.jpg)
Golf in theUnited States is played by about 25 million people, or 8% of the population.[1]
Professional golf is aired on several television networks, such asGolf Channel,NBC,ESPN,TNT,CBS andFox.
TheUnited States Golf Association has about 10,000club members andcourses. The organization is responsible for theRules of Golf together with the British-basedR&A.
The USGA conducts national championships open to professionals: theU.S. Open (since 1895),U.S. Women's Open (since 1946),U.S. Senior Open (since 1980), andU.S. Senior Women's Open (since 2018), as well as national championships for amateur, juniors, seniors and four-ball teams.
The USGA co-organizes theWalker Cup andCurtis Cup together with the respective British & Irish organizations, and competes at theEisenhower Trophy andEspirito Santo Trophy, which are amateur tournaments for national teams. Also, the USGA gives theBob Jones Award recognition of distinguished sportsmanship in golf since 1955.
TheProfessional Golfers' Association of America was founded in 1916 and has 28,000 club professional members. They organize three tournaments for tour players: thePGA Championship (since 1916),Senior PGA Championship (since 1937) andWomen's PGA Championship (since 2015), as well as thePGA Professional National Championship (since 1968) for club players. The PGA of America also co-organizes theRyder Cup andPGA Cup.
ThePGA Tour is the main professional golf tour in the United States. It was established by the PGA of America in 1929 and was spun off in 1968.
Its calendar features the four major tournaments andWorld Golf Championships, but do not organize them. The PGA Tour organizes several tournaments, most notablyThe Players Championship andTour Championship. In addition it co-organizes the biennialPresidents Cup.
The PGA Tour also operates other professional tours. TheKorn Ferry Tour is the developmental tour since 1990.PGA Tour Champions has been the main senior tour since 1980, and the PGA Tour organizes two of the five senior major championships:The Tradition andSenior Players Championship. The organization also operates tours inCanada,Latin America andChina.
There is not a well defined third tier of golf tours in the United States. The larger regional tours include theGateway Tour andSwing Thought Tour; there is a constantly changing roster of small "mini-tours".
TheLPGA Tour is the main women's professional tour, founded in 1950. Its calendar features several major championships and national golf opens. It organizes several tournaments, including theANA Inspiration, one of the major tournaments, and theCME Group Tour Championship. The LPGA Tour also co-organizes the biennialSolheim Cup. TheSymetra Tour has been the official development tour of the LPGA Tour since 1999.
The current television partners of the PGA Tour areCBS,NBC and theGolf Channel. NBC also airs the British Open, Ryder Cup, Presidents Cup and Solheim Cup. CBS also carries the Masters and PGA Championship. The Golf Channel also carries the European Tour and LPGA Tour.
Fox has a contract with the USGA since 2015 to air the U.S. Open, U.S. Women's Open and U.S. Senior Open.
ESPN aired several golf tournaments from 1979 to 2015. It carries the early rounds of the Masters and the PGA Championship.
Notable dedicated magazines includeGolf Digest (1950, Condé Nast),Golf Magazine (1959, Time Inc.),Golfweek (1975, Gannett), andLinks (1988, Purcell).
Men[edit]
| Women[edit]See also:List of American Solheim Cup golfers
|
|
| Overview | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Technical | |||||||||
| Facilities | |||||||||
| Governing organizations | |||||||||
| Majors (Grand Slam, Triple Crown) |
| ||||||||
| International events |
| ||||||||
| Rankings | |||||||||
| Golfers | |||||||||
| Lists of golf courses |
| ||||||||
| Countries | |||||||||
| Years | |||||||||
| Variations | |||||||||
| Media | |||||||||
| Miscellaneous | |||||||||
