Professional Golfers' Association

Jack Nicklaus. Ben Hogan. Tiger Woods. They are the legendary names in professional golf that no one forgets. While you may not know Charles Blair Macdonald’s name, his contributions to golf course design are just as legendary as the players. Read this Fried Egg article to learn more about the man who created the 21 design principles still used today, and why he never charged for his services.

Television began capturing golf shots in 1954 when NBC first aired the US Open. Since then, cameras have captured the once-in-a-lifetime shots of the Tour's top players. Watch this Mojo video to learn which golfer hit the only sudden-death-ace ever, see Jack Nicklaus hit the flag at the 1972 US Open, and Tiger Wood’s iconic chip at the Masters in 2005.

Automatic eligibility is granted to past PGA Championship winners, while newcomers must win a PGA-approved tournament, rank in the top 70 of the FedEx Cup standings, or finish in the top 30 of the Korn Ferry Tour finals.

In 1961 the PGA removed the “Caucasian-only” membership clause, marking the last major professional sports organization to desegregate. But unlike other sports, golf didn’t see an influx of Black players following the change. This article from The Ringer examines golf’s complicated history with race and gender, showing both the progress made and the challenges that remain.

In the mid-1950s, Wilfred “Bill” Winkenbach, a part-owner of the Oakland Raiders, concocted two fantasy sports games: one for Major League Baseball and one for the Professional Golfers’ Association. In 1962, he invented fantasy football alongside two writers from the Oakland Tribune.

The PGA Tour features over 30 tournaments per year, but none are as important as the four Majors: The Masters, The PGA Championship, The US Open, and The Open Championship. This Golf Monthly article dives into each Major and the courses it is played on. Learn about each tournament’s history and the traditions each weekend brings to the Tour.

The Old Course at St. Andrews is one of the oldest in the world and became the gold standard for modern golf course design. Using drone footage, this Golf Digest video gives an aerial view and detailed description of every hole. Learn how the links course features common fairways and greens for some holes. And learn the bunker names at the courses’ most notorious holes.

The Masters Champions' Dinner is an annual tradition celebrated the Tuesday before the tournament begins. The previous year's champion sets the menu, leading to a history of eclectic meals. This resource from Today's Golfer provides a brief history of the tradition and then details every menu since 1986. It’s an interesting window into the tastes of professional athletes (Tiger Woods, apparently loves chicken fingers!) and the less-than-healthy habits from the sport’s past.

With over 1 billion golf balls produced annually, an estimated 300 million to 1.5 billion are lost worldwide. On average, thousands of balls are left behind on each course, often ending up in ponds, forests, and beaches. While many golf courses recover and reuse some of these balls, studies suggest countless remain unretrieved.

When the PGA was formed in 1916 its primary objective was to help grow the game of golf, so it was set up as a nonprofit. When the PGA Tour split off in 1968, that nonprofit status stayed. But as revenue jumped past $1 billion, questions began to arise. This “Outside the Lines” investigation from 2013 dives into their tax records and details how much the PGA actually gives to charity.