name	Masters Tournament
location	Augusta, Georgia, U.S.
establishment	1934
course	Augusta National Golf Club
par	72
yardage
tour	PGA TourPGA European TourJapan Golf Tour
format	Stroke play
purse	$8,000,000
month played	April
aggregate	270 Tiger Woods (1997)
to-par	-18 Tiger Woods (1997)
current champion	Charl Schwartzel
current	2011 Masters Tournament }}

The Masters Tournament, also known as The Masters (sometimes referred to as The U.S. Masters outside of the United States), is one of the four major championships in professional golf. Scheduled for the first full week of April, it is the first of the majors to be played each year. Unlike the other major championships, the Masters is held each year at the same location, Augusta National Golf Club, a private golf club in the city of Augusta, Georgia, USA. The Masters was started by Clifford Roberts and Bobby Jones. Jones designed Augusta National with course architect Alister MacKenzie. The tournament is an official money event on the PGA Tour, the PGA European Tour, and the Japan Golf Tour. The field of players is smaller than those of the other major championships because it is an invitational event, entry being controlled by the Augusta National Golf Club.

The tournament has a number of traditions. A green jacket has been awarded to the winner since 1949, which must be returned to the clubhouse after a year. The Champions dinner, inaugurated by Ben Hogan in 1952, is held on the Tuesday before each tournament, and is open only to past champions and certain board members of the Augusta National Golf Club. Beginning in 1963, legendary golfers, usually past champions, have hit an honorary tee shot on the morning of the first round. Such golfers have included Fred McLeod, Jock Hutchinson, Gene Sarazen, Sam Snead, Byron Nelson, Arnold Palmer, and Jack Nicklaus. Since 1960, a semi-social Par 3 Contest, on a par-3 course on Augusta National's grounds, has been played on the day before the first round of each Masters Tournament.

Nicklaus has won more Masters Tournaments than any other golfer, winning six times between 1963 and 1986. Other multiple winners include Palmer and Tiger Woods, with four each. Gary Player, from South Africa, was the first non-American player to win the tournament in 1961.

Since the course first opened in 1933, it has been modified many times by different architects. Among the changes: greens have been reshaped and occasionally rebuilt completely, bunkers have been added, water hazards have been extended, new tees have been built, hundreds of trees have been planted, and several mounds have been installed.

Format

The Masters is the first acknowledged major golf championship of the year and since 1940 has been played so that the final round is always on the second Sunday of April.

Because the Masters has a relatively small field compared to other golf tournaments, the competitors play in groups of three for the first 36 holes on the first two days. After 36 holes have been played by all players, players are eliminated to reduce the field. To "make the cut", players must be either within 44 places of the lead (ties counting) or within 10 strokes of the leader's score. These rules have applied since the 1961 tournament; from 1957 to 1960 the best 40 scores and ties and those within 10 strokes of the leader made the cut. Before 1957, there was no 36-hole cut.

Following the cut a further 36 holes are played over the final two days. If there is a tie at the end of the 72 holes, all players who are tied enter a sudden death play off starting on the 18th hole and then playing the 18th and 10th until a winner is found.

Traditions

Awards

The total prize money for the 2008 tournament was $7,500,000, with $1,350,000 going to the winner. In the inaugural year, the winner Horton Smith received $1,000 out of a $5,000 purse. After [Nicklaus's first win in 1963, he received $20,000, while after his final victory in 1986 he won $144,000. In recent years the purse has grown quickly. Between 2001 and 2008, the winners share grew by $270,000, and the purse grew by $1,500,000.

In addition to a cash prize, the winner of the tournament is presented with a distinctive green jacket, formally awarded since 1949, and informally acquired by the champions for many years before that. The green sport coat is the official attire worn by members of Augusta National while on the club grounds; each Masters winner becomes an honorary member of the club. The recipient of the green jacket has it presented to him inside the Butler Cabin soon after the end of the tournament, and the presentation is then repeated outside near the 18th green in front of the spectators. Winners keep their jacket for the first year after their first victory, then return it to the club to wear whenever they visit. The tradition began in 1949, when Sam Snead won his first of three Masters titles. The green jacket is only allowed to be removed from Augusta National by the reigning champion, after which it must remain at the club. Exceptions to this rule include Gary Player, who in his joy of winning mistakenly took his jacket home to South Africa after his 1961 victory (although he has always followed the spirit of the rule and has never worn the jacket); Seve Ballesteros who, in a recent interview with Peter Alliss from his home in Pedreña, showed off one of his two green jackets in his trophy room; and Henry Picard, whose jacket was removed from the club before the tradition was well established, remained in his closet for a number of years, and is now on display at Canterbury Golf Club in Beachwood, Ohio, where he was the club professional for many years.

By tradition, the winner of the previous year's Masters Tournament puts the jacket on the current winner at the end of the tournament. In 1966, Jack Nicklaus became the first player to win in consecutive years and he donned the jacket himself. When Nick Faldo (in 1990) and Tiger Woods (in 2002) repeated as champions, the chairman of Augusta National put the jacket on them.

There are several awards presented to players who perform exceptional feats during the tournament. The player who has the daily lowest score receives a crystal vase, while players who score a hole-in-one or a double eagle win a large crystal bowl. For each eagle a player makes he receives a pair of crystal goblets. The winner of the Par 3 competition, which is played the day before the tournament begins, wins a crystal bowl.

In addition to the green jacket, winners of the tournament receive a gold medal. They have their names engraved on the actual silver Masters trophy, introduced in 1961, which depicts the clubhouse. This trophy remains at Augusta National; since 1993 winners have received a sterling silver replica. The runner-up receives a silver medal, introduced in 1951. Beginning in 1978, a silver salver was added as an award for the runner-up.

In 1952 the Masters began presenting an award, known as the Silver Cup, to the lowest scoring amateur to make the cut. In 1954 they began presenting an amateur silver medal to the low amateur runner-up.

Other traditions

As with the other majors, winning the Masters gives a golfer several privileges which make his career more secure. Masters champions are automatically invited to play in the other three majors (the U.S. Open, the British Open, and the PGA Championship) for the next five years, and earn a lifetime invitation to the Masters. They also receive membership on the PGA Tour for the following five seasons and invitations to The Players Championship for five years.

Because the tournament was established by the amateur golfer Bobby Jones, the Masters has a tradition of honoring amateur golf. It invites winners of the most prestigious amateur tournaments in the world. Also, the current U.S. Amateur champion always plays in the same group as the defending Masters champion for the first two days of the tournament.

Since 1963 the custom in most years has been to start the tournament with an honorary opening tee shot at the first hole, typically by one of golf's legendary players. The original honorary starters were Jock Hutchison and Fred McLeod; this twosome led off every tournament from 1963 until 1973, when poor health prevented Hutchison from swinging a club. McLeod continued on until his death in 1976. Byron Nelson and Gene Sarazen started in 1981, and were then joined by Sam Snead in 1984. This trio continued until 1999 when Sarazen died, while Nelson stopped in 2001. Snead hit his final opening tee shot in 2001, a year before he too died. In 2007, Arnold Palmer took over as the honorary starter. Palmer also had the honor in 2008 and 2009. At the 2010 and 2011 Masters Tournaments, Jack Nicklaus joined Palmer as a co-honorary starter for the event.

The Champions' dinner is held each year on the Tuesday evening preceding Thursday's first round. The dinner was first held in 1952, hosted by defending champion Ben Hogan, to honor the past champions of the tournament. At that time 15 tournaments had been played, and the number of past champions was 11 (including Hogan). Officially known as the "Masters Club", it includes only past winners of the Masters, although selected members of the Augusta National Golf Club have been included as honorary members, usually the chairman. The defending champion, as host, selects the menu for the dinner. Over the years, one of the most notable dishes was haggis, served by Scotsman Sandy Lyle in 1989. Frequently, Masters champions opt to serve finely-prepared cuisine by the Masters chef from their home regions. Notable examples have included bobotie, a South African delicacy served at the behest of 2008 Masters Tournament champion Trevor Immelman. Previous examples also include German Bernhard Langer's 1986 Wiener Schnitzel feast, Brit Nick Faldo's Fish and Chips, Canadian Mike Weir's elk and wild boar, and Vijay Singh's Seafood Tom Kah and Chicken Panang Curry. Prior to the 1998 Champions Dinner, 1979 Masters Champion Fuzzy Zoeller created a media firestorm when he suggested that Tiger Woods refrain from serving collard greens and fried chicken, dishes commonly associated with Afro-American culture, at the traditional clubhouse feast. 1991 Masters Champion Ian Woosnam has asserted that Angel Cabrera's "asado," prepared diligently by Chef James Clark, Jr., represented the finest interpretation of Argentine cuisine known to a Masters chef.

The Par 3 Contest was first introduced in 1960, and was won that year by Snead. Since then it has traditionally been played on the Wednesday before the tournament starts. The Par 3 course was built in 1958. It is a nine-hole course, with a par of 27, and measures in length. There have been 73 holes-in-one in the history of the contest, with a record five occurring in 2002. No Par 3 Contest winner has also won the Masters in the same year. There have been several repeat winners, including Pádraig Harrington, Sandy Lyle, and Sam Snead. The former two won in successive years. In this event, golfers may use their children as caddies, which helps to create a family-friendly atmosphere. In 2008, the event was televised for the first time by ESPN.

Before 1982 all players in the Masters were required to use the services of an Augusta National Club caddy, who by club tradition was always an African American. Indeed, club co-founder Clifford Roberts is reputed to have said, "As long as I'm alive, golfers will be white, and caddies will be black." Since 1982, players have been allowed the option of using their own caddy. The Masters requires caddies to wear a uniform consisting of a white jumpsuit, a green Masters cap, and white tennis shoes. The surname, and sometimes first initial, of each player is found on the back of his caddie's uniform. The defending champion always receives caddy number "1": other golfers get their caddy numbers from the order in which they register for the tournament.

History

Augusta National Golf Club

The idea for Augusta National originated with Bobby Jones, who wanted to build a golf course after his retirement from the game. He sought advice from Clifford Roberts, who later became the chairman of the club. They came across a piece of land in Augusta, Georgia, of which Jones said: "Perfect! And to think this ground has been lying here all these years waiting for someone to come along and lay a golf course upon it." Jones hired Alister MacKenzie to design the course, and work began in 1931. The course formally opened in 1933, but MacKenzie died before the first Masters Tournament was played.

Early tournament years

The first "Augusta National Invitational" Tournament, as the Masters was originally known, began on March 22, 1934, and was won by Horton Smith. The present name was adopted in 1939. The first tournament was played with current holes 10 through 18 played as the first nine, and 1 through 9 as the second nine then reversed permanently to its present layout for the 1935 tournament.

Initially the Augusta National Invitational field was composed of Bobby Jones' close associates. Jones had petitioned the USGA to hold the U.S. Open at Augusta but the USGA denied the petition, noting that the hot Georgia summers would create difficult playing conditions.

Gene Sarazen hit the "shot heard 'round the world" in 1935, holing a shot from the fairway on the par 5 15th for a double eagle. This tied Sarazen with Craig Wood, and in the ensuing 36-hole playoff Sarazen was the victor by five strokes. The tournament was not played from 1943–45, due to World War II. To assist the war effort, cattle and turkeys were raised on the Augusta National grounds.

1960s–1970s

The Big Three of Palmer, Player, and Nicklaus dominated the Masters from 1960 through 1978, winning the event eleven times among them during that span. After winning by one stroke in 1958, Palmer won by one stroke again in 1960 in memorable circumstances. Trailing Ken Venturi by one shot in the 1960 event, Palmer made birdies on the last two holes to prevail. Palmer would go on to win another two Masters in 1962 and 1964. Jack Nicklaus emerged in the early 1960s, and served as a rival to the popular Palmer. Nicklaus won his first green jacket in 1963, defeating Tony Lema by one stroke. Two years later, he shot a then-course record of 271 (17 under par) for his second Masters win, leading Bobby Jones to say that Nicklaus played "a game with which I am not familiar." The next year, Nicklaus won his third green jacket in a grueling 18-hole playoff against Tommy Jacobs and Gay Brewer. This made Nicklaus the first player to win consecutive Masters. He won again in 1972, again by three strokes. In 1975, Nicklaus was locked in a duel with Tom Weiskopf and Johnny Miller. In one of the most exciting Masters to date, he claimed the victory by one stroke over his two challengers.

Player became the first non-American to win the Masters in 1961 beating Palmer, the defending champion. In 1974 he won again by two strokes. After not winning a tournament for four years, and at the age of 42, Player won his third and final Masters in 1978 by one stroke over three players. Player currently shares (with Fred Couples) the record of making 23 consecutive cuts, and has played in a record 52 Masters.

A controversial ending to the Masters occurred in 1968. Roberto DeVicenzo signed a scorecard (scored by playing partner Tommy Aaron) which incorrectly listed a 4 instead of a 3 on the 17th hole. This extra stroke cost him a chance to be in an 18-hole playoff with Bob Goalby, who won the green jacket. DeVicenzo's mistake led to the famous quote, "What a stupid I am."

In 1975, Lee Elder became the first African American to qualify for the Masters, doing so 15 years before Augusta National admitted its first black member.

1980s–2000s

Non-Americans collected 11 victories in 20 years in the 1980s and 1990s, by far the strongest run they have had in any of the three majors played in the United States since the early days of the U.S. Open. Nicklaus became the oldest player to win the Masters in 1986 when he won for the sixth time at age 46.

During this period, no golfer suffered from the pressure of competing at Augusta more than Greg Norman. In 1987, Norman lost a sudden-death playoff to Larry Mize. Mize holed out a remarkable 45-yard pitch shot to birdie the second playoff hole and win the Masters. In 1996, Norman tied the course record with an opening round 63, and had a six-stroke lead over Nick Faldo entering the final round. Norman shot a 78 while Faldo scored a 67 to win by five shots (for his third Masters championship). Norman also suffered in 1986 when after birdieing four straight holes, and needing only a par to tie Nicklaus for the lead, he badly pushed his 4-iron approach to 18 and missed his par putt for bogey.

