1950
2025
2. SIX STRAIGHT USGA TITLES Of all Tiger’s countless and sublime feats, it’s inconceiv- able his winning streak of three US Junior Amateur titles followed by three US Amateur titles will ever be matched. Achieved during ages 15-20, he became Golf Digest’s youngest playing editor at 22. Arlene McKitrick, 78, of Longboat Key Club in Florida, has won 116 club championship titles across 12 clubs. She started playing golf at age 30 at Congres- sional CC near Washington, DC, and her passion for the game has survived several medical trials, including re- ceiving an artificial pancreas. 4. ONE DRIVE O B Across a PGA Tour career that included 12 wins and over 1 200 rounds, Calvin Peete hit only one (!) drive out-of-bounds. He led the 3. MOST CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS tour in driving accuracy from 1981-1990, and Golf Digest collaborated with Peete to capture his swing sequence in 1982. 5. OLDEST TO SHOOT THEIR AGE Arthur Thompson was 103 when he shot 103 in 1972 at his home course, the 6 215- yard Uplands GC, Vic- toria, Canada. A walker, his other key to longevity was avoiding “hot” weather of over 24C. 6. BOGEY-FREE STREAK World No 1 Jin Young Ko went 114 holes at par or bet- ter. The streak ended with a pulled 3-footer in the same round she eclipsed Tiger Woods’ record of 110 holes.
Unfazed, she still won the tournament, the 2019 Port- land Classic.
7. LOWEST ROUNDS RELATIVE TO PAR
Aussie pro Rhein Gibson’s 12 birdies and two eagles (55, -16) on 6 698-yard River Oaks GC in Edmond, Oklahoma, in 2012 is as close to an immaculate round as Golf Digest has seen. South African Chris- tiaan Burke had 8 birdies and 4 eagles (56, -16) at 6 415-metre Potchefstroom CC in 2021. 8. 74, BLIND Winner of 23 Blind Golf National Championships (including 20 consecu- tive), Pat Browne shot 74 at Mission Hills CC in Rancho Mirage, California, in 1980, a feat that defies understand- ing by any sighted golfer who has ever attempted to play blindfolded. 9. MOST USGA EVENTS At a certain level of com- petitive amateur golf, nobody brags about a handicap, only the number of USGA events he or she has played in. Two? Four? Five? The all-time leader at 121 events is as modest and gracious as they come. Carol Semple Thompson, still competing at age 77, won seven. 11. STREAK OF BEATING FIELD AVERAGE Possibly Tiger Woods’ most overlooked feat? Between August 1999 and Novem- ber 2000, Woods posted a tournament score better than the field average for 89 consecutive rounds. The next-best streak, by Mark O’Meara, covered 33 rounds.
Longest Drive Kyle Berkshire smashed a 579-yarder (529m) at Rochelle Ranch GC in Wyoming in 2023. It was also a record for ball speed at 241.6 mph, which Berkshire prophesied as a goal three years ear- lier in a Golf Digest feature. 10
record of 82 wins in 1982, then added six more to be- come the winningest golfer of any major tour. Along the way, she also became the first LPGA player to eclipse $1 million in a career. Phil Mickelson’s win at the 2021 PGA came at 50 years, 11 months, and seven days. Phil wrote instruction ar- ticles exclusively for Golf Digest starting at age 23, and we covered his fitness 14. OLDEST MAJOR CHAMP regimen and magic cof- fee recipe when he was a senior.
12. BACK-TO-BACK ACES When Frank Bensel, a deco- rated club professional out of Century CC in Purchase, New York, aced consecu- tive par 3s – the 184-yard fourth and 203- yard fifth at Newport CC – during the second round of the 2024 US Senior Open, it didn't propel him into conten- tion. The 56-year-old was so amped, he bogeyed the next four holes, shot 74 and missed the cut. 13. MOST TOUR WINS Kathy Whitworth surpassed Mickey Wright’s previous
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