Golf
SPORTSLOWEST SCORE TO PAR
IN A WOMEN’S MAJOR
At the Evian Championship in Évian-les-Bains
in France on 15–18 Sep 2016, Chun In-gee (KOR)
recorded a score of 21 under par. She shot rounds
of 63–66–65–69 for a total of 263, four shots
ahead of compatriots Park Sung-hyun and
Ryu So-yeon. In-gee beat the previous best
of 19 under, held by five different golfers.MOST RYDER CUP TOURNAMENT
APPEARANCES BY AN INDIVIDUAL
Phil Mickelson made his 11th appearance for
Team USA at the 2016 Ryder Cup, held from
30 Sep to 2 Oct at the Hazeltine National Golf
Club in Chaska, Minnesota, USA. Helping his side
to a 17–11 victory, Mickelson matched Nick Faldo’s
11 consecutive appearances for Europe, which
the English golfer made between 1977 and 1 997.Team USA’s 17–11 victory in the 2016 Ryder Cup was their first
since 2008, and their most decisive victory since 1981.FIRST OLYMPIC TOURNAMENT HOLE‑IN‑ONE
At Rio 2016, golf became an Olympic sport for the first time
in 112 years. It was a very happy return for Justin Rose (UK),
who hit a hole-in-one on 11 Aug. Selecting a seven-iron at
the par-3 fourth hole, he hit a tee shot that pitched 10 ft
(3 m) short of the flag before rolling in the hole. Rose shot
a round of 67 on his way to victory, becoming golf’s first
gold medallist since 1904. Jaco van Zyl (ZAF) achieved
the second Olympic hole-in-one just two days later.Lowest score in a single round
at a men’s major championship
Golf has four major championships: the
Open Championship, the US Open, the PGA
Championship and the Masters Tournament.
The lowest score in a single round at any of them
is 63 – a mark that has been achieved 30 times
by 28 golfers. Phil Mickelson (USA) and Henrik
Stenson (SWE) joined the club with rounds of
63 at the 145th Open Championship in Ayrshire,
UK, on 14–17 Jul 2016. Later that month, Robert
Streb (USA) also carded a 63 during the 98th
PGA Championship at Baltusrol Golf Club in
Springfield, New Jersey, USA, on 29 Jul 2016.
The overall lowest score in a single round
at a major championship is 61, by Kim Hyo-joo
(KOR) at the 2014 Evian Championship on 11 Sep.
She was aged 19 at the time and went on to win
the tournament.
Lowest score to par at a men’s major
On 14–17 Jul 2016, Henrik Stenson (SWE) won
the 145th Open Championship at the Royal
Troon Golf Club in Ayrshire, UK, with a score of
20 under par. Over four rounds, his total of 264
broke down as 68–65–68–63.
In doing so, Stenson matched the feat
of Jason Day (AUS), who won the 97th PGA
Championship – held on the Straits Course of
Whistling Straits near Kohler in Wisconsin, USA –
on 13–16 Aug 2015.YOUNGEST RYDER CUP CAPTAIN
One of the greatest golfers of all time, Arnold
Palmer (USA) died on 25 Sep 2016. He won
seven major titles and 62 PGA Tour titles, his
flamboyant game bringing the sport to a wider
audience and earning him legions of fans known
as “Arnie’s Army”. In 1963, Palmer captained the
US Ryder Cup team at East Lake Golf Club in
Atlanta, Georgia, USA, aged 34 years 31 days.Lowest score after 36 holes
at a PGA Tour event
On 12 Jan 2017, Justin
Thomas (USA) shot an
opening round of 59 at the Sony
Open in Hawaii, USA. He followed up with
a 64 to register a score of 123 – 17 under par –
at the halfway point of the tournament.
The lowest score after 36 holes at The
Players Championship is 129, by Jason Day
(AUS) at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach
in Florida, USA, on 12–13 May 2016. The
Players Championship offers the highest
prize fund in golf: $1.89 m (£1.31 m) in 2016.Most times to host the US Open
by a course
Established in 1903, Oakmont Country Club in
Pennsylvania, USA, hosted its first US Open in
1927 and went on to stage the major another
eight times. The three most recent winners –
Dustin Johnson (USA, 2016), Ángel Cabrera
(ARG, 2007) and Ernie Els (ZAF, 1994) – were
all first-time winners of the event.Youngest golfer to earn
$5 m on the LPGA tour
Born on 24 Apr 1997, Lydia Ko (NZ) was aged just
18 years 303 days when her second-place finish
at the Women’s Australian Open on 21 Feb 2016
took her career earnings beyond $5 m (£3.47 m).
Korean-born Ko is also the youngest golfer
to win a women’s major championship
(aged 18 years 142 days, at the 2015 Evian
Championship) and the youngest golfer
ranked world number one – 17 years 283 days,
achieved on 1 Feb 2 015.Q: What bird gives its name
to a score of four under
par at one hole?
A: Condor
LOWEST SINGLE-ROUND SCORE
(18 HOLES) AT A PGA TOUR EVENT
Jim Furyk (USA) hit a single-round score
of 58 – or 12 under par – during the Travelers
Championship in Connecticut, USA, on 7 Aug- Furyk reached the turn in just 27 shots,
making seven consecutive birdies on holes 6–12.
At the 18th green, he held his nerve to two-putt
and clinch the lowest round on the PGA Tour.
With^ victory at
Rio^ 2016, Justin
Rose became only the
fifth golfer to win official
tournaments on six
different continents. The
others are Gary Player,
David Graham, Hale
Irwin and Bernhard
Langer.