In 1997, Tiger Woods won the Masters by twelve shots at age 21, in the process breaking the tournament four-day scoring record that had stood for 32 years. Woods completed his "Tiger Slam" by winning his fourth straight major championship at the Masters in 2001. The Masters was his again the next year, making him only the third player in history to win the tournament in consecutive years, as well as in 2005 when he defeated Chris DiMarco in a playoff for his first major championship win in almost three years.

Recently, the club was targeted by Martha Burk, who organized a failed protest at the 2003 Masters to pressure the club into accepting female members. Burk planned to protest at the front gates of Augusta National during the third day of the tournament, but her application for a permit to do so was denied. A court appeal was dismissed. In 2004, Burk stated that she had no further plans to protest against the club.

Augusta National Chairman Billy Payne himself made headlines in April 2010, however, when he commented (at the annual pre-Masters press conference) on Tiger Woods' off-the-course behavior. "It's not simply the degree of his conduct that is so egregious here," Payne said, in his opening speech. "It is the fact he disappointed all of us and more importantly our kids and grandkids."

The 2003 tournament was won by Mike Weir, who became the first Canadian to win a major championship, and the first left-hander to win the Masters. The following year, another left-hander, Phil Mickelson, won his first major championship by making a birdie on the final hole to beat Ernie Els by a stroke. Mickelson also won the tournament in 2006 and 2010. In 2011, the tournament was won by South African Charl Schwartzel, who birdied the final four holes to win by two strokes.

Course adjustments

As with many other courses, Augusta National's championship setup has been lengthened in recent years. In 2001, the course measured approximately from the Masters tees. It was lengthened to for 2002, and again in 2006 to ; longer than the 2001 course. The changes attracted many critics, including the most successful players in Masters history, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player and Tiger Woods. Woods claimed that the "shorter hitters are going to struggle." Augusta National chairman Hootie Johnson was unperturbed, stating, "We are comfortable with what we are doing with the golf course.". After a practice round, Gary Player defended the changes, saying, "There have been a lot of criticisms, but I think unjustly so, now I've played it.... The guys are basically having to hit the same second shots that Jack Nicklaus had to hit [in his prime]".

Originally, the grass on the putting greens was the wide-bladed Bermuda. The greens lost speed, especially during the late 1970s, after the introduction of a healthier strain of narrow-bladed Bermuda, which thrived and grew thicker,. In 1978, the greens on the Par 3 course were reconstructed with bentgrass, a narrow-bladed species that could be mowed shorter, eliminating grain. After this test run, the greens on the main course were replaced with bentgrass in time for the 1981 Masters. The bentgrass resulted in significantly faster putting surfaces, which has required a reduction in some of the contours of the greens over time.

Just before the 1975 tournament, the common beige sand in the bunkers was replaced with the now-signature white feldspar. It is a quartz derivative of the mining of feldspar and is shipped in from North Carolina.

Broadcasting

United States

CBS has televised the Masters in the United States every year since 1956, when it used six cameras and covered only the final four holes. Tournament coverage of the first eight holes did not begin until 1993 because of resistance from the tournament organizers, but by 2006, over 50 cameras were used. USA Network added first- and second-round coverage in 1982, which was also produced by the CBS production team. The Masters is broadcast each year in high-definition television, one of the first golf tournaments to ever hold that distinction, and the early round coverage previously aired in that format on USA's sister network, Universal HD. In 2008, ESPN and ESPN HD replaced USA and Universal as the weekday coverage provider, with coverage continuing to be jointly produced with CBS.

In 2005, CBS broadcast the tournament with high-definition fixed and handheld wired cameras, as well as standard-definition wireless handheld cameras. In 2006, a webstream called "Amen Corner Live" began providing coverage of all players passing through holes 11, 12, and 13 through all four rounds. This was the first full tournament multi-hole webcast from a major championship. In 2007, CBS added "Masters Extra," an extra hour of full-field bonus coverage daily on the internet, preceding the television broadcasts. In 2008, CBS added full coverage of holes 15 and 16 live on the web. In 2011, "Masters Extra" was dropped after officials gave ESPN an extra hour each day on Thursday and Friday.

While Augusta National Golf Club has consistently chosen CBS as its U.S. broadcast partner, it has done so in successive one-year contracts. Due to the lack of long-term contractual security, as well as the club's limited dependence on broadcast rights fees (owing to its affluent membership), it is widely held that CBS allows Augusta National greater control over the content of the broadcast, or at least performs some form of self-censorship, in order to maintain future rights. The club, however, has insisted it does not make any demands with respect to the content of the broadcast.

There are some controversial aspects to this relationship. Announcers refer to the gallery as ''patrons'' rather than as ''spectators'' or ''fans'' (''gallery'' itself is also used), and use the term ''second cut'' instead of ''rough'' (however, the second cut is normally substantially shorter than comparable "primary rough" at other courses). Announcers who have been deemed not to have acted with the decorum expected by the club have been removed, notably Jack Whitaker and Gary McCord. There also tends to be a lack of discussion of any controversy involving Augusta National, such as the 2003 Martha Burk protests. However, there have not been many other major issues in recent years.

The club mandates minimal commercial interruption, currently limited to four minutes per hour (as opposed to the usual 12 or more); this is subsidized by selling exclusive sponsorship packages to three companies. In the immediate aftermath of the Martha Burk controversy, there were no commercials during the 2003 and 2004 broadcasts, although international commercial broadcasters continued to insert their own commercials into the coverage. The Players Championship began imposing the same rule in 2007 and some of the other major championships have tried to follow suit in their most recent TV contracts.

The club also disallows promotions for other network programs, with the sole exception of an on-screen mention of ''60 Minutes'' should the final round run long or right before the coverage ends. Other broadcast material not allowed include sponsored graphics, blimps, and on-course announcers. There is also typically no cut-in for other news and sports, either from CBS or its affiliates. CBS uses "Augusta" by Dave Loggins as the event telecast's distinctive theme music. The CBS broadcasts also maintained a modified version of their previous graphics package from the 1990s until 2009 for the broadcasts, updated in 2008 to adopt a glossier dark green and silver color scheme similar to their standard golf graphics. A new graphics package debuted for the 2010 edition. ESPN's broadcasts have also shared the same graphics and music since their displacement of USA Network.

Significant restrictions have been placed on the tournament's broadcast hours compared to other major championships. Only in the 21st century did the tournament allow CBS to air 18-hole coverage of the leaders, a standard at the other three majors. Only three hours of cable coverage is scheduled for the early rounds each day. International broadcasters do not receive additional coverage, although they may take commercial breaks at different times from CBS or ESPN.

Radio coverage

Westwood One has provided live radio play-by-play coverage in the United States since 1956. This coverage can also be heard on the official Masters website. The network provides short two- or three-minute updates throughout the tournament, as well as longer three- and four-hour segments towards the end of the day.

International

The BBC has broadcast the Masters in the UK since 1986, and it also provides live radio commentary on the closing stages on Radio Five Live. With the 2007 launch of BBC HD, UK viewers can now watch the championship in that format. BBC Sport held the TV and radio rights through to 2010. The BBC's coverage airs without commercials because it is financed by a licence fee. From the 2011 Masters, Sky Sports began broadcasting all four days, as well as the Par 3 Contest in HD and, for the first time ever, in 3D. The BBC will only have highlights of the first two days' play but will go head to head with Sky Sports, with full live coverage on the final two days of play. In Ireland, from 2008 Setanta Ireland will broadcast all four rounds live having previously broadcasted the opening two rounds with RTÉ broadcasting the weekend coverage.

In Canada, the broadcast rights are held by a marketing company, Graham Sanborn Media, which in turn buys time on TSN (early rounds and weekend rebroadcasts), Global (weekend rounds live), and RDS (French-language coverage) to air the broadcasts. Graham Sanborn also sells all of the advertising for the Canadian broadcasts. The TSN/Global coverage is identical to the CBS/ESPN feed; RDS uses most of the U.S. video feed but provides commentary in French.

In most other countries, including much of Asia, Latin America, northern Africa, and the Middle East, broadcast rights for the entire tournament are held by the ESPN International networks.

Ticketing

Although tickets for the Masters are not expensive, they are very difficult to come by. Even the practice rounds can be difficult to get into. Applications for practice round tickets have to be made nearly a year in advance and the successful applicants are chosen by random ballot. Tickets to the actual tournament are sold only to members of a patrons list, which is closed. A waiting list for the patrons list was opened in 1972 and closed in 1978. It was reopened in 2000 and subsequently closed once again. In 2008, The Masters also began allowing children (between the ages of 8 and 16) to enter on tournament days free if they are accompanied by the patron who is the owner of his or her badge.

The Masters website announced that a limited supply of tickets for the 2012 tournament will be awarded to the general public for both practice days and competition rounds.

Field

The Masters has the smallest field out of the major championships at around 90 players. It is an invitational event, with invitations largely issued on an automatic basis to players who meet published criteria. The top 50 players in the Official World Golf Rankings are all invited.

Past champions are eligible to play in any edition, but since 2002 the Augusta National Golf Club has discouraged them from continuing to participate at an advanced age.

Invitation categories (as of 2010):

#Masters Tournament Champions (Lifetime) #U.S. Open Champions (Honorary, non-competing after five years) #The Open Champions (Honorary, non-competing after five years) #PGA Champions (Honorary, non-competing after five years) #Winners of the Players Championship (Three years) #Current U.S. Amateur Champion (6-A) (Honorary, non-competing after one year); Runner-up (6-B) to the current U.S. Amateur Champion #Current British Amateur Champion (Honorary, non-competing after one year) #Current Asian Amateur Champion #Current U.S. Amateur Public Links Champion #Current U.S. Mid-Amateur Champion #The first 16 players, including ties, in the previous year’s Masters Tournament #The first 8 players, including ties, in the previous year’s U.S. Open #The first 4 players, including ties, in the previous year’s Open Championship #The first 4 players, including ties, in the previous year’s PGA Championship #The 30 leaders on the Final Official PGA Tour Money List for the previous calendar year #Winners of PGA Tour Regular Season and Playoff events that award at least a full-point allocation for the season-ending Tour Championship, from previous Masters to current Masters #Those qualifying for the previous year’s season-ending Tour Championship #The 50 leaders on the Final Official World Golf Ranking for the previous calendar year #The 50 leaders on the Official World Golf Ranking published during the week prior to the current Masters Tournament

Most of the top current players will meet the criteria of multiple categories for invitation. The Masters Committee, at its discretion, can also invite any golfer not otherwise qualified, although in practice these invitations are currently reserved for international players.

Winners

The first winner of the Masters Tournament was Horton Smith in 1934. He repeated his win in 1936. The player with the most Masters victories is Jack Nicklaus, who won six times between 1963 and 1986. Arnold Palmer and Tiger Woods have each won four, and Jimmy Demaret, Gary Player, Sam Snead, Nick Faldo, and Phil Mickelson have three titles to their name. Player also became the tournament's first overseas winner with his first victory in 1961. Other notable winners include Byron Nelson, Ben Hogan, Tom Watson, Seve Ballesteros, Bernhard Langer, Ben Crenshaw, and José María Olazábal, who have all won the Masters twice.

!Year

|	Champion	Country	To par	Margin ofvictory	share (United States dollar>$)
align=center|2011||	Charl Schwartzel		−14	2	1,440,000
align=center|2010||	Phil Mickelson (3)		−16	3	1,350,000
align=center|2009||	Ángel Cabrera		−12	Playoff (3)	1,350,000
align=center|2008||	Trevor Immelman		−8	3	1,350,000
align=center|2007||	Zach Johnson		+1	2	1,305,000
align=center|2006||	Phil Mickelson (2)		−7	2	1,260,000
align=center|2005||	Tiger Woods (4)		−12	Playoff (2)	1,260,000
align=center|2004||	Phil Mickelson		−9	1	1,117,000
align=center|2003||	Mike Weir		−7	Playoff (2)	1,080,000
align=center|2002||	Tiger Woods (3)		−12	3	1,008,000
align=center|2001||	Tiger Woods (2)		−16	2	1,008,000
align=center|2000||	Vijay Singh		−10	3	828,000
align=center|1999||	José María Olazábal (2)		−8	2	720,000
align=center|1998||	Mark O'Meara		−9	1	576,000
align=center|1997||	Tiger Woods		−18	12	486,000
align=center|1996||	Nick Faldo (3)		−12	5	450,000
align=center|1995||	Ben Crenshaw (2)		−14	1	396,000
align=center|1994||	José María Olazábal		−9	2	360,000
align=center|1993||	Bernhard Langer (2)		−11	4	306,000
align=center|1992||	Fred Couples		−13	2	270,000
align=center|1991||	Ian Woosnam		−11	1	243,000
align=center|1990||	Nick Faldo (2)		−10	Playoff (2)	225,000
align=center|1989||	Nick Faldo		−5	Playoff (2)	200,000
align=center|1988||	Sandy Lyle		−7	1	183,800
align=center|1987||	Larry Mize		−3	Playoff (3)	162,000
align=center|1986||	Jack Nicklaus (6)		−9	1	144,000
align=center|1985||	Bernhard Langer		−6	2	126,000
align=center|1984||	Ben Crenshaw		−11	2	108,000
align=center|1983||	Seve Ballesteros (2)		−8	4	90,000
align=center|1982||	Craig Stadler		−4	Playoff (2)	64,000
align=center|1981||	Tom Watson (golfer)>Tom Watson (2)		−8	2	60,000
align=center|1980||	Seve Ballesteros		−13	4	55,000
align=center|1979||	Fuzzy Zoeller		−8	Playoff (3)	50,000
align=center|1978||	Gary Player (3)		−11	1	45,000
align=center|1977||	Tom Watson (golfer)>Tom Watson		−12	2	40,000
align=center|1976||	Raymond Floyd		−17	8	40,000
align=center|1975||	Jack Nicklaus (5)		−12	1	40,000
align=center|1974||	Gary Player (2)		−10	2	35,000
align=center|1973||	Tommy Aaron		−5	1	30,000
align=center|1972||	Jack Nicklaus (4)		−2	3	25,000
align=center|1971||	Charles Coody		−9	2	25,000
align=center|1970||	Billy Casper		−9	Playoff (2)	25,000
align=center|1969||	George Archer		−7	1	20,000
align=center|1968||	Bob Goalby		−11	1	20,000
align=center|1967||	Gay Brewer		−8	1	20,000
align=center|1966||	Jack Nicklaus (3)		E	Playoff (3)	20,000
align=center|1965||	Jack Nicklaus (2)		−17	9	20,000
align=center|1964||	Arnold Palmer (4)		−12	6	20,000
align=center|1963||	Jack Nicklaus		−2	1	20,000
align=center|1962||	Arnold Palmer (3)		−8	Playoff (3)	20,000
align=center|1961||	Gary Player		−8	1	20,000
align=center|1960||	Arnold Palmer (2)		−6	1	17,500
align=center|1959||	Art Wall, Jr.		−4	1	15,000
align=center|1958||	Arnold Palmer		−4	1	11,250
align=center|1957||	Doug Ford (golfer)>Doug Ford		−5	3	8,750
align=center|1956||	Jack Burke, Jr.		+1	1	6,000
align=center|1955||	Cary Middlecoff		−9	7	5,000
align=center|1954||	Sam Snead (3)		+1	Playoff (2)	5,000
align=center|1953||	Ben Hogan (2)		−14	5	4,000
align=center|1952||	Sam Snead (2)		−2	4	4,000
align=center|1951||	Ben Hogan		−8	2	3,000
align=center|1950||	Jimmy Demaret (3)		−5	2	2,400
align=center|1949||	Sam Snead		−6	3	2,750
align=center|1948||	Claude Harmon		−9	5	2,500
align=center|1947||	Jimmy Demaret (2)		−7	2	2,500
align=center|1946||	Herman Keiser		−6	1	2,500
align=center|1942||	Byron Nelson (2)		−8	Playoff (2)	1,500
align=center|1941||	Craig Wood (golfer)>Craig Wood		−8	3	1,500
align=center|1940||	Jimmy Demaret		−8	4	1,500
align=center|1939||	Ralph Guldahl		−9	1	1,500
align=center|1938||	Henry Picard		−3	2	1,500
align=center|1937||	Byron Nelson		−5	2	1,500
align=center|1936||	Horton Smith (2)		−3	1	1,500
align=center|1935||	Gene Sarazen		−6	Playoff (2)	1,500
align=center|1934||	Horton Smith		−4	1	1,500

