Golf Compendium

Michelle Wie burst onto the international golf scene before she was even a teenager: Her first LPGA Tour appearances happened when she was only 12 years old. From age 12 through age 15, before turning pro, Wie played in 24 LPGA tournaments.

The Dunlop-Southport Tournament (sometimes shortened to just Southport Tournament) was played in England from the early 1930s to the late 1940s. Its champions roster includes many of the top British golfers of the era.

Max Faulkner won a British Open title and more than a dozen top tournaments in the pre-European Tour era of British and Continental golf. He also earned a reputation as an eccentric with antics such as walking on his hands during a tournament.

The major championship of men's professional golf that is played every year in Great Britain (and a couple times in Northern Ireland) is called ... what, exactly? Is it the British Open or The Open Championship? Which is correct? The answer, we say, is this: One name is correct, but both names are good.

James Braid was the first golfer in the history of the oldest major, the Open Championship, to record a sub-70 score for an 18-hole round. In the 1904 British Open, played at Royal St. George's Golf Club, Braid carded a 69 in the third round — the first 18-hole round in the 60s ever in the British Open.

The term "Great Triumvirate," when used in a golf context, refers to the three greatest golfers of the late 19th/early 20th century period who dominated golf in Great Britain: Harry Vardon, J.H. Taylor and James Braid.

Since the British Open was the first pro golf tournament and is the oldest extant golf tournament and oldest major, it's had more than 150 years of accumulating firsts. The first sub-70 round, for example, or the first golfer to win it four times. That's what we're talking about here: All those fascinating firsts in the history of the Open Championship that advanced the tournament, and continue to do so.

What is the largest margin of victory ever in the British Open? The answer to that, considering the entire tournament history, is 13 strokes. But since the history of this major dates to the mid-19th century, perhaps it is better to talk about its margin-of-victory record in terms of pre-1900 and 1900-to-present. So let's do that.Largest Pre-20th Century Winning Margin in the British Open In the 1800s, the record for margin of victory in the Open Championship is 13 strokes, set by Old Tom Morris in 1862. And that is the all-time record, as well, making it perhaps the oldest record in golf history still standing. The runner-up to Old Tom in 1862 was Willie Park Sr. The 1862 Open was just the third time the Open was played. It took place at Prestwick, which at the time was a 12-hole links. The golfers played three rounds, so 36 holes total. Old Tom shot 52-55-56, a 163 total. Here's an important point, though, and one that makes the margin-of-victory records from the post-190…

On the Monday preceding many LPGA Tour events, golfers who are not yet in that week's tournament get the chance to play their way in. These 18-hole "tournaments" are called Monday qualifiers. And the question we are asking now is this: Has any golfer ever played her way into an LPGA Tour tournament through a Monday qualifier, and then won that event? The answer is yes.