About This Quiz
FORE! Oh, come on now, you can do better than that! It's time to show off your golfing skills. OK, so maybe you're not the greatest golfer on the links, but we don't care. As long as you can impress us with the names of all those who are the greatest, then that's all that matters!
This ultimate golf legends quiz is sure to take you on a trip down memory lane--a trip back to the first hole if you will! Because we want to know, can you recognize all of these amazing golfers, from Tiger Woods and Vijay Singh to the olden days of Babe Zaharias and Louise Suggs? Male and female golfers alike, they have each made an impact on the sport and now we are ready for you to have an impact on this quiz. Will your ball stay on the tee today? Or will you be bogeying your way out of the sand traps? It's time to see if you know your U.S. Opens from your Open Championships, your birdies from your eagles and your greens from the fairway. Will you stay on par?
Whether they've left their legacy out on the course or continue to play today, we've got everyone from Arnold Palmer to Annika Sorenstam. The sky is blue, the wind's out of the east, we're ready to get this game going. Will we be golf-clapping for you at the end?
Lee Trevino grew up in Dallas, Texas where he worked in the cotton fields to earn money for his family. Later he would become a caddie at a local country club where he would hit golf balls after work, and it paid off. By 1966, he competed in his first U.S. Open alongside Nicklaus and Palmer.
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Tiger Woods, born Eldrick Tont Woods, turned pro in 1996 and never looked back. His first order of business as golf pro was winning three PGA tournaments and his first Masters in 1997. Since then he has won 11 more major championships including the most recent 2019 Masters Tournament.
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Arnold Palmer had 95 professional wins throughout his career including 62 on the PGA Tour and seven majors. The 1960 Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year, Palmer became a member of the original class of inductees into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1974.
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At 48 years old, Phil Mickelson has won five major championships. While he has never won a U.S. Open, he has set a record being the runner-up of the U.S. Open six times. Will there be a seventh? Still an active competitor, Mickelson was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2012.
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J.H. Taylor was a native of England and is regarded as one of the greatest golfers of all time. In fact, he won The Open Championship five times between 1894 and 1913. His career began as a caddie, and he soon turned pro at 19. He was a co-founder of the British Professional Golfers' Association.
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Tom Watson has had one of the longest careers of all golfers. He turned professional in 1971 and continues to play competitively nearly five decades later. With 70 professional wins under his belt, he boasts eight major championships and a place in the World Golf Hall of Fame.
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Jack Nicklaus turned pro in 1961 and went on to win a record 18 major championships throughout his career. Did you know he got his start by winning the U.S. Amateurs in 1959? He then challenged Arnold Palmer in the 1960 U.S. Open where he missed Palmer's victory by just two shots.
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Henry Vardon, also known as Harry, was born in 1870 in the Channel Islands off the coast of Normandy, France. He won The Open Championship six times, the U.S. Open in 1900 and was an inaugural inductee into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1974. His book "The Gist of Golf" was published in 1922.
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After training in Seoul, Se Ri Pak turned pro and moved to the United States in 1997. Just one year later at the age of 20, she became the youngest-ever winner of the U.S. Women's Open. That same year, she was named the LPGA Rookie of the Year and Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year.
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Annika Sorenstam turned pro in 1992 and retired in 2008 with 93 professional wins. Of the 93, 10 were majors including the ANA Inspiration, Women's PGA Championship and U.S. Women's Open, each three times. Often the LPGA Tour Player of the Year, Sorenstam was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2003.
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"The Big Fijian"... because what else do you nickname a 6'2" golfer from Fiji? Now a resident of Florida, Vijay Singh has been swinging his clubs competitively since 1982. The winner of the 2000 Masters, Singh was ranked the number one golfer in the world for 32 weeks in the early 2000s.
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Seve Ballesteros was an international force to reckon with on the golf course. At the age of 19 in 1976, he finished second at The Open Championship and soon thereafter began winning his 90 career wins. His game was eventually cut short, though, as he died of brain cancer in 2011 at the age of 54.
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Bobby Jones is remembered as the most successful amateur golfer to have competed on the same stage as professionals such as Hagen and Sarazen. In fact, he defeated them both on several occasions. A five-time winner of the U.S. Amateur, he took home 13 major championships during his career.
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Not only did Gary Player win 165 tournaments over the course of his career, he also designed more than 400 golf courses around the world. A player, an architect, and an author of dozens of golf books, Player was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1974.
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Known as "Slammin' Sammy," Samuel Jackson Snead is remembered as one of the greatest golfers of all time. Having won a record 82 PGA Tournaments during his career, he was awarded the PGA Tour Lifetime Achievement Award in 1998. He died in 2002 at the age of 82.
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Did you know that Raymond Floyd actually had an offer from the Cleveland Indians to pursue a career in pitching, but he opted for golf instead? He joined the PGA tour in 1961 and had his first victory at the 1963 St. Petersburg Open Invitational. He retired in 2010 with four major championships.
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Arthur D'Arcy Locke preferred to be called Bobby. That didn't stop friends from nicknaming him "Old Baggy Pants," "Muffin Face," "Lantern Jowls" and "Moon Face." Despite the funny names, he put his golf game to the forefront, winning 74 professional events including four Open Championships.
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Did you know that Karrie Webb has 41 wins on the LPGA Tour? As the 1996 LPGA Rookie of the Year, she became the first player to reach one million dollars in prize money in a single year. Webb has won seven majors, including her most recent win in 2014 at the Evian Championship.