''The number in parentheses indicates the number players involved in each playoff.''

Multiple and consecutive champions

This table lists the golfers who have won more than one Masters Tournament.

style="background: #FFFFCC"

{|class="sortable wikitable" |- !Country !Golfer !Total !Years |- | | style="background: #FFFFCC"|''' ‡ | align="center"|6 |1963, 1965, 1966, 1972, 1975, 1986 |- | | | align="center"|4 |1958, 1960, 1962, 1964 |- | | style="background: #FFFFCC"|''' ‡ | align="center"|4 |1997, 2001, 2002, 2005 |- | | style="background: #DCDCDC"| † | align="center"|3 |1940, 1947, 1950 |- | | style="background: #DCDCDC"| † | align="center"|3 |1949, 1952, 1954 |- | | style="background: #FFFFCC"| ‡ | align="center"|3 |1961, 1974, 1978 |- | |''' | align="center"|3 |1989, 1990, 1996 |- | | | align="center"|3 |2004, 2006, 2010 |- | | style="background: #DCDCDC"| † | align="center"|2 |1934, 1936 |- | | style="background: #DCDCDC"| † | align="center"|2 |1937, 1942 |- | | style="background: #F5D0A9"| ∞ | align="center"|2 |1951, 1953 |- | | | align="center"|2 |1977, 1981 |- | | style="background: #DCDCDC"| † | align="center"|2 |1980, 1983 |- | | | align="center"|2 |1985, 1993 |- | | | align="center"|2 |1984, 1995 |- | | | align="center"|2 |1994, 1999 |}

Bolded years and player names means back-to-back wins and players who accomplished the feat.

Champions by nationality

This table lists the total number of titles won by golfers of each nationality. align=center align=center align=center align=center

!Rank!!Nation!!Wins!!Winners
align=center	1	|	56	34
align=center	2	|	5	3
align=center	3	|	4	2
align=center	4	|	3	1
align=center	5	|	2	1
align=center rowspan=5	T6	|	1	1
	|align=center>1
	|align=center>1
	|align=center>1
	|align=center>1

Records

Jack Nicklaus has won the most Masters and was old when he won in 1986, making him the oldest winner of the Masters. Nicklaus is the record holder for the most top tens, with 22, and the most cuts made, with 37. The youngest winner of the Masters is Tiger Woods, who was old when he won in 1997. In this year Woods also broke the records for the widest winning margin (12 strokes), and the lowest winning score, with 270 (−18). Matteo Manassero became the youngest player ever, and the youngest to make the cut at in 2010. Gary Player holds the record for most appearances, with 52. Player holds the record for the number of consecutive cuts made, with 23 between 1959 and 1982 (Player did not compete in 1973 due to illness). He shares this record with Fred Couples, who made his consecutive cuts between 1983 and 2007, not competing in 1987 and 1994. Nick Price and Greg Norman share the course record of 63, with their rounds coming in 1986 and 1996 respectively. This score is also a record for all major championships. The highest winning score of 289 (+1) has occurred three times: Sam Snead in 1954, Jack Burke, Jr. in 1956, and Zach Johnson in 2007. Anthony Kim holds the record for most birdies in a round with 11 in 2009 during his second round.

References

External links

Masters.com – official site

Augusta.com – coverage by ''The Augusta Chronicle''

GCSSA.org – superintendent's fact sheet – 2005

Category:Men's major golf championships Category:Economy of Augusta, Georgia

af:Meesterstoernooi ast:The Masters bn:মাস্টার্স টুর্নামেন্ট cs:Masters Tournament da:The Masters Tournament de:The Masters Tournament es:The Masters fr:Masters de golf ko:마스터즈 토너먼트 id:Turnamen Masters it:The Masters he:טורניר המאסטרס (גולף) hu:US Masters (golf) nl:Masters Tournament (golf) ja:マスターズ・トーナメント no:The Masters Tournament pl:Masters Tournament (golf) pt:Masters de Golfe ru:Мастерс (гольф) simple:The Masters Tournament sk:The Masters fi:The Masters Tournament sv:The Masters Tournament zh:美國名人賽

name	Arnold Palmer
fullname	Arnold Daniel Palmer
nickname	The King
birth date	September 10, 1929
birth place	Latrobe, Pennsylvania
death date
height
weight
nationality
residence	Latrobe, PennsylvaniaOrlando, Florida
spouse	Winifred Walzer (m. 1954-1999)Kathleen Gawthrop (m. 2005)
college	Wake Forest University
yearpro	1954
retired
extour	PGA TourChampions Tour
prowins	94
pgawins	62 (5th all time)
eurowins	2
auswins	2
champwins	10
otherwins
majorwins	7
masters	Won: 1958, 1960, 1962, 1964
usopen	Won: 1960
open	Won: 1961, 1962
pga	T2: 1964, 1968, 1970
wghofid	1001
wghofyear	1974
award1	PGA Tourleading money winner
year1	1958, 1960, 1962, 1963
award2	PGA Player of the Year
year2	1960, 1962
award3	Vardon Trophy
year3	1961, 1962, 1964, 1967
award4	Bob Jones Award
year4	1971
award5	Old Tom Morris Award
year5	1983
award6	PGA Tour LifetimeAchievement Award
year6	1998
award7	Payne Stewart Award
year7	2000
award8	Sports IllustratedSportsman of the Year
year8	1960
awardssection	}}

Arnold Daniel Palmer (born September 10, 1929) is an American professional golfer, who is generally regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of men's professional golf. He has won numerous events on both the PGA Tour and Champions Tour, dating back to 1955. Nicknamed "The King," he is one of golf's most popular stars and its most important trailblazer, because he was the first superstar of the sport's television age, which began in the 1950s. He is part of "The Big Three" in golf, along with Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player, who are widely credited with popularizing and commercialising the sport around the world.

Palmer won the PGA Tour Lifetime Achievement Award in 1998, and in 1974 was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame.

Career outline

Early life

Palmer was born in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. He learned golf from his father, Deacon Palmer, who was head professional and greenskeeper at Latrobe Country Club, allowing young Arnold to accompany his father as he maintained the course. He attended Wake Forest University, on a golf scholarship. He left upon the death of close friend Bud Worsham and enlisted in the United States Coast Guard, where he served for three years and had some time to continue to hone his golf skills. Palmer returned to college and competitive golf. His win in the 1954 U.S. Amateur made him decide to try the pro tour for a while, and he and new bride Winifred Walzer (whom he had met at a Pennsylvania tournament) traveled the circuit for 1955.

Rise to superstardom

Palmer won the 1955 Canadian Open in his rookie season, and raised his game status for the next several seasons. Palmer's charisma was a major factor in establishing golf as a compelling television event in the 1950s and 1960s, setting the stage for the popularity it enjoys today. His first major championship win at the 1958 Masters Tournament cemented his position as one of the leading stars in golf, and by 1960 he had signed up as pioneering sports agent Mark McCormack's first client. In later interviews, McCormack listed five attributes that made Palmer especially marketable: his good looks; his relatively modest background (his father was a greenskeeper before rising to be club professional and Latrobe was a humble club); the way he played golf, taking risks and wearing his emotions on his sleeve; his involvement in a string of exciting finishes in early televised tournaments; and his affability.

Palmer is also credited by many for securing the status of The Open Championship (British Open) among U.S. players. After Ben Hogan won that championship in 1953, few American professionals had travelled to play in The Open, due to its travel requirements, relatively small prize purses, and the style of its links courses (radically different from most American courses). Palmer was convinced by his business partner Mark McCormack that success in the Open -– to emulate the feats of Bobby Jones, Walter Hagen, Sam Snead and Hogan before him –- would truly make him a global sporting star, not simply a leading American golfer. In particular, Palmer travelled to Scotland in 1960, having already won both the Masters and U.S. Open, to try to emulate Hogan's feat of 1953, of winning all three in a single year. He failed, losing out to Kel Nagle by a single shot, but his subsequent Open wins in the early 1960s convinced many American pros that a trip to Britain would be worth the effort, and certainly secured Palmer's popularity among British and European fans, not just American ones.

Palmer won seven major championships:

The Masters: 1958, 1960, 1962, 1964

U.S. Open: 1960

The Open Championship: 1961, 1962

Palmer's most prolific years were 1960–1963, when he won 29 PGA Tour events in four seasons. In 1960, he won the Hickok Belt as the top professional athlete of the year and ''Sports Illustrated'' magazine's "Sportsman of the Year" award. He built up a wide fan base, often referred to as "Arnie's Army", and in 1967 he became the first man to reach one million dollars in career earnings on the PGA Tour. By the late 1960s Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player had both acquired clear ascendancy in their rivalry, but Palmer won a PGA Tour event every year from 1955 to 1971 inclusive, and in 1971 he enjoyed a revival, winning four events.

Palmer won the Vardon Trophy for lowest scoring average four times: 1961, 1962, 1964, and 1967. He played on six Ryder Cup teams: 1961, 1963, 1965, 1967, 1971, and 1973. He was the last playing captain in 1963, and captained the team again in 1975.

Palmer was eligible for the Senior PGA Tour (now the Champions Tour) from its first season in 1980, and he was one of the marquee names who helped it to become successful. He won ten events on the tour, including five senior majors.

Palmer won the first World Match Play Championship in England, an event which was originally organized by McCormack to showcase his stable of players. Their partnership was one of the most significant in the history of sports marketing. Long after he ceased to win tournaments, Palmer remained one of the highest earners in golf due to his appeal to sponsors and the public.

In 2004, he competed in The Masters for the last time, marking his 50th consecutive appearance in that event. After missing the cut at the 2005 U.S. Senior Open by 21 shots, he announced that he would not enter any more senior majors. Since 2007, Palmer has served as the honorary starter for the Masters. He retired from tournament golf on October 13, 2006, when he withdrew from the Champions Tours' Administaff Small Business Classic after four holes due to dissatisfaction with his own play. He played the remaining holes but did not keep score. Palmer's legacy was reaffirmed by an electrifying moment during the 2004 Bay Hill Invitational. Standing over 200 yards from the water-guarded 18th green, Palmer, who is known for his aggressive play, lashed his second shot onto the green with a driver. The shot thrilled his loyal gallery and energized the excitable Palmer. He turned to his grandson and caddie, Sam Saunders, and gave him a prolonged shimmy and playful jeering in celebration of the moment.

Golf businesses

Palmer has had a diverse golf-related business career, including owning the Bay Hill Club and Lodge, which is the venue for the PGA Tour's Arnold Palmer Invitational (renamed from the Bay Hill Invitational in 2007), helping to found The Golf Channel, and negotiating the deal to build the first golf course in the People's Republic of China. This led to the formation of Palmer Course Design in 1972, which was renamed Arnold Palmer Design Company when the company moved to Orlando Florida in 2006. Palmer's design partner was Ed Seay. The Palmer-Seay team has designed over 200 courses around the world. Since 1971 he has owned Latrobe Country Club, where his father used to be the club professional.

Legacy

In 2000, Palmer was ranked the sixth greatest player of all time in ''Golf Digest'' magazine's rankings.

According to ''Golf Digest'', Palmer made $1,861,857 in 734 PGA Tour career starts over 53 years; he earned an estimated $30 million off the course in 2008.

He now resides near his golf course, Arnold Palmer's Bay Hill Country Club and Lodge, in Orlando, Florida which was originally designed by Dick Wilson.

Palmer's grandson, Sam Saunders, is a professional golfer, currently a member of the Nationwide Tour. Saunders grew up playing at Bay Hill, and won the Club Championship there at age 15. He attended Clemson University on a golf scholarship and turned pro in 2008. Saunders stated that Palmer's family nickname is "Dumpy".

An avid pilot for over 50 years, Palmer thought he would pilot a plane for the last time on January 31, 2011. He flew from Palm Springs, California to Orlando, Florida in his Cessna Citation X. His pilot's medical certificate expired that day and he chose not to renew it. However, public FAA records show he was issued a new third class medical in May of 2011.

