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- The USGA and R&A hold a joint conference
and agree on a uniform Rules of Golf worldwide, effective the
following year. The only remaining difference is the size of
the ball (the R&A permits a diameter of 1.62 inches compared
with the USGA's 1.68 inches). The stymie is abolished, center-shafted
putters are legalized (in Britain center-shafted putters had
been illegal since 1909), and the out-of-bounds penalty is made
stroke and distance.
- Ben Hogan wins The Masters and a second
consecutive U.S. Open. The latter victory comes at Oakland Hills,
deemed a "monster" after its redesign by Robert Trent Jones
Sr., in 1950.
- Golf Digest begins publishing.
- General Dwight David Eisenhower is elected
U.S. President. During his eight years in office, his cottage
at Augusta National becomes the "Little White House."
- Jack Burke Jr. wins four consecutive
events on the PGA Tour, second in history to Byron Nelson's
11.
- Patty Berg shoots an LPGA-record 64 in
the Richmond Open.
- Julius Boros captures the U.S. Open.
He also wins the biggest first-place prize, $25,000, at the
World Championship.
- Ben Hogan takes the three majors he enters
— The Masters, U.S. Open and British Open. It is his fourth
U.S. Open title.
- The first nationally televised tournament,
the World Championship, ends with a moment of high drama when
Lew Worsham holes out from 135 yards to eagle the final hole
and win by one.
- Tommy Armour's popular instruction book, How to Play Your Best Golf All the Time, published.
- The U.S. Open is televised nationally for the first time.
Also new - the holes are roped for gallery control.
- Babe Zaharias wins the U.S. Women's Open by twelve strokes
a year after undergoing cancer surgery.
- Sam Snead beats Ben Hogan in a playoff to win The Masters
after amateur Billy Joe Patton falters on the final nine holes
of regulation play.
- The World Championship has the first $100,000 purse, with
$50,000 going to the winner - five times more than the next
largest first prize. Bob Toski earns the windfall.
- Unheralded Jack Fleck stuns Ben Hogan with his U.S. Open playoff
win at The Olympic Club.
- Arnold Palmer scores his first professional victory in the
Canadian Open.
- Life Magazine pays Ben Hogan $20,000 for a cover
story revealing the "secret" he discovered nine years earlier
which rid him of a hook.
- Jack Burke, Jr., makes up an eight-stroke deficit on amateur
Ken Venturi to win The Masters. Burke also takes the PGA Championship.
- Australian Peter Thomson wins his third consecutive British
Open.
- Cary Middlecoff captures his second U.S. Open title.
- Yardage for guidance in computing par are increased to current
levels:
Three - up to 250 yards
Four - 251 to 470 yards
Five - 471 yards and over
- Jackie Pung finishes as the apparent winner of the U.S. Women's
Open, but is disqualified for signing an incorrect scorecard.
Betsy Rawls takes the title.
- Bobby Locke wins his fourth British Open with a record tying
279.
- Great Britain triumphs in the Ryder Cup for the first time
since 1933.
- Ben Hogan publishes an instructional classic: Five Lessons:
The Modern Fundamentals of Golf.
- Charlie Sifford wins the Long Beach Open, an event "cosponsored"
by the PGA.
- A new USGA system provides just one handicap for golfers,
not "current" and "basic."
- Arnold Palmer wins his first of four Masters titles.
- At age twenty-three Mickey Wright sweeps the U.S. Women's
Open and LPGA Championship.
- The PGA Championship changes from match play to stroke play.
Dow Finsterwald claims the title.
- The USGA and R&A organize the World Amateur Golf Council,
and hold the first World Amateur Team Championship at the Old
Course in St. Andrews, Scotland. Bobby Jones serves as captain
of the American squad.
- Mickey Wright wins her second consecutive U.S. Women's Open.
- Bill Wright becomes the first African-American player to take
a national championship, claiming the U.S. Amateur Public Links.
- Nineteen-year-old Jack Nicklaus captures first of two U.S.
Amateur titles.
- Betsy Rawls wins 10 LPGA tournaments.
- Arnold Palmer, golf's most popular player, has his greatest
year. He wins The Masters with birdies on the last two holes,
the U.S. Open with a final-round 65, finishes second in the
British Open, and wins eight PGA Tour events.
- Betsy Rawls wins her fourth U.S. Women's Open.
- Mickey Wright wins three majors - the U.S. Women's Open, LPGA
Championship, and the Titleholders - and 10 events in all.
- The PGA of America drops the Caucasians-only clause from its
constitution, allowing African-Americans to become members.
- Arnold Palmer wins the British Open; his appearances in the
event starting in 1960 convince more American players to make
the trip.