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Juli Inkster has been on the LPGA Tour since turning pro in 1983. After playing golf at San Jose State University, she won two major championships in 1984 and became the LPGA Tour Rookie of the Year. Inkster was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2000 and remains a strong competitor today.
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Nothing says Walter Hagen like 11 major championships and sophisticated attire on the golf course! Nicknamed "Sir Walter," Hagen is remembered as one of the greatest golfers of all time. He is also credited with raising the profile of professional golfers as respectable and well-dressed athletes.
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Ben Hogan's real name was actually William Ben Hogan. Known as "The Hawk" on the course, he was a prolific winner on the PGA Tour and a major influence on the future of golf. His theories on golf swing and ball-striking are known widely known and practiced throughout the sport today.
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He may have given up golf in 1946 to pursue ranching, but Byron Nelson is surely remembered as one of the greatest golfers to have played the game. In his 14-year career, he managed to win 64 events including five majors. He was even awarded the PGA Tour Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997.
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Though he hailed from San Diego, Billy Casper earned the nickname "Buffalo Bill" during his career. After turning pro in 1954, he went on to accumulate 70 wins, including the 1970 Masters Tournament and the 1959 and 1966 U.S. Opens. Casper was twice the PGA Player of the Year in 1966 and 1970.
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Though he was a fierce competitor in the early 1900s, James Braid decided to focus his efforts as a full-time golf pro at Walton Heath in 1912. There he developed his skills in course design and is remembered today for his work on the King's Course and Queen's Course at Gleneagles among others.
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Did you know that Patty Berg had more of an interest in football than golf? Growing up in Minnesota, she joined a local football team before her parents encouraged her to try golf. She would go on to win 60 LPGA Tournaments including 15 majors, more than any other female in the history of golf.
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Betsy Rawls was born in 1928 in Spartanburg, South Carolina. She attended the University of Texas and turned pro in 1951. Now retired, she is an inductee in the World Golf Hall of Fame and has a record of eight major championship wins with 55 LPGA Tour wins.
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Mildred Ella Didrikson Zaharias, also known as "Babe," was born in 1911 in Port Arthur, Texas. At the age of 36, she turned pro and by 1954, she had won 10 majors. Her remarkable talent and career were cut short by a colon cancer diagnosis and untimely death at the age of 45 in 1956.
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Pat Bradley came from a family of golfers, so it was no surprise that she would join the ranks. She attended Florida International University and turned pro in 1974. Throughout her career, she won 36 events, including six majors.
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Peter Thomson didn't just win The Open thee times, he won it on two other occasions in 1958 and 1965 as well. After turning pro in 1949, he played on the PGA Tour, European Tour, Australasian Tour and Senior PGA Tour. He was inducted as the first Immortal of the PGA of Australia in 2016.
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Nick Faldo turned pro in 1976 and won nine PGA Tournaments and 30 European Tournaments. The Masters winner of 1989, 1990 and 1996, Faldo often ranked number one on the Official World Golf Ranking list. Though he still golfs today, he is mainly heard on BBC Sport or CBS Sports covering major golf events.
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Joanne Gunderson Carner was also nicknamed "The Great Gundy." She turned pro in 1970 and went on to win 43 events on the LPGA Tour. She is the 1981 recipient of one of golf's greatest honors, the Bob Jones Award, awarded to a player with distinguished sportsmanship.
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Amy Alcott joined the LPGA Tour in 1975 at the age of 19 and continues to play to this day. Not only is she an avid golfer, she has dabbled in golf course design, most notably the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
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Standing just 5 feet, 5 1/2 inches tall, Gene Sarazen's height had no effect on his golf game. He was at the top of his class in the 1920s and 1930s and won nearly 50 competitions, including seven majors, throughout his career. The Sarazen Bridge at the Augusta National Golf Club is named in his honor.
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Mary Kathryn Wright, also known as Mickey, turned pro in 1954 and despite the typical long career of golfers, she retired in 1969 at the age of 34. She is regarded as one of the greatest golfers of all time.
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Did you know that Louise Suggs was a founding member of the LPGA Tour? Together with Patty Berg and Babe Zaharias, the trio of golfers started the LPGA in 1950. And what better way to honor her legacy than as an inaugural inductee into the LPGA Tour Hall of Fame in 1967?
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Betsy King was both the LPGA Tour Money Winner and LPGA Tour Player of the Year in 1984, 1989 and 1993. She was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1995 with 39 professional wins including six major championships.
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Alongside Mickey Wright, Donna Caponi is the only other golfer to win back-to-back U.S. Women's Opens in 1969 and 1970. Caponi also won two Women's PGA Championships in 1970 and 1981. She had 24 wins on the LPGA Tour and was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2001.
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Did you know that Kathy Whitworth has won more PGA Tournaments than any other golfer, male or female, on the LPGA and PGA Tours? If you want to surpass this feat, you only need to win one more than 88 LPGA Tours. It may be difficult though; Whitworth won throughout three decades from 1962-1985.
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From 1961-1989, Sandra Haynie toured on the LPGA Tour. Today she is a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame. During her competitive years, she won the Women's PGA Championship twice, and the U.S. Women's Open once. She was selected as the LPGA Player of the Year in 1970.
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Jim Barnes turned pro in 1906, though his first major championship did not come until the 1916 PGA championship. Nicknamed "Long Jim" for his tall stature, Barnes won the 1921 U.S. Open with a score that was not beat until Tiger Woods surpassed it in 2000.
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