at Flint Hills National Golf Club in Wichita, Kan. The loss prevented Perrot from becoming the first golfer to capture the U.S. Girls' Junior and Women's Amateur in the same year.
In the first 36-hole final in U.S. Mid-Amateur history, Tim Jackson defeats George Zahringer, 1 up, at San Joaquin Country Club in Fresno, Calif.
The Great Britain and Ireland Walker Cup team registers a 15-9 victory over the USA squad at Ocean Forest Golf Club. It's the first time the GB&I squad had posted consecutive victories over the USA in the 79-year history of the Match.
Kemp Richardson joins his later father, John, as the only father-son duo to capture a USGA championship, when he defeats Bill Ploeger, 2 and 1, for the USGA Senior Amateur crown at Norwood Hills Country Club in St. Louis, Mo. John Richardson also won the Senior Amateur title in 1987 at Saucon Valley Country Club in Bethlehem, Pa.

2002
For the first time ever, the U.S. Open is held at a publicly owned facility (Bethpage State Park's Black Course). Tiger Woods wins the title by three strokes over Phil Mickelson and is the only player in the field to finish under par (-3).
Ernie Els ends Tiger Woods' hopes for a Grand Slam by taking the British Open at Muirfield in a playoff over Steve Elkington, Thomas Levet and Stuart Appleby. Woods had won the Masters and U.S. Open titles.
Juli Inkster returns to the site of her first Women's Amateur championship (Prairie Dunes Country Club in Hutchinson, Kan.) and fires a final-round 66 to beat Annika Sorenstam by two strokes for her second U.S. Women's Open title. Inkster joined Jack Nicklaus as the only players to win a U.S. Amateur and Open at the same course.
Carol Semple Thompson, playing in her record 12th Curtis Cup Match, sinks a 27-foot birdie putt from the fringe at the 18th hole to secure the USA's 11-7 victory over Great Britain and Ireland. The dramatic putt was fitting since the Match was played in Thompson's hometown of Pittsburgh, Pa., at the Fox Chapel Golf Club. It was also Thompson's 18th victory in Curtis Cup play, another record.
George Zahringer, at 49, becomes the oldest player to win the U.S. Mid-Amateur title, when he defeats Jerry Courville Jr., 3 and 2, at his home course, The Stanwich Club in Greenwich, Conn.
Carol Semple Thompson, en route to winning her fourth consecutive USGA Senior Women's Amateur championship at Mid-Pines Inn and Golf Club in Southern Pines, N.C., establishes a consecutive match-play winning streak record of 24.

2003

Michelle Wie, 13, becomes the youngest champion of an adult USGA championship when she defeats Virada Nirapathponporn in the final of the Women's Amateur Public Links Championship at Ocean Hammock Golf Club in Palm Coast, Fla.
Jim Furyk establishes a 54-hole U.S. Open scoring record of 200 en route to a three-stroke victory over Stephen Leaney. Furyk's 72-hole total of 272 tied an Open mark held by Jack Nicklaus, Lee Janzen and Tiger Woods.
Hilary Lunke outlasts Angela Stanford and Kelly Robbins in an 18-hole playoff for the U.S. Women's Open title. Lunke becomes the first player since Annika Sorenstam in 1995 to make the Women's Open her first professional victory. Lunke also is the first champion to have won by going through local and sectional qualifying.