Amateur wins (26)

1946 WPIAL Championship, PIAA Championship

1947 WPIAL Championship, PIAA Championship, Western Pennsylvania Junior, Western Pennsylvania Amateur

1948 Southern Conference Championship, Sunnehanna Invitational, Western Pennsylvania Junior

1950 Southern Intercollegiate, Western Pennsylvania Amateur, Greensburg Invitational

1951 Western Pennsylvania Amateur, Worsharn Memorial

1952 Western Pennsylvania Amateur, Greensburg Invitational

1953 Ohio Amateur, Cleveland Amateur, Greensburg Invitational, Mayfield Heights Open, Evergreen Pitch and Putt Invitational

1954 U.S. Amateur, Ohio Amateur, All-American Amateur, Atlantic Coast Conference Championship, Bill Waite Memorial

Amateur major wins (1)

{|class="wikitable" !Year!!Championship!!Winning Score!!Runner-up |- | 1954 || U.S. Amateur || align=center|1 up || Robert Sweeny Jr. |}

Results timeline

{| cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" border="1" style="font-size: 95%; border: #aaa solid 1px; border-collapse: collapse;" |- bgcolor="#eeeeee" !align="left"|Tournament !1948 !1949 !1950 !1951 !1952 !1953 !1954 |- |U.S. Amateur |align="center"|R256 |align="center"|R64 |align="center"|R256 |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|R16 |align="center" style="background:#00ff00;"|1 |}

DNP = Did not play R256, R128, R64, R32, R16, QF, SF = Round in which player lost in match play Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10

Source:

Professional wins (94)

PGA Tour wins (62)

!No.	!Date	!Tournament	!Winning Score	!Margin ofVictory	!Runner(s)-up
1	Aug 20, 1955	Canadian Open	-23 (64–67–64–70=265)	4 strokes	Jack Burke, Jr.
2	Jul 1, 1956	Insurance City Open	-10 (66–69–68–71=274)	Playoff	Ted Kroll
3	Jul 29, 1956	Eastern Open	-11 (70–66–69–72=277)	2 strokes	Dow Finsterwald
4	Feb 25, 1957	Houston Open	-9 (67–72–71–69=279)	1 stroke
5	Mar 31, 1957	Azalea Open Invitational	-6 (70–67–70–75=282)	1 stroke	Dow Finsterwald
6	Jun 9, 1957	Rubber City Open Invitational	-12 (71–66–67–68=272)	Playoff
7	Oct 30, 1957	San Diego Open Invitational	-17 (65–68–68–70=271)	1 stroke	Al Balding
8	Oct 20, 1958	St. Petersburg Open Invitational	-12 (70–69–72–65=276)	1 stroke	Al Balding, Dow Finsterwald
9	Apr 6, 1958	Masters Tournament	-4 (70–73–68–73=284)	1 stroke
10	Jun 29, 1958	Pepsi Championship	-11 (66–69–67–71=273)	5 strokes	Jay Hebert
11	Jan 25, 1959	Thunderbird Invitational	-18 (67–70–67–62=266)	Playoff	Jimmy Demaret, Ken Venturi
12	May 11, 1959	Oklahoma City Open Invitational	-15 (73–64–67–69=273)	2 strokes	Bob Goalby
13	Nov 29, 1959	West Palm Beach Open Invitational	-7 (72–67–66–76=281)	Playoff
14	Feb 7, 1960	Palm Springs Desert Golf Classic	-22 (67–73–67–66–65=338)	3 strokes	Fred Hawkins
15	Feb 28, 1960	Texas Open Invitational	-12 (69–65–67–75=276)	2 strokes
16	Mar 6, 1960	Baton Rouge Open Invitational	-9 (71–71–69–68=279)	7 strokes	Jay Hebert, Ron Reif, Doug Sanders
17	Mar 13, 1960	Pensacola Open Invitational	-15 (68–65–73–67=273)	1 stroke	Doug Sanders
18	Apr 10, 1960	Masters Tournament	-6 (67–73–72–70=282)	1 stroke	Ken Venturi
19	Jun 18, 1960		-4 (72–71–72–65=280)	2 strokes	Jack Nicklaus
20	Aug 7, 1960	Insurance City Open Invitational	-14 (70–68–66–66=270)	Playoff
21	Nov 27, 1960	Mobile Sertoma Open Invitational	-14 (68–67–74–65=274)	2 strokes	Johnny Pott
22	Jan 15, 1961	San Diego Open Invitational	-17 (69–68–69–65=271)	Playoff	Al Balding
23	Feb 12, 1961	Phoenix Open Invitational	-14 (69–65–66–70=270)	Playoff	Doug Sanders
24	Feb 26, 1961	Baton Rouge Open Invitational	-22 (65–67–68–66=266)	7 strokes	Wes Ellis
25	Apr 30, 1961	Texas Open Invitational	-10 (67–63–72–68=270)	1 stroke	Al Balding
26	Jun 25, 1961	Western Open	-13 (65–70–67–69=271)	2 strokes	Sam Snead
27	Jul 14, 1961	The Open Championship	-4 (70–73–69–72=284)	1 stroke	Dai Rees
28	Feb 4, 1962	Palm Springs Golf Classic	-18 (69–67–66–71–69=342)	3 strokes	Jay Hebert, Gene Littler
29	Feb 11, 1962	Phoenix Open Invitational	-15 (64–68–71–66=269)	12 strokes	Billy Casper, Don Fairfield, Bob McCallister
30	Apr 9, 1962	Masters Tournament	-8 (70–66–69–75–68=280)	Playoff	Dow Finsterwald, Gary Player
31	Apr 29, 1962	Texas Open Invitational	-1 (72–70–72–69=273)	1 stroke
32	May 6, 1962		-12 (69–70–69–68=276)	1 stroke	Billy Casper
33	May 13, 1962	Colonial National Invitation	+1 (67–72–66–76=281)	Playoff	Johnny Pott
34	Jul 13, 1962	The Open Championship	-12 (71–69–67–69=276)	6 strokes	Kel Nagle
35	Aug 12, 1962	American Golf Classic	-4 (67–69–70–70=276)	5 strokes	Mason Rudolph
36	Jan 7, 1963	Los Angeles Open	-10 (69–69–70–66=274)	3 strokes	Al Balding, Gary Player
37	Feb 12, 1963	Phoenix Open Invitational	-11 (68–67–68–70=273)	1 stroke	Gary Player
38	Mar 10, 1963	Pensacola Open Invitational	-15 (69–68–69–67=273)	2 strokes	Harold Kneece, Gary Player
39	Jun 16, 1963	Thunderbird Classic Invitational	-11 (67–70–68–72=277)	Playoff	Paul Harney
40	Jul 1, 1963	Cleveland Open Invitational	-9 (68–73–65–73=279)	Playoff	Tommy Aaron, Tony Lema
41	Jul 29, 1963	Western Open	-11 (71–68–66–68=273)	Playoff	Julius Boros, Jack Nicklaus
42	Oct 6, 1963	Whitemarsh Open Invitational	-7 (70–71–66–74=281)	1 stroke	Lionel Hebert
43	Apr 12, 1964	Masters Tournament	-12 (69–68–69–70=276)	6 strokes	Dave Marr, Jack Nicklaus
44	May 18, 1964	Oklahoma City Open Invitational	-11 (72–69–69–67=277)	2 strokes	Lionel Hebert
45	Apr 25, 1965		-11 (66–69–71–71=277)	3 strokes	Chi Chi Rodriguez
46	Jan 31, 1966	Los Angeles Open	-11 (72–66–62–73=273)	3 strokes	Miller Barber, Paul Harney
47	Apr 18, 1966		-5 (74–70–70–69=283)	Playoff	Gay Brewer
48	Nov 20, 1966	Houston Champions International	-9 (70–68–68–69=275)	1 stroke	Gardner Dickinson
49	Jan 29, 1967	Los Angeles Open	-2 (70–64–67–68=269)	5 strokes	Gay Brewer
50	Feb 19, 1967	Tucson Open Invitational	-15 (66–67–67–73=273)	1 stroke
51	Aug 13, 1967	American Golf Classic	-4 (70–67–72–67=276)	3 stroke	Doug Sanders
52	Sep 24, 1967	Thunderbird Classic	-5 (71–71–72–69=283)	1 stroke	Charles Coody, Jack Nicklaus, Art Wall, Jr.
53	Feb 14, 1968	Bob Hope Desert Classic	-12 (72–70–67–71–68=348)	Playoff	Deane Beman
54	Sep 15, 1968	Kemper Open	-12 (69–70–70–67=276)	4 strokes	Bruce Crampton, Art Wall, Jr.
55	Nov 30, 1969	Heritage Golf Classic	-1 (68–71–70–74=283)	3 strokes	Dick Crawford, Bert Yancey
56	Dec 7, 1969	Danny Thomas-Diplomat Classic	-18 (68-67-70-65-270)	2 strokes	Gay Brewer
57			-25 (61–67–64–67=259)	3 strokes	Bruce Crampton & Orville Moody, Gardner Dickinson & Sam Snead, George Archer & Bobby Nichols
58		Bob Hope Desert Classic	-18 (67–71–66–68–70=342)	Playoff	Raymond Floyd
59		Florida Citrus Invitational	-18 (66–68–68–68=270)	1 stroke	Julius Boros
60		Westchester Classic	-18 (64–70–68–68=270)	5 strokes	Gibby Gilbert, Hale Irwin
61		National Team Championship(with Jack Nicklaus)	-27 (62–64–65–66=257)	6 strokes	Julius Boros & Bill Collins (golfer)
62		[[Bob Hope Desert Classic	-17 (71–66–69–68–69=343)	2 strokes	Jack Nicklaus, Johnny Miller

Source:

Other wins (17)

1955 Colombian Open

1956 Panama Open

1960 Canada Cup (with Sam Snead)

1962 Canada Cup (with Sam Snead)

1963 Australian Wills Masters Tournament, Canada Cup (with Jack Nicklaus)

1964 Piccadilly World Match Play Championship (England, but not a European Tour event at that time), Canada Cup (with Jack Nicklaus)

1966 Australian Open, Canada Cup (with Jack Nicklaus), PGA Team Championship (with Jack Nicklaus)

1967 Piccadilly World Match Play Championship (England, but not a European Tour event at that time), World Cup (with Jack Nicklaus)

1971 Lancome Trophy (France, but not a European Tour event at that time)

1975 Spanish Open (European Tour), Penfold PGA Championship (European Tour)

1980 Canadian PGA Championship

Senior PGA Tour wins (10)

1980 (1) PGA Seniors' Championship

1981 (1) U.S. Senior Open

1982 (2) Marlboro Classic, Denver Post Champions of Golf

1983 (1) Boca Grove Seniors Classic

1984 (3) General Foods PGA Seniors' Championship, Senior Tournament Players Championship, Quadel Seniors Classic

1985 (1) Senior Tournament Players Championship

1988 (1) Crestar Classic

Senior majors are shown in bold.

Other senior wins (5)

1984 Doug Sanders Celebrity Pro-Am

1986 Union Mutual Classic

1990 Senior Skins Game

1992 Senior Skins Game

1993 Senior Skins Game

Major championships

Wins (7)

{|class="sortable wikitable" !Year!!Championship!!54 Holes!!Winning Score!!Margin!!Runner(s)-up |-bgcolor="#D0F0C0" | 1958 ||Masters Tournament ||Tied for lead ||−4 (70–73–68–73=284) ||1 stroke || Doug Ford, Fred Hawkins |-bgcolor="#D0F0C0" | 1960 ||Masters Tournament (2)||1 shot lead ||−6 (67–73–72–70=282) ||1 stroke || Ken Venturi |-bgcolor="#FBCEB1" | 1960 ||U.S. Open ||7 shot deficit ||−4 (72–71–72–65=280) ||2 strokes || Jack Nicklaus |-bgcolor="#ABCDEF" | 1961 ||The Open Championship ||1 shot lead ||−8 (70–73–69–72=284) ||1 stroke || Dai Rees |-bgcolor="#D0F0C0" | 1962 ||Masters Tournament (3)||2 shot lead ||−8 (70–66–69–75=280) ||Playoff ¹|| Gary Player, Dow Finsterwald |-bgcolor="#ABCDEF" | 1962 ||The Open Championship (2)||5 shot lead ||−12 (71–69–67–69=276) ||6 strokes || Kel Nagle |-bgcolor="#D0F0C0" | 1964 ||Masters Tournament (4)||5 shot lead ||−12 (69–68–69–70=276) ||6 strokes || Dave Marr, Jack Nicklaus |} ¹ Defeated Gary Player & Dow Finsterwald in 18-hole playoff – Palmer (68), Player (71), Finsterwald (77)

Results timeline

{| cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" border="1" style="font-size: 95%; border: #aaa solid 1px; border-collapse: collapse;" |- bgcolor="#eeeeee" !align="left"|Tournament !1953 !1954 !1955 !1956 !1957 !1958 !1959 |- |The Masters |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T10 |align="center"|21 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T7 |align="center" style="background:#00ff00;"|1 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|3 |- |U.S. Open |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|T21 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|7 |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|T23 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T5 |- |The Open Championship |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |- |PGA Championship |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|T40 |align="center"|T14 |}

{| cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" border="1" style="font-size: 95%; border: #aaa solid 1px; border-collapse: collapse;" |- bgcolor="#eeeeee" !align="left"|Tournament !1960 !1961 !1962 !1963 !1964 !1965 !1966 !1967 !1968 !1969 |- |The Masters |align="center" style="background:#00ff00;"|1 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T2 |align="center" style="background:#00ff00;"|1 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T9 |align="center" style="background:#00ff00;"|1 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T2 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T4 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|4 |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|27 |- |U.S. Open |align="center" style="background:#00ff00;"|1 |align="center"|T14 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|2 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T2 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T5 |align="center"|CUT |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|2 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|2 |align="center"|59 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T6 |- |The Open Championship |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|2 |align="center" style="background:#00ff00;"|1 |align="center" style="background:#00ff00;"|1 |align="center"|T26 |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|16 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T8 |align="center"|DNP |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T10 |align="center"|DNP |- |PGA Championship |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T7 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T5 |align="center"|T17 |align="center"|T40 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T2 |align="center"|T33 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T6 |align="center"|T14 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T2 |align="center"|WD |}

{| cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" border="1" style="font-size: 95%; border: #aaa solid 1px; border-collapse: collapse;" |- bgcolor="#eeeeee" !align="left"|Tournament !1970 !1971 !1972 !1973 !1974 !1975 !1976 !1977 !1978 !1979 |- |The Masters |align="center"|T36 |align="center"|T18 |align="center"|T33 |align="center"|T24 |align="center"|T11 |align="center"|T13 |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|T24 |align="center"|T37 |align="center"|CUT |- |U.S. Open |align="center"|T54 |align="center"|T24 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|3 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T4 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T5 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T9 |align="center"|T50 |align="center"|T19 |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|T59 |- |The Open Championship |align="center"|12 |align="center"|DNP |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T7 |align="center"|T14 |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|T16 |align="center"|T55 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|7 |align="center"|T34 |align="center"|DNP |- |PGA Championship |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T2 |align="center"|T18 |align="center"|T16 |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|T28 |align="center"|T33 |align="center"|T15 |align="center"|T19 |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |}

{| cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" border="1" style="font-size: 95%; border: #aaa solid 1px; border-collapse: collapse;" |- bgcolor="#eeeeee" !align="left"|Tournament !1980 !1981 !1982 !1983 !1984 !1985 !1986 !1987 !1988 !1989 |- |The Masters |align="center"|T24 |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|47 |align="center"|T36 |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |- |U.S. Open |align="center"|63 |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|T60 |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |- |The Open Championship |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|T23 |align="center"|T27 |align="center"|T56 |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|CUT |- |PGA Championship |align="center"|T72 |align="center"|76 |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|T67 |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|T65 |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|T65 |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|T63 |}

{| cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" border="1" style="font-size: 95%; border: #aaa solid 1px; border-collapse: collapse;" |- bgcolor="#eeeeee" !align="left"|Tournament !1990 !1991 !1992 !1993 !1994 !1995 !1996 !1997 !1998 !1999 |- |The Masters |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |- |U.S. Open |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |- |The Open Championship |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |- |PGA Championship |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |}

{| cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" border="1" style="font-size: 95%; border: #aaa solid 1px; border-collapse: collapse;" |- bgcolor="#eeeeee" !align="left"|Tournament !2000 !2001 !2002 !2003 !2004 |- |The Masters |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |- |U.S. Open |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |- |The Open Championship |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |- |PGA Championship |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |}

DNP = Did not play WD = Withdrew CUT = missed the half-way cut "T" indicates a tie for a place Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.

Summary of performances

Starts – 142

Wins – 7

2nd place finishes – 10

Top 3 finishes – 19

Top 5 finishes – 26

Top 10 finishes – 38

Longest streak of top-10s in majors – 6

Champions Tour major championships

Wins (5)

{|class="sortable wikitable" !Year!!Championship!!Winning Score!!Margin!!Runner(s)-up |-bgcolor="#D8BFD8" | 1980 ||PGA Seniors' Championship || +1 (72–69–73–75=289) || Playoff¹ || Paul Harney |-bgcolor="#FBCEB1" | 1981 ||U.S. Senior Open || +9 (72–76–68–73=289) || Playoff² || Billy Casper, Bob Stone |-bgcolor="#D8BFD8" | 1984^a ||General Foods PGA Seniors' Championship (2) || −6 (69–63–79–71=282) || 2 strokes || Don January |-bgcolor="#FFFF99" | 1984 ||Senior Players Championship || −12 (72–68–67–69=276) || 3 strokes || Peter Thomson |-bgcolor="#FFFF99" | 1985 ||Senior Players Championship (2) || −14 (67–71–68–68=274) || 11 strokes || Miller Barber, Lee Elder, Gene Littler, Charles Owens |} ^a This was the January edition of the tournament. ¹ Palmer won this with a birdie on the first playoff hole. ² Won in an 18-hole playoff, Palmer shot a (70) to Stone's (74) and Casper's (77).

See also

Arnold Palmer Center for Golf History

Arnold Palmer Tournament Golf (video game)

Golfers with most PGA Tour wins

Golfers with most major championship wins

Most PGA Tour wins in a year

Longest PGA Tour win streaks

Most wins in one PGA Tour event

Golfers with most Champions Tour wins

Golfers with most Champions Tour major championship wins

List of celebrities who own wineries and vineyards

Arnold Palmer (drink)

References

External links

Arnold Palmer – Profile at Golflegends

Arnold Palmer Invitational – PGA Tour event

Arnold Palmer Design Company

Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children

Bay Hill Club and Lodge – Palmer's winter home course

Latrobe Country Club – Palmer's summer home course

Arnold Palmer Tee – Palmer's namesake half iced tea and half lemonade drink

{{navboxes|title=Arnold Palmer in the major championships |list1= }} {{navboxes|title=Arnold Palmer in the senior major championships |list1= }} {{navboxes|title=Arnold Palmer in the Ryder Cup |list1= }}

Category:American golfers Category:Wake Forest Demon Deacons men's golfers Category:PGA Tour golfers Category:Champions Tour golfers Category:Winners of men's major golf championships Category:Winners of senior major golf championships Category:World Golf Hall of Fame inductees Category:Golfers from Pennsylvania Category:Golf course architects Category:Golf writers and broadcasters Category:Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients Category:United States Coast Guard personnel Category:American people of Scotch-Irish descent Category:People from Latrobe, Pennsylvania Category:1929 births Category:Living people

da:Arnold Palmer de:Arnold Palmer es:Arnold Palmer fr:Arnold Palmer it:Arnold Palmer lv:Arnolds Pālmers nl:Arnold Palmer ja:アーノルド・パーマー no:Arnold Palmer pl:Arnold Palmer pt:Arnold Palmer ru:Палмер, Арнольд fi:Arnold Palmer sv:Arnold Palmer th:อาร์โนลด์ พาล์มเมอร์ zh:阿诺德·帕尔默

name	Charl Schwartzel
fullname	Charl Adriaan Schwartzel
birth date	August 31, 1984
birth place	Johannesburg, South Africa
death date
height
weight
nationality
residence	Vereeniging, South Africa
partner	Rosalind Jacobs (2008-present)
college	none
yearpro	2002
retired
tour	European Tour (joined 2002) Sunshine Tour (joined 2002) PGA Tour (joined 2011)
extour
prowins	8
pgawins	1
eurowins	7
japwins
asiawins
sunwins	5
auswins
nwidewins
chalwins
champwins
seneurowins
otherwins
majorwins	1
masters	Won: 2011
usopen	T9: 2011
open	T14: 2010
pga	T12: 2011
wghofid
wghofyear
award1	Sunshine Tour Order of Merit Winner
year1	2004/05, 2005/06, 2006/07, 2010
awardssection	}}

Charl Adriaan Schwartzel (; born 31 August 1984) is a South African professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour, European Tour, and the Sunshine Tour. He won the 2011 Masters Tournament. Schwartzel's highest world ranking has been number seven, in May 2011.

Early life and amateur career

Schwartzel was born in Johannesburg, South Africa. He had a dominant junior amateur career in South Africa, and won some amateur events in other countries including the 2002 Indian Amateur and English Open Stroke Play Championships. He played for South Africa in the 2002 Eisenhower Trophy.

Professional career

Schwartzel turned professional at the age of eighteen and following the path of many other leading South African players, he qualified for the European Tour late that year. He was the second youngest South African golfer to do so after Dale Hayes. He earned enough money to retain his European Tour card in both 2003 and 2004.

In the 2004-05 season he won the Dunhill Championship, a leading tournament in South Africa that is co-sanctioned by the European Tour, and claimed first place on the Sunshine Tour's Order of Merit. In 2005 he finished 52nd on the European Tour's Order of Merit, and in 2005-06 he again topped the Sunshine Tour Order of Merit. His win at the season-ending Vodacom Tour Championship took him into the top 100 in the Official World Golf Rankings for the first time. His form continued to improve in 2006 and he finished the season placed 18th on the Order of Merit and reached as high as 55th in the World Rankings.

He took first place on the Sunshine Tour Order of Merit for the third consecutive year in 2007, and in April 2007 he won the Open de España, beating Jyoti Randhawa by one stroke, after an eagle at the 543-yard par-5 16th hole, and moved into the world top 40.

Schwartzel has played in the Gary Player Invitational several times to help Gary Player raise funds for various children's charities. In 2008, he once again achieved success on the European Tour, by securing victory at the Madrid Masters.

After a winless 2009 season, Schwartzel started 2010 by winning two consecutive tournaments on the European Tour, both held in his native South Africa, and re-entered the top 50 of the Official World Golf Rankings. He finished the season ranked 8th on the Order of Merit.

For 2011, Schwartzel joined the PGA Tour. On 16 January 2011, Schwartzel retained his Joburg Open title winning by four shots.

2011 Masters win

In April 2011, Schwartzel won the 75th Masters Tournament by two strokes to become the third South African winner of the event (after Gary Player and Trevor Immelman), and winning exactly 50 years after Player became the first international Masters champion. In the final round, Schwartzel overcame a four stroke deficit with a round of 66, winning by two strokes over Adam Scott and Jason Day Schwartzel started his final round on Sunday by chipping in from off the green at the first hole for birdie and following this up with an eagle on the third hole by holing his second shot from the middle of the fairway. At this point, the four stroke lead of Rory McIlroy had been wiped out. Schwartzel then shot a bogey at the fourth hole to drop one behind. For the rest of the round he maintained this score, until he reached the the last four holes where he holed clutch putts to finish with four birdies in a row, a feat unprecedented in the Masters' 75 years history. It put him back in the lead and he ultimately won the Green Jacket and his first major championship. After the tournament, Schwartzel moved up to 11th from 29th in the Official World Golf Rankings.

Alongside his win at The Masters, Schwartzel also enjoyed success in the year's other three major championships in 2011. He recorded career bests at the U.S. Open where he finished in a tie for ninth and also at the PGA Championship, finishing tied for 12th. He was also in contention at The Open Championship before a third round 75 damaged his chances.

Amateur wins (3)

2002 Indian Amateur Open Championship (tied), Brabazon Trophy, Transvaal Amateur Championship (South Africa)

Professional wins (8)

PGA Tour wins (1)

{| width=53% | valign=top width=33% align=left |

Legend

Major championships (1)

Other PGA Tour (0)

|}

!No.!!Date!!Tournament!!Winning Score!!Margin of Victory!!Runners-up
1		Masters Tournament	-14 (69-71-68-66=274)	2 strokes	[[Jason Day (golfer)

European Tour wins (7)

{| width=53% | valign=top width=33% align=left |

Legend

Major championships (1)

Other European Tour (6)

|}

!No.!!Date!!Tournament!!Winning Score!!Margin ofVictory!!Runner(s)-up
1		Dunhill Championship	-7 (71-69-70-71=281)	Playoff	Neil Cheetham
2		Open de España	-16 (69-68-68-67=272)	1 stroke	Jyoti Randhawa
3			-19 (69-64-66-66=265)	3 strokes
4		Africa Open	-20 (67-70-68-67=272)	1 stroke	Thomas Aiken
5		Joburg Open	-23 (63-68-64-66=261)	6 strokes	Darren Clarke, Keith Horne
6		Joburg Open	-19 (68-61-69-67=265)	1 stroke	Garth Mulroy
7		Masters Tournament	-14 (69-71-68-66=274)	2 strokes
!No.!!Year!!Tournament!!Opponent(s)!!Result
1	2004	[[Dunhill Championship">Jason Day (golfer)

European Tour playoff record (1–0)

!No.!!Year!!Tournament!!Opponent(s)!!Result
1	2004	[[Dunhill Championship	Neil Cheetham	Won with birdie on first extra hole; Cheetham made par

Sunshine Tour wins (5)

!No.!!Date!!Tournament!!Winning Score!!Margin ofVictory!!Runner(s)-up
1	12 Dec 2004	Dunhill Championship	-7 (71-69-70-71=281)	Playoff	Neil Cheetham
2	26 Feb 2006	Vodacom Tour Championship	-14 (68-70-65-67=270)	4 strokes	Darren Fichardt
3	10 Jan 2010	Africa Open	-20 (67-70-68-67=272)	1 stroke	Thomas Aiken
4	17 Jan 2010	Joburg Open	-23 (63-68-64-66=261)	6 strokes	Darren Clarke, Keith Horne
5	16 Jan 2011	Joburg Open	-19 (68-61-69-67=265)	1 stroke	Garth Mulroy

Major championships

Wins (1)

{|class="wikitable" !Year!!Championship!!54 Holes!!Winning Score!!Margin!!Runners-up |-bgcolor="#D0F0C0" | 2011 ||Masters Tournament ||4 shot deficit ||-14 (69-71-68-66=274) ||2 strokes || Jason Day, Adam Scott |}

Results timeline

{| cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" border="1" style="font-size: 95%; border: #aaa solid 1px; border-collapse: collapse;" |- bgcolor="#eeeeee" !align="left"|Tournament !2003 !2004 !2005 !2006 !2007 !2008 !2009 !2010 !2011 |- |The Masters |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|T30 |align="center" style="background:#00ff00;"|1 |- |U.S. Open |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|T48 |align="center"|T30 |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|T16 | style="text-align:center; background:yellow;"|T9 |- |The Open Championship |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|T22 |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|T14 |align="center"|T16 |- |PGA Championship |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|T52 |align="center"|T43 |align="center"|T18 |align="center"|T12 |}

DNP = Did not play CUT = missed the half-way cut "T" = tied Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.