- Jerry Barber sinks monster putts of 40 and 60 feet on the
last two holes to tie Don January for the PGA Championship;
Barber then wins the 18-hole playoff by a stroke.
- Anne Quast Sander wins the U.S. Women's Amateur by a record
14 and 13 margin over Phyllis Preuss.
- There are now 5 million golfers in the United States, according
to the National Golf Foundation.
- Rookie professional Jack Nicklaus beats hometown favorite
Arnold Palmer to win the U.S. Open in a playoff at Oakmont Country
Club near Pittsburgh.
- Arnold Palmer wins The Masters, British Open, and seven PGA
Tour events.
- Mickey Wright wins 10 tournaments for the second consecutive
year.
- For the first time, water hazards are marked with painted
lines at the U.S. Open.
- Arnold Palmer is the first player to surpass $100,000 in earnings
in a single year.
- Jack Nicklaus wins The Masters and PGA Championship.
- At the age of 20 years, 6 months, Ray Floyd is the youngest
player to win a PGA Tour event (the St. Petersburg Open) since
1928.
- New Zealand's Bob Charles becomes the only left-hander to
win one of the four major championships, claiming the British
Open.
- Mickey Wright wins 13 events on the LPGA Tour.
- Clubmakers are experimenting with the casting method for making
irons, enabling them to create a larger "sweet spot" than forged
blades offer.
- Pete Brown becomes the first African-American to win an "official"
PGA Tournament, taking the Waco Turner Open.
- Ken Venturi wins the U.S. Open despite suffering from heat
prostration during a 36-hole final day at Congressional Country
Club outside Washington, D.C.
- Mickey Wright wins her fourth U.S. Open, one of 11 tournaments
she captures during the year.
- Bobby Nichols wins the PGA Championship with a 72-hole total
of 271.
- Arnold Palmer, for the fourth time, wins The Masters.
- Sam Snead earns his 81st and final PGA Tour victory in the
Greater Greensboro Open, while becoming the Tour's oldest winner
ever at 52 years, 10 months.
- The U.S. Amateur changes from match play to stroke play. The
U.S. Open is held over four days instead of three; no more 36
holes on the final day.
- Jack Nicklaus wins The Masters by nine strokes with a record
271 total. Tournament host Bobby Jones says Nicklaus "plays
a game with which I am not familiar."
- Gary Player joins Ben Hogan and Gene Sarazen to become the
third player in history to win all four majors when he captures
the U.S. Open. The South African is the first foreign winner
of the Open in 45 years. He donates his winners check back to
the USGA in support of junior golf.
- Peter Thomson earns his fifth British Open.
- Billy Casper wins the U.S. Open in a playoff after Arnold
Palmer drops a seven-stroke lead over the last nine holes of
regulation at The Olympic Club in San Francisco, Calif.
- Jack Nicklaus takes his third Masters in four years and second
in a row. He also is the British Open champion, becoming the
fourth player to win all four major events.
- Jack Nicklaus takes the U.S. Open with a record total of 275
at Baltusrol Golf Club in New Jersey.
- Catherine Lacoste of France becomes the only amateur to win
the U.S. Women's Open.
- Forty-five-year-old Charlie Sifford wins the Greater Hartford
Open.
- Croquet-style putting, recently employed by Sam Snead, is
ruled illegal by the USGA.
- The Tournament Players Division is created within the PGA.
- Roberto De Vicenzo loses The Masters when he signs an incorrect
scorecard for one stroke higher than he actually shot. He would
have been in an 18-hole playoff with Bob Goalby, who is declared
the winner.
- Lee Trevino is the first player to break 70 for all four rounds
in a U.S. Open, winning with a record-tying 275 total.
- Forty-eight-year-old Julius Boros is the oldest player to
claim a major title, winning the PGA Championship.
- Jo Anne Gunderson Carner wins her fifth U.S. Women's Amateur.
- Arnold Palmer becomes the first player to top $1 million in
career earnings.
- Kathy Whitworth and Carol Mann each win 10 tournaments on
the LPGA Tour.
- Jo Anne Carner is the last amateur to win an LPGA Tour event,
the Burdine's Invitational.
- Tony Jacklin is the first homebred player to win the British
Open in 18 years.
- Mickey Wright retires from full-time competition at age 34,
while Jo Anne Carner turns professional at age 30 after an outstanding
amateur career.
- England's Tony Jacklin wins the U.S. Open.
- Jack Nicklaus wins the British Open in a playoff after Doug
Sanders misses a 3-foot putt on the 72nd green.
- Lanny Wadkins beats Tom Kite by one stroke to win the U.S.
Amateur.
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