Golf Compendium

Have any pairs of brother-sister golfers both won on the biggest men's and women's tours — the PGA Tour and LPGA Tour, respectively — in the world? Yes, but such sibling pairs are rare. So far, only three pairs of brothers-and-sisters have pulled off the PGA Tour/LPGA Tour double.

The record for the most birdies made by a golfer during one Masters Tournament is 28. And the golfer who holds that record is the only one so far to make more than 25 birdies in a single Masters.

Which golfers have finished below par for 72 holes in The Masters most frequently? One can answer that question by saying, "the usual suspects." And, yes, this is another Masters tournament record held by Jack Nicklaus.

1-2-3 Best Ball is the name of a golf format that is common for tournaments and can also be used by a large group of golfers teeing off in successive foursomes. In this game, the 1, 2 and 3 in its name refer to the number of scores that count on given holes.

We often hear golfers talk about aiming for "the fat part" of the putting green on approach shots. What does that mean? It's all about choosing the safest aiming point.

Ed "Porky" Oliver was a PGA Tour winner and Ryder Cup player in the 1940s and 1950s. A very popular player, he loved having fun on the course. But he developed a reputation for being a hard-luck golfer due to numerous second-place showings in big tournaments, including majors. He was disqualified from a U.S. Open in which he would otherwise have been in a playoff. Oliver's golf career, and his life, ended in his mid-40s.

Phil Mickelson is one of the all-time great golfers, and he's played (and practiced) a lot of golf in his lifetime. So you would probably guess that Mickelson has made a few holes-in-one over his life in golf. But how many? So many that he might just hold the record for tour pros.

"Hole high" and "pin high" are two terms used by golfers that mean exactly the same thing. These terms mean that a golfer's approach shot into a green has come to rest roughly equal to the depth of the flagstick. It's a way of saying the golfer got the distance right even if (as the case may be) the shot might not have been accurate.

"Two tie, all tie" is an expression sometimes heard in the setting of golf gambling games. What is means, basically, is that one golfer has to win a hole outright before any money (or points) changes hand, or before any golfer is eliminated.

The Hoosier Classic was a professional golf tournament played as part of the LPGA Tour schedule in the 1970s/80s. It was played in Indiana, using a 54-hole, stroke-play format.

Three Points (or 3-Points) is a putting game for the practice green. Depending on what happens on each "hole" of the putting course you and your fellow-competitors pick out, as many as three points or as few as one are up for grabs for each round.

The golfer who trailed by the most after the third round but went on to win The Players Championship was six strokes off the lead when the final round began. And then he had to survive a three-man playoff to claim the victory.

How many golfers in the history of The Players Championship have won the tournament in consecutive years? So far, the answer to that question is: One. There has only been a single back-to-back champion at The Players.

Johnny Palmer was the first "Palmer" to find success on the PGA Tour, claiming the first of his tour victories in the mid-to-late 1940s. He was among the tour's most consistent players for several years, and he also set a PGA Tour record that stood for nearly 20 years.

The Bridgestone Open was a 72-hole, stroke play golf tournament in Japan from the early 1970s into the 2020s. It was played annually as part of the Japan Golf Tour (JGTO) schedule.

"Putts by the Yard" is the name of a golf game that pays off to golfers who sink a high length of putts during the round. The number of putts you make isn't what's important (not directly, anyway). Rather, the total length of the putts you make determines the game winner.

The golf side game named Pavins is named for a golfer who was a famously short driver of the ball. So you can probably guess that this game pays off to golfers who fare well after hitting a short drive.

Golfers often refer to the "short grass" on a golf course. But even if you're not sure what the "short grass," specifically, refers to, you probably know that it's where you want your golf ball to wind up after playing a stroke.

The golf side wager known as Municipals is one that is usually safe to bet, because it rarely pays out. That's because a golfer has to make par from the wrong fairway in order to win the Municipals bet.

The Pasadena Open was a men's professional golf tournament in California in the 1920s and '30s. It was part of what was known at the time as the PGA's "winter circuit." Some important history in golf equipment was made in this tournament.