Summary

Tournaments played: 20

Wins: 1

2nd: 0

3rd: 0

Top 10s: 2

Top 25s: 8

Missed cuts: 7

Most consecutive cuts made: 9

Team appearances

Amateur

Eisenhower Trophy (representing South Africa): 2002

References

External links

Category:South African golfers Category:Sunshine Tour golfers Category:European Tour golfers Category:PGA Tour golfers Category:Winners of men's major golf championships Category:People from Johannesburg Category:1984 births Category:Living people

af:Charl Schwartzel da:Charl Schwartzel de:Charl Schwartzel fr:Charl Schwartzel it:Charl Schwartzel nl:Charl Schwartzel ja:シャール・シュワーツェル no:Charl Schwartzel vi:Charl Schwartzel zh:查爾·舒瓦特澤爾

name	Tiger Woods
fullname	Eldrick Tont Woods
nickname	Tiger
birth date	December 30, 1975
birth place	Cypress, California
death date
height
weight
nationality
residence	Jupiter Island, Florida
spouse	Elin Nordegren (2004–2010)
children	Sam Alexis (b. 2007)Charlie Axel (b. 2009)
college	Stanford University (two years)
yearpro	1996
tour	PGA Tour (joined 1996)
prowins	98
pgawins	71 (3rd all time)
eurowins	38 (3rd all time)
japwins	2
asiawins	1
auswins	1
champwins
otherwins	16
majorwins	14
masters	Won: 1997, 2001, 2002, 2005
usopen	Won: 2000, 2002, 2008
open	Won: 2000, 2005, 2006
pga	Won: 1999, 2000, 2006, 2007
wghofid
wghofyear
award1	PGA TourRookie of the Year
year1	1996
award2	PGA Player of the Year
year2	1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
award3	PGA TourPlayer of the Year
year3	1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
award4	PGA Tourleading money winner
year4	1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
award5	Vardon Trophy
year5	1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009
award6	Byron Nelson Award
year6	1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
award7	FedEx Cup Champion
year7	2007, 2009
awardssection	List of career achievements by Tiger Woods#Awards }}

Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Formerly the World No. 1, he is the highest-paid professional athlete in the world, having earned an estimated US$90.5 million from winnings and endorsements in 2010.

Woods has won 14 professional major golf championships, the second highest of any male player (Jack Nicklaus leads with 18), and 71 PGA Tour events, third all time behind Sam Snead and Nicklaus. He has more career major wins and career PGA Tour wins than any other active golfer does. He is the youngest player to achieve the career Grand Slam, and the youngest and fastest to win 50 tournaments on tour. Additionally, Woods is only the second golfer, after Jack Nicklaus, to have achieved a career Grand Slam three times. Woods has won 16 World Golf Championships, and won at least one of those events in each of the first 11 years after they began in 1999.

Woods held the number one position in the world rankings for the most consecutive weeks and for the greatest total number of weeks of any other golfer. He has been awarded PGA Player of the Year a record ten times, the Byron Nelson Award for lowest adjusted scoring average a record eight times, and has the record of leading the money list in nine different seasons.

From December 2009 to early April 2010, Woods took leave from professional golf to focus on his marriage after he admitted infidelity. His multiple infidelities were revealed by several different women, through many worldwide media sources.

In October 2010, Woods lost the world number one ranking; his ranking gradually fell to a low of #58 in November 2011. He snapped a career-long winless streak of 107 weeks when he captured the Chevron World Challenge in December 2011. As of February 27, 2012, he is ranked #21. He remains winless on the PGA Tour since September 2009.

Background and family

Woods was born Eldrick Tont Woods in Cypress, California, to Earl (1932–2006) and Kultida (Tida) Woods (born 1944). He is the only child of their marriage, but does have two half-brothers, Earl Jr. (born 1955) and Kevin (born 1957), and a half-sister, Royce (born 1958) from the 18-year marriage of Earl Woods and his first wife, Barbara Woods Gray. Earl, a retired lieutenant colonel and Vietnam War veteran, was of mixed African American, Chinese, and Native American ancestry. Kultida (née Punsawad), originally from Thailand (where Earl had met her on a tour of duty in 1968), is of mixed Thai, Chinese, and Dutch ancestry. This makes Woods himself half Asian (one-quarter Chinese and one-quarter Thai), one-quarter African American, one-eighth Native American, and one-eighth Dutch. He refers to his ethnic make-up as ''"Cablinasian"'' (a syllabic abbreviation he coined from Caucasian, Black, American Indian, and Asian).

Woods' first name, Eldrick, was coined by his mother because it began with "E" (for Earl) and ended with "K" (for Kultida). His middle name Tont is a traditional Thai name. He was nicknamed Tiger in honor of his father's friend Col. Vuong Dang Phong, who had also been known as Tiger.

Woods has a niece, Cheyenne Woods, who is an amateur golfer on Wake Forest University's golf team.

Early life and amateur golf career

Woods grew up in Orange County, California. He was a child prodigy, introduced to golf before the age of two, by his athletic father Earl, a single-figure handicap amateur golfer who had been one of the earliest African-American college baseball players at Kansas State University. In 1978, Tiger putted against comedian Bob Hope in a television appearance on ''The Mike Douglas Show''. At age three, he shot a 48 over nine holes over the Cypress Navy course, and at age five, he appeared in ''Golf Digest'' and on ABC's ''That's Incredible''. Before turning seven, Tiger won the Under Age 10 section of the Drive, Pitch, and Putt competition, held at the Navy Golf Course in Cypress, California. In 1984 at the age of eight, he won the 9–10 boys' event, the youngest age group available, at the Junior World Golf Championships. He first broke 80 at age eight. He went on to win the Junior World Championships six times, including four consecutive wins from 1988 to 1991.

Woods' father Earl wrote that Tiger first beat him when he was 11 years old, with Earl trying his best. Earl lost to Tiger every time from then on. Woods first broke 70 on a regulation golf course at age 12.

Woods' first major national junior tournament was the 1989 Big I, when he was 13 years old. Woods was paired with pro John Daly, then relatively unknown, in the final round; the event's format placed a professional with each group of juniors who had qualified. Daly birdied three of the last four holes to beat Woods by only one stroke. As a young teenager, Woods first met Jack Nicklaus in Los Angeles at the Bel-Air Country Club, when Nicklaus was performing a clinic for the club's members. Woods was part of the show, and impressed Nicklaus and the crowd with his skills and potential. Earl Woods had researched in detail the career accomplishments of Nicklaus, and had set his young son the goals of breaking those records.

While attending Western High School in Anaheim at the age of 15, Woods became the youngest ever U.S. Junior Amateur champion (a record which stood until it was broken by Jin Liu in 2010). He was named 1991's Southern California Amateur Player of the Year (for the second consecutive year) and Golf Digest Junior Amateur Player of the Year. In 1992, he defended his title at the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship, becoming the first multiple winner; competed in his first PGA Tour event, the Nissan Los Angeles Open (he missed the 36-hole cut); and was named Golf Digest Amateur Player of the Year, Golf World Player of the Year, and Golfweek National Amateur of the Year.

The following year, Woods won his third consecutive U.S. Junior Amateur Championship; he remains the event's only three-time winner. In 1994, at the TPC at Sawgrass in Florida, he became the youngest-ever winner of the U.S. Amateur Championship, a record that stood until 2008 when it was broken by Danny Lee. He was a member of the American team at the 1994 Eisenhower Trophy World Amateur Golf Team Championships (winning), and the 1995 Walker Cup (losing).

Woods graduated from Western High School in 1994 at age 18, and was voted "Most Likely to Succeed" among the graduating class. He had starred for the high school's golf team under coach Don Crosby.

College golf career

Woods was recruited very heavily by college golf powers, and chose Stanford University, the 1994 NCAA Division I champion. He enrolled at Stanford in the fall of 1994 under a golf scholarship, winning his first collegiate event, the 40th Annual William H. Tucker Invitational, that September. He declared a major in economics, and was nicknamed "Urkel" by college teammate Notah Begay III. In 1995, he successfully defended his U.S. Amateur title at the Newport Country Club in Rhode Island He participated in his first PGA Tour major, the 1995 Masters Tournament, and tied for 41st as the only amateur to make the cut. At age 20 in 1996, he became the first golfer to win three consecutive U.S. Amateur titles and won the NCAA individual golf championship. In winning the Silver Medal as leading amateur at The Open Championship, he tied the record for an amateur aggregate score of 281. He left college after two years and turned professional.

Professional career

Woods became a professional golfer in August 1996, and immediately signed deals with Nike, Inc. and Titleist that ranked as the most lucrative endorsement contracts in golf history at that time. Woods was named ''Sports Illustrated'''s 1996 Sportsman of the Year and PGA Tour Rookie of the Year. In April 1997, he won his first major, the Masters, becoming the tournament's youngest-ever winner. Two months later, he set the record for the fastest-ever ascent to #1 in the Official World Golf Rankings. After a lackluster 1998, Woods finished the 1999 season with eight wins, including the PGA Championship, a feat not achieved since 1974.

In 2000, Woods achieved six consecutive wins, the longest winning streak since 1948. One of these was the 2000 U.S. Open, where he broke or tied nine tournament records in what Sports Illustrated called "the greatest performance in golf history." At age 24, he became the youngest golfer to achieve the Career Grand Slam. At the end of 2000, Woods had won nine of the twenty PGA Tour events he entered and had broken the record for lowest scoring average in tour history. He was named the Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year, the first and only athlete to be honored twice, and was ranked by Golf Digest magazine as the twelfth-best golfer of all time.

Following a stellar 2001 and 2002 in which Woods continued to dominate the tour, Woods' career hit a "slump". He did not win a major in 2003 or 2004. In September 2004, Vijay Singh overtook Woods in the Official World Golf Rankings, breaking Woods' record streak of 264 weeks at #1. Woods rebounded in 2005, winning six official PGA Tour money events and reclaiming the top spot in July after swapping it back and forth with Singh over the first half of the year.

In 2006, Woods began dominantly, winning his first two PGA tournaments but failing to capture his fifth Masters championship in April. Following the death of his father in May, Woods took a nine-week hiatus from the tour and appeared rusty upon his return at the U.S. Open, missing the cut at Winged Foot. However, he quickly returned to form and ended the year by winning six consecutive tour events. At the season's close, with 54 wins and 12 majors wins, Woods had broken the tour records for both total wins and total majors wins over eleven seasons.

He continued to excel in 2007 and the first part of 2008. In April 2008, he underwent knee surgery and missed the next two months on the tour. Woods returned for the 2008 U.S. Open, where he struggled the first day but ultimately claimed a dramatic victory over Rocco Mediate, after which Mediate said, "This guy does things that are just not normal by any stretch of the imagination," and Kenny Perry added, "He beat everybody on one leg." Two days later, Woods announced that he would miss the remainder of the season due to further knee surgery, and that his knee was more severely damaged than previously revealed, prompting even greater praise for his U.S. Open performance. Woods called it "my greatest ever championship." In Woods' absence, TV ratings for the remainder of the season suffered a huge decline from 2007.

Upon Woods' much-anticipated return in 2009, he performed well, including a spectacular performance at the 2009 Presidents' Cup, but failed to win a major, the first year since 2004 that he failed to do so. After his marital infidelities came to light at the end of 2009 and received massive media coverage, Woods announced in December that he would be taking an indefinite break from competitive golf. In February 2010, he delivered a televised apology for his behavior. During this period, several companies ended their endorsement deals with Woods.

He returned to competition in April at the 2010 Masters Tournament, where he finished in a tie for fourth place. He followed the Masters with poor showings at the Quail Hollow Championship and the Players Championship, where he withdrew in the fourth round citing injury. Shortly afterward, Woods' coach since 2003, Hank Haney, resigned the position; he was replaced in August by Sean Foley. The rest of the season went badly for Woods, who failed to win a single event for the first time since turning professional, while nevertheless finishing the season ranked #2 in the world.

Woods' performance continued to suffer in 2011, taking its toll on his ranking. After falling to #7 in March, he rebounded to #5 with a strong showing at the 2011 Masters Tournament, where he tied for fourth place. Due to leg injuries incurred at the Masters, he missed several summer events; in July he fired his longtime caddy Steve Williams, replacing him temporarily with friend Bryon Bell. After returning to tournament play in August, Woods continued to falter, and his ranking gradually fell to a low of #58. He rose to #50 in mid-November after a third-place win at the Emirates Australian Open, and broke his winless streak with a victory at December's Chevron World Challenge.

His 2012 season started at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship on the European Tour in late January. For the first two days of play Tiger was grouped with Rory McIlroy and world No.1 Luke Donald. He shot under par rounds of 70 and 69 on Thursday and Friday respectively, which left him in joint 4th place at 5-under par. His low round of the week came on Saturday, shooting a 6-under par 66, giving him the joint lead with England's Robert Rock. Woods struggled on Sunday and couldn't mount a big enough charge, shooting a level par 72 and settling for joint 3rd place. Woods' second tournament of the year came at the AT&T; Pebble Beach National Pro-Am in early February which he had not played since 2002. His amateur partner for the week was Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo. Woods shot solid rounds of 68-68-67 on the first three days, and began Sunday in third place, four shots behind leader Charlie Wi. However, he struggled with his putting and shot a final round 75 while his playing partner Phil Mickelson shot a 64 and won the tournament. His next tournament was the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship in Arizona. Woods battled to win his first round match against Gonzalo Fernández-Castaño, 1-up, and then played Nick Watney in the second round. On the 18th hole, Woods had to make birdie to extend the match, however his 5 foot putt missed and he was knocked out of the tournament. Woods commented that his putting was hindered technically and required some work after battling with it throughout the round.

Endorsements

Woods has been called the world's most marketable athlete. Shortly after his 21st birthday in 1996, he began signing endorsement deals with numerous companies, including General Motors, Titleist, General Mills, American Express, Accenture, and Nike, Inc. In 2000, he signed a 5-year, $105 million contract extension with Nike. It was the largest endorsing deal ever signed by an athlete at that time. Woods' endorsement has been credited with playing a significant role in taking the Nike Golf brand from a "start-up" golf company earlier in the past decade, to becoming the leading golf apparel company in the world, and a major player in the equipment and golf ball market. Nike Golf is one of the fastest growing brands in the sport, with an estimated $600 million in sales. Woods has been described as the "ultimate endorser" for Nike Golf, frequently seen wearing Nike gear during tournaments, and even in advertisements for other products. Woods receives a cut from the sales of Nike Golf apparel, footwear, golf equipment, golf balls, and has a building named after him at Nike’s headquarters campus in Beaverton, Oregon.

In 2002, Woods was involved in every aspect of the launch of Buick's Rendezvous SUV. A company spokesman stated that Buick is happy with the value of Woods' endorsement, pointing out that more than 130,000 Rendezvous vehicles were sold in 2002 and 2003. "That exceeded our forecasts," he was quoted as saying, "It has to be in recognition of Tiger." In February 2004, Buick renewed Woods' endorsement contract for another five years, in a deal reportedly worth $40 million.

Woods collaborated closely with TAG Heuer to develop the world's first professional golf watch, released in April 2005. The lightweight, titanium-construction watch, designed to be worn while playing the game, incorporates numerous innovative design features to accommodate golf play. It is capable of absorbing up to 5,000 Gs of shock, far in excess of the forces generated by a normal golf swing. In 2006, the TAG Heuer ''Professional Golf Watch'' won the prestigious ''iF product design award'' in the Leisure/Lifestyle category.

Woods also endorses the Tiger Woods PGA Tour series of video games; he has done so since 1999. In 2006, he signed a six-year contract with Electronic Arts, the series' publisher.

In February 2007, along with Roger Federer and Thierry Henry, Woods became an ambassador for the "Gillette Champions" marketing campaign. Gillette did not disclose financial terms, though an expert estimated the deal could total between $10 million and $20 million.

In October 2007, Gatorade announced that Woods would have his own brand of sports drink starting in March 2008. "Gatorade Tiger" was his first U.S. deal with a beverage company and his first licensing agreement. Although no figures were officially disclosed, ''Golfweek'' magazine reported that it was for five years and could pay him as much as $100 million. The company decided in early fall 2009 to discontinue the drink due to weak sales.

According to ''Golf Digest'', Woods made $769,440,709 from 1996 to 2007, and the magazine predicted that by 2010, Woods would pass one billion dollars in earnings. In 2009, ''Forbes'' confirmed that Woods was indeed the world's first athlete to earn over a billion dollars in his career (before taxes), after accounting for the $10 million bonus Woods received for the FedEx Cup title. The same year, Forbes estimated his net worth to be $600 million, making him the second richest "African American" behind only Oprah Winfrey.

Honors

On August 20, 2007, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and First Lady Maria Shriver announced that Woods would be inducted into the California Hall of Fame. He was inducted December 5, 2007 at The California Museum for History, Women and the Arts in Sacramento.

He has been named "Athlete of the Decade" by the Associated Press in December 2009. He has been named Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year a record-tying four times, and is the only person to be named ''Sports Illustrated'''s Sportsman of the Year more than once.

Since his record-breaking win at the 1997 Masters Tournament, golf's increased popularity is commonly attributed to Woods' presence. He is credited by some sources for dramatically increasing prize money in golf, generating interest in new audiences, and for drawing the largest TV audiences in golf history.

Tiger-proofing

Early in Woods' career, a small number of golf experts expressed concern about his impact on the competitiveness of the game and the public appeal of professional golf. Sportswriter Bill Lyon of Knight-Ridder asked in a column, "Isn't Tiger Woods actually bad for golf?" (though Lyon ultimately concluded that he was not). At first, some pundits feared that Woods would drive the spirit of competition out of the game of golf by making existing courses obsolete and relegating opponents to simply competing for second place each week.

A related effect was measured by economist Jennifer Brown of the University of California, Berkeley who found that other golfers played worse when competing against Woods than when he was not in the tournament. The scores of highly skilled (exempt) golfers are nearly one stroke higher when playing against Woods. This effect was larger when he was on winning streaks and disappeared during his well-publicized slump in 2003–04. Brown explains the results by noting that competitors of similar skill can hope to win by increasing their level of effort, but that, when facing a "superstar" competitor, extra exertion does not significantly raise one's level of winning while increasing risk of injury or exhaustion, leading to reduced effort.

Many courses in the PGA Tour rotation (including Major Championship sites like Augusta National) began to add yardage to their tees in an effort to slow down long hitters like Woods, a strategy that became known as "Tiger-Proofing". Woods himself welcomed the change as he believes adding yardage to the course does not affect his ability to win.

Playing style

When Woods first joined the professional tour in 1996, his long drives had a large impact on the world of golf. However, when he did not upgrade his equipment in the following years (insisting upon the use of True Temper Dynamic Gold steel-shafted clubs and smaller steel clubheads that promoted accuracy over distance), many opponents caught up to him. Phil Mickelson even made a joke in 2003 about Woods using "inferior equipment", which did not sit well with Nike, Titleist or Woods. During 2004, Woods finally upgraded his driver technology to a larger clubhead and graphite shaft, which, coupled with his clubhead speed, made him one of the Tour's lengthier players off the tee once again.

Despite his power advantage, Woods has always focused on developing an excellent all-around game. Although in recent years he has typically been near the bottom of the Tour rankings in driving accuracy, his iron play is generally accurate, his recovery and bunker play is very strong, and his putting (especially under pressure) is possibly his greatest asset. He is largely responsible for a shift to higher standards of athleticism amongst professional golfers, and is known for putting in more hours of practice than most.

From mid-1993, while he was still an amateur, until 2004, Woods worked almost exclusively with leading swing coach Butch Harmon. From mid-1997, Harmon and Woods fashioned a major redevelopment of Woods' full swing, achieving greater consistency, better distance control, and better kinesiology. The changes began to pay off in 1999. From March 2004 to 2010, Woods was coached by Hank Haney, who worked on flattening his swing plane. Woods continued to win tournaments with Haney, but his driving accuracy dropped significantly. Haney resigned in May 2010 and was replaced by Sean Foley.

Mike "Fluff" Cowan served as Woods' caddy from the start of his professional career until March 1999. He was replaced by Steve Williams, who became a close friend of Woods and is often credited with helping him with key shots and putts. In June 2011, Woods fired Williams and replaced him with Woods' friend Bryon Bell.

Equipment

As of 2011:

Driver: Nike VR Tour Driver (8.5 degrees; Mitsubishi Diamana Whiteboard 83g shaft)

Fairway Woods: Nike VR Pro 15° 3-wood with Mitsubishi Diamana Blueboard and Nike SQ II 19° 5-Wood

Irons: Nike VR Pro Blades (2-PW) (Tiger will put his 5 Wood or 2 Iron in the bag depending upon the course setup and conditions). All irons are 1 degree upright, have D4 swingweight, standard size Tour Velvet grips and True Temper Dynamic Gold X-100 shafts.

Wedges: Nike VR 56° Sand Wedge and Nike SV 60° Lob Wedge

Putter: Nike Method 001, 35 inches long; Titleist Scotty Cameron; Nike Method 003 (switches putters depending on the greens of certain courses)

Ball: Nike ONE Tour D (with "Tiger" imprint)

Golf Glove: Nike Dri-FIT Tour glove

Golf Shoes: Nike Air Zoom TW 2011

Driver club cover: ''Frank'', a plush tiger head club cover created by his mother. Frank has appeared in several commercials.

Career achievements

Woods has won 71 official PGA Tour events including 14 majors. He is 14–1 when going into the final round of a major with at least a share of the lead. He has been heralded as "the greatest closer in history" by multiple golf experts. He owns the lowest career scoring average and the most career earnings of any player in PGA Tour history.

He has spent the most consecutive and cumulative weeks atop the world rankings. He is one of five players (along with Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, and Jack Nicklaus) to have won all four professional major championships in his career, known as the Career Grand Slam, and was the youngest to do so. Woods is the only player to have won all four professional major championships in a row, accomplishing the feat in the 2000–2001 seasons.

PGA Tour wins (71)

European Tour wins (38)

Japan Golf Tour wins (2)

Asian Tour wins (1)

PGA Tour of Australasia wins (1)

Other professional wins (15)

Amateur wins (21)

Major championships

Wins (14)

{|class="sortable wikitable" !Year!!Championship!!54 Holes!!Winning Score!!Margin!!Runner(s)-up |- style="background:#d0f0c0;" | 1997 ||Masters Tournament ||9 shot lead ||−18 (70–66–65–69=270) ||12 strokes || Tom Kite |- style="background:thistle;" | 1999 ||PGA Championship ||Tied for lead ||−11 (70–67–68–72=277) ||1 stroke || Sergio García |- style="background:#fbceb1;" | 2000 ||U.S. Open ||10 shot lead ||−12 (65–69–71–67=272) ||15 strokes || Ernie Els, Miguel Ángel Jiménez |- style="background:#abcdef;" | 2000 ||The Open Championship ||6 shot lead ||−19 (67–66–67–69=269) ||8 strokes || Thomas Bjørn, Ernie Els |- style="background:thistle;" | 2000 ||PGA Championship (2)||1 shot lead ||−18 (66–67–70–67=270) ||Playoff ¹ || Bob May |- style="background:#d0f0c0;" | 2001 ||Masters Tournament (2)||1 shot lead ||−16 (70–66–68–68=272) ||2 strokes || David Duval |- style="background:#d0f0c0;" | 2002 ||Masters Tournament (3)||Tied for lead ||−12 (70–69–66–71=276) ||3 strokes || Retief Goosen |- style="background:#fbceb1;" | 2002 ||U.S. Open (2)||4 shot lead ||−3 (67–68–70–72=277) ||3 strokes || Phil Mickelson |- style="background:#d0f0c0;" | 2005 ||Masters Tournament (4)||3 shot lead ||−12 (74–66–65–71=276) ||Playoff ² || Chris DiMarco |- style="background:#abcdef;" | 2005 ||The Open Championship (2)||2 shot lead ||−14 (66–67–71–70=274) ||5 strokes || Colin Montgomerie |- style="background:#abcdef;" | 2006 ||The Open Championship (3)||1 shot lead ||−18 (67–65–71–67=270) ||2 strokes || Chris DiMarco |- style="background:thistle;" | 2006 ||PGA Championship (3)||Tied for lead ||−18 (69–68–65–68=270) ||5 strokes || Shaun Micheel |- style="background:thistle;" | 2007 ||PGA Championship (4)||3 shot lead ||−8 (71–63–69–69=272) ||2 strokes || Woody Austin |- style="background:#fbceb1;" | 2008 ||U.S. Open (3)||1 shot lead ||−1 (72–68–70–73=283) ||Playoff ³ || Rocco Mediate |} ¹ Defeated May in three-hole playoff by 1 stroke: Woods (3–4–5=12), May (4–4–5=13) ² Defeated DiMarco with birdie on first extra hole ³ Defeated Mediate with a par on 1st sudden death hole after 18-hole playoff was tied at even par

Results timeline

{| cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" border="1" style="font-size: 95%; border: #aaa solid 1px; border-collapse: collapse; text-align:center" |- style="background:#eee;" !align="left"|Tournament !1995 !1996 !1997 !1998 !1999 !2000 !2001 !2002 !2003 !2004 !2005 !2006 !2007 !2008 !2009 !2010 !2011 |- | style="text-align:left;"|The Masters |T41 LA |CUT | style="background:lime;"|1 | style="background:yellow;"|T8 |T18 | style="background:yellow;"|5 | style="background:lime;"|1 | style="background:lime;"|1 |T15 |T22 | style="background:lime;"|1 | style="background:yellow;"|T3 | style="background:yellow;"|T2 | style="background:yellow;"|2 | style="background:yellow;"|T6 | style="background:yellow;"|T4 | style="background:yellow;"|T4 |- | style="text-align:left;"|U.S. Open |WD |T82 |T19 |T18 | style="background:yellow;"|T3 | style="background:lime;"|1 |T12 | style="background:lime;"|1 |T20 |T17 | style="background:yellow;"|2 |CUT | style="background:yellow;"|T2 | style="background:lime;"|1 | style="background:yellow;"|T6 | style="background:yellow;"|T4 |DNP |- | style="text-align:left;"|The Open Championship |T68 |T22 LA |T24 | style="background:yellow;"|3 | style="background:yellow;"|T7 | style="background:lime;"|1 |T25 |T28 | style="background:yellow;"|T4 | style="background:yellow;"|T9 | style="background:lime;"|1 | style="background:lime;"|1 |T12 |DNP |CUT |T23 |DNP |- | style="text-align:left;"|PGA Championship |DNP |DNP |T29 | style="background:yellow;"|T10 | style="background:lime;"|1 | style="background:lime;"|1 |T29 | style="background:yellow;"|2 |T39 |T24 | style="background:yellow;"|T4 | style="background:lime;"|1 | style="background:lime;"|1 |DNP | style="background:yellow;"|2 |T28 |CUT |}

LA = Low Amateur DNP = Did not play CUT = missed the half-way cut "T" indicates a tie for a place Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.

World Golf Championships

Wins (16)

¹ Won on the first extra hole of a sudden-death playoff. ² Won on the seventh extra hole of a sudden-death playoff. ³ Won on the second extra hole of a sudden-death playoff. ⁴ Won on the fourth extra hole of a sudden-death playoff.

Results timeline

!Tournament!!1999!!2000!!2001!!2002!!2003!!2004!!2005!!2006!!2007!!2008!!2009!!2010!!2011!!2012

align="left"

style="background:yellow;"

style="background:yellow;"

DNP

R64

R32

style="background:yellow;"

style="background:yellow;"

R32

DNP

R64

R32

align="left"

style="background:yellow;"

NT1

style="background:yellow;"

style="background:yellow;"

style="background:yellow;"

DNP

style="background:yellow;"

align="left"

style="background:yellow;"

style="background:yellow;"

style="background:yellow;"

DNP

T78

T37

align="left"

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

style="background:yellow;"

style="background:yellow;"

DNP

¹Cancelled due to 9/11 DNP = Did not play QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play "T" = tied NT = No Tournament Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10. Note that the HSBC Champions did not become a WGC event until 2009.

PGA Tour career summary

! Year !! Wins (Majors) !! Earnings ($) !! Money list rank
1996	2	790,594	24
1997	4 (1)	2,066,833
1998	1	1,841,117
1999	8 (1)	6,616,585
2000	9 (3)	9,188,321
2001	5 (1)	6,687,777
2002	5 (2)	6,912,625
2003	5	6,673,413
2004	1	5,365,472
2005	6 (2)	10,628,024
2006	8 (2)	9,941,563
2007	7 (1)	10,867,052
2008	4 (1)	5,775,000
2009	6	10,508,163
2010	0	1,294,765	68
2011	0	660,238	128
2012*	0	197,400	73
!Career*	!71 (14)	!95,014,942	1

: * As of February 26, 2012.

Other ventures

Tiger Woods Foundation

The Tiger Woods Foundation was established in 1996 by Woods and his father Earl, with the primary goal of promoting golf among inner-city children. The foundation has conducted junior golf clinics across the country, and sponsors the Tiger Woods Foundation National Junior Golf Team in the Junior World Golf Championships. As of December 2010, TWF employed approximately 55 people.

