The following is a partial timeline of the history of golf.

1945–1949 1945

Byron Nelson wins 18 tournaments in a calendar year to set an all-time PGA Tour record-including a record 11 in a row and a record 19 consecutive rounds under 70. His total prize earnings during his 11-win streak, $30,000, is less than last place money for the PGA Tour Championship by 1992.

The Tam O'Shanter Open offers a then-record purse of $60,000.

1946

Sam Snead travels to St Andