Golf

Many golfers warm up prior to teeing off by visiting the driving range and practicing hitting with iron and wood clubs to improve distance and accuracy for their long game, or the putting green, practicing various shots to improve their short game. Some golfers prefer to play nine holes at a time, while others play the full 18, and the vast majority of courses offer golf carts.

Woods has been said to have single handedly revived the game of golf over the last 10 years or so, winning 14 major tournaments and topping the PGA Tour money list seven of the last 10 years. He has earned more than $10 million in three of those years, a feat that was unheard of before his time. As video games have become more popular each year, Woods has been chosen to endorse EA Sports’ golf game. No other major sports game – besides Tony Hawk’s skateboarding series – is named after an individual athlete.

Golf History

The origins of golf can be traced back hundreds of years, all the way back to Scotland where it is thought to have been invented. The oldest course in the world is considered the Old Links at Musselburgh Racecourse in Scotland back in the 1600s. In the United States, some of the most historic golf courses are Augusta in Georgia, where the Masters Tournament is held each year, and Pebble Beach Golf Links in Florida, the home of several professional tournaments each year.

Professional golf has existed in the United States in some form since 1916, but the Professional Golf Association (PGA) Tour was officially established in 1968. Since then, the two greatest golfers in the United States are considered Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods. Nicklaus won 18 major tournaments – of which there are only four per year – and won 73 tournaments on the Tour over the course of his 24 year career, second all-time only to Sam Snead, who was undoubtedly the greatest golfer of his generation as well.