The foundation operates the Tiger Woods Learning Center, a $50 million, 35,000-square-foot facility in Anaheim, California, providing college-access programs for underserved youth. The TWLC opened in 2006 and features seven classrooms, extensive multi-media facilities and an outdoor golf teaching area. The center has since expanded to four additional campuses: two in Washington, DC; one in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and one in Stuart, Florida.

The foundation benefits from the annual Chevron World Challenge and AT&T; National golf tournaments hosted by Woods. In October 2011, the foundation hosted the first Tiger Woods Invitational at Pebble Beach. Other annual fundraisers have included the concert events Block Party, last held in 2009 in Anaheim, and Tiger Jam, last held in 2011 in Las Vegas after a one-year hiatus.

Tiger Woods Design

In November 2006, Woods announced his intention to begin designing golf courses around the world through a new company, Tiger Woods Design. A month later, he announced that the company's first course would be in Dubai as part of a 25.3 million-square-foot development, The Tiger Woods Dubai. The Al Ruwaya Golf Course was initially expected to finish construction in 2009. As of February 2010, only seven holes had been completed; in April 2011, the New York Times reported that the project had been shelved permanently.

Tiger Woods Design has taken on two other courses, neither of which has materialized. In August 2007, Woods announced The Cliffs at High Carolina, a private course in the Blue Ridge Mountains near Asheville, North Carolina. After a groundbreaking in November 2008, the project suffered cash flow problems and suspended construction. A third course, in Punta Brava, Mexico, was announced in October 2008, but incurred delays due to issues with permits and an environmental impact study. Construction on the Punta Brava course has not yet begun.

The problems encountered by these projects have been credited to factors including overly optimistic estimates of their value; declines throughout the global economy, particularly the U.S. crash in home prices; and decreased appeal of Woods following his 2009 infidelity scandal.

Writings

Woods wrote a golf instruction column for ''Golf Digest'' magazine from 1997 to February 2011. In 2001 he wrote a best-selling golf instruction book, ''How I Play Golf'', which had the largest print run of any golf book for its first edition, 1.5 million copies.

Personal life

Marriage and children

In November 2003, Woods became engaged to Elin Nordegren, a Swedish former model and daughter of former minister of migration Barbro Holmberg and radio journalist Thomas Nordegren. They were introduced during The Open Championship in 2001 by Swedish golfer Jesper Parnevik, who had employed her as an au pair. They married on October 5, 2004, at the Sandy Lane resort in Barbados, and lived at Isleworth, a community in Windermere, a suburb of Orlando, Florida. In 2006, they purchased a $39 million estate in Jupiter Island, Florida, and began constructing a 10,000-square-foot home; Woods moved there in 2010 following the couple's divorce.

Woods and Nordegren's first child, a daughter named Sam Alexis Woods, was born on June 18, 2007. Woods chose the name because his own father had always called him Sam. Their son, Charlie Axel Woods, was born on February 8, 2009.

Infidelity scandal and fallout

On November 25, 2009, supermarket tabloid ''The National Enquirer'' published a story claiming that Woods had an extramarital affair with New York City nightclub manager Rachel Uchitel, a claim she denied. Two days later, around 2:30 AM on November 27, Woods left home in his Cadillac Escalade SUV and, while still on his street, collided with a fire hydrant, a tree, and several hedges. He was treated for minor facial lacerations and received a ticket for careless driving. Following intense media speculation about the accident, Woods released a statement on his website taking sole responsibility for the accident, calling it a "private matter" and crediting his wife for helping him from the car. On November 30, Woods announced that he would not be appearing at his own charity golf tournament, the Chevron World Challenge, nor any other tournaments in 2009, due to his injuries.

On December 2, following the release by ''US Weekly'' of a voicemail message allegedly left by Tiger for a mistress, Woods released another statement in which he admitted "transgressions" and apologized to "all of those who have supported [him] over the years", while reiterating his and his family's right to privacy. Over the next several days, more than a dozen women claimed in various media outlets to have had affairs with Woods. On December 11, he released a third statement admitting to infidelity and apologizing again, as well as announcing that he would be taking "an indefinite break from professional golf."

In the days and months following Woods' admission of infidelity, several companies re-evaluated their relationships with him. Accenture, AT&T;, Gatorade and General Motors completely ended their sponsorship deals, while Gillette suspended advertising featuring Woods. TAG Heuer dropped Woods from advertising in December 2009 and officially ended their deal when his contract expired in August 2011. The magazine ''Golf Digest'' suspended Woods' monthly column beginning with the February 2010 issue. In contrast, Nike continued to support Woods, as did Electronic Arts, which was working with Woods on the game ''Tiger Woods PGA Tour Online''. A December 2009 study estimated the shareholder loss caused by Woods' affairs to be between $5 billion and $12 billion.

On February 19, 2010, Woods gave a televised statement in which he said he had been in a 45-day therapy program since the end of December. He again apologized for his actions. "I thought I could get away with whatever I wanted to," he said. "I felt that I had worked hard my entire life and deserved to enjoy all the temptations around me. I felt I was entitled. Thanks to money and fame, I didn't have to go far to find them. I was wrong. I was foolish." He said he did not know yet when he would be returning to golf. He announced a few weeks later on March 16 that he would be returning at the 2010 Masters Tournament on April 8.

Woods and Nordegren officially divorced on August 23, 2010.

Other

From childhood Woods was raised as a Buddhist, and actively practised this faith from childhood until well into his adult professional golf career. In a 2000 article, Woods was quoted as saying he "believes in Buddhism... Not every aspect, but most of it." He has attributed his deviations and infidelity to his losing track of Buddhism. He said that "Buddhism teaches me to stop following every impulse and to learn restraint. Obviously I lost track of what I was taught."

Tiger Woods is registered as an independent. In January 2009, Woods delivered a speech commemorating the military at the We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial. In April 2009, Woods visited the White House while in the Washington, D.C. area promoting the golf tournament he hosts, the AT&T; National.

Woods underwent laser eye surgery in 1999. Before this surgery, Woods eyesight was minus 11, meaning he was almost legally blind. He considered the surgery a big help in his career and a good alternative to the glasses and contact lenses. He immediately started winning tour events after the surgery. He received money from TLC Laser Eye Centers to endorse them. In 2007, he had a second laser eye surgery when his vision began to deteriorate again.

See also

Career Grand Slam Champions

Golfers with most European Tour wins

List of golfers with most PGA Tour wins

List of men's major championships winning golfers

List of World Number One male golfers

Longest PGA Tour win streaks

Most PGA Tour wins in a year

Most wins in one PGA Tour event

References

Further reading

External links

Tiger Woods Foundation

Tiger Woods Learning Center

Tiger Woods' Videos on mReplay

Tiger Woods Video on ESPN Video Archive

Tiger Woods Video on FoxSports Video Archive

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name	Dustin Johnson
fullname	Dustin Hunter Johnson
birth date	June 22, 1984
birth place	Columbia, South Carolina
death date
height
weight
nationality
residence	Jupiter, Florida
college	Coastal Carolina University
yearpro	2007
retired
tour	PGA Tour
extour
prowins	7
pgawins	5
eurowins
japwins
asiawins
sunwins
auswins
nwidewins
chalwins
otherwins
champwins
seneurowins
otherseniorwins
majorwins
masters	T30: 2009
usopen	T8: 2010
open	T2: 2011
pga	T5: 2010
wghofid
wghofyear
award1
year1
awardssection	}}

Dustin Hunter Johnson (born June 22, 1984) is an American professional golfer who currently plays on the PGA Tour. He is one of the longest drivers on the PGA Tour, and is one of the few players who can hit a ball over 350 yards with ease.

Early career

Johnson was born in Columbia, South Carolina. He played collegiate golf at Coastal Carolina University. As an amateur, he won the Monroe Invitational and the Northeast Amateur in 2007 and played on the winning 2007 Walker Cup and Palmer Cup teams.

Professional career

Johnson turned professional in 2007 and earned his 2008 PGA Tour card by finishing in a tie for 14th place in the 2007 qualifying school.

Johnson won his first PGA Tour event, the Turning Stone Resort Championship in October 2008. Four months later, he won his second event at the AT&T; Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, a tournament that was shortened to 54 holes when the final round was cancelled due to strong winds and heavy rain, leaving Johnson the winner by four strokes over Mike Weir and five strokes over second round leader Retief Goosen, who shot a third round 2 over par 74. Johnson finished the 2009 season ranked 15th on the PGA Tour money list.

In February 2010, Johnson birdied the final hole to defeat former world number one David Duval and two-time PGA Tour winner J. B. Holmes to successfully defend his AT&T; Pebble Beach National Pro-Am title.

Johnson continued his Pebble Beach success by shooting 71-70-66 to take a three shot lead over Graeme McDowell at the 2010 U.S. Open, but scored a disappointing 82 in the final round and finished T8 (McDowell won the tournament).

In the final round of the 2010 PGA Championship, Johnson held a one-shot lead entering the final hole. He appeared to have bogeyed the hole, which would have tied him for first and entered him into a three-hole playoff with Bubba Watson and Martin Kaymer. However, he received a two-stroke penalty for grounding his club in a bunker, thereby dropping him to a tie for fifth place. Kaymer eventually won the playoff.

Johnson did break his streak of bad luck by capturing the third FedEx Cup playoff event, the BMW Championship at Cog Hill in September. It was Johnson's fourth career PGA Tour victory, and his first in any FedEx Cup playoff event. He finished the 2010 season ranked 4th on the PGA Tour money list.

Johnson took part in the Long Drive Contest for charity at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions alongside Bubba Watson and Robert Garrigus.

In March 2011, Johnson entered the final round of the WGC-Cadillac Championship with a two stroke lead over the rest of the field. However he could only manage a final round one-under-par 71 to finish as runner-up behind Nick Watney.

In July 2011, Johnson earned his best finish in a major championship at the 2011 Open Championship. He finished in a tie for second place, alongside fellow American Phil Mickelson. The pair were beaten to the title by Darren Clarke who finished three strokes ahead of them. His first three rounds of 70-68-68 left him one stroke behind Clarke and for most of Sunday's round Johnson managed to keep up with him, at one stage being just one back of Clarke. However Johnson's final round charge was derailed at the par five 14th, when he hit his second shot out of bounds, eventually leading to a double bogey. This took him out of contention for his maiden major championship as he slipped from one stroke back to four strokes behind Clarke with only four holes to play. One highlight of Johnson's week at Royal St George's came in the first round when he recorded a hole in one on the par three 16th hole. This result marked the third time that Johnson had been part of the final group on Sunday at a major championship and also occurring in three out of the four majors, the 2010 U.S. Open, the 2010 PGA Championship and the 2011 Open Championship. As a result of this second place finish, Johnson moved to his highest spot in the world rankings at the time, seventh, and became the third ranked American behind Steve Stricker and Phil Mickleson.

Johnson got his 5th PGA Tour victory at The Barclays in 2011. He beat Matt Kuchar by two strokes. This was his second 54 hole tournament victory. The tournament was shortened due to Hurricane Irene. He shot rounds of 66-63-65 to win at -19. This was Johnson's first victory of 2011 and it moved him from 19th to 1st in the FedEx Cup standings. The win also took him to a career high of 4th in the world rankings, the second highest American, (behind Steve Stricker).

Amateur wins (2)

2007 Monroe Invitational, Northeast Amateur

Professional wins (7)

PGA Tour wins (5)

{| width=53% | valign=top width=33% align=left |

Legend

FedEx Cup playoff event (2)

Other PGA Tour (3)

|}

!No.	!Date	!Tournament	!Winning Score	!Margin of Victory	!Runner(s)-up
1		2008 PGA Tour>2008	Turning Stone Resort Championship	-9 (72-68-70-69=279)	1 stroke	Robert Allenby
2		2009 PGA Tour>2009	AT&T; Pebble Beach National Pro-Am	-15 (65-69-67=201)*	4 strokes	Mike Weir
3		2010 PGA Tour>2010	AT&T; Pebble Beach National Pro-Am	-16 (64-68-64-74=270)	1 stroke	David Duval, J. B. Holmes
4			-9 (68-70-68-69=275)	1 stroke	Paul Casey
5		The Barclays	-19 (66-63-65=194)*	2 strokes	Matt Kuchar

* shortened to 54 holes due to poor weather conditions.

Other wins (2)

2010 Wendy's 3-Tour Challenge (with Bubba Watson and Boo Weekley), The Shark Shootout (with Ian Poulter)

Results in major championships

{| cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" border="1" style="font-size: 95%; border: #aaa solid 1px; border-collapse: collapse;" |- bgcolor="#eeeeee" !align="left"|Tournament !2008 !2009 !2010 !2011 |- |The Masters |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|T30 |align="center"|T38 |align="center"|T38 |- |U.S. Open |align="center"|T48 |align="center"|T40 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T8 |align="center"|T23 |- |The Open Championship |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|T14 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T2 |- |PGA Championship |align="center"|DNP |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T10 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T5 |align="center"|CUT |}

DNP = Did not play CUT = missed the half-way cut "T" = tied Yellow background for top-10.

Summary

Tournaments played: 13

Wins: 0

Top 10s: 4

Top 25s: 6

Missed cuts: 2

Most consecutive cuts made: 8

Results in World Golf Championships

!Tournament!!2009!!2010!!2011
align="left"	R64	R64	R64
align="left"	T35	T56	style="background:yellow;"
align="left"	T22	15	T48
align="left"	DNP	DNP

DNP = Did not play

QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play

"T" = tied

Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.

U.S. national team appearances

Amateur

Walker Cup: 2007 (winners)

Palmer Cup: 2007 (winners)

Professional

Ryder Cup: 2010

See also

List of golfers with most PGA Tour wins

2007 PGA Tour Qualifying School Graduates

References

External links

Category:American golfers Category:PGA Tour golfers Category:Coastal Carolina University alumni Category:People from Columbia, South Carolina Category:1984 births Category:Living people

da:Dustin Johnson de:Dustin Johnson fr:Dustin Johnson nl:Dustin Johnson no:Dustin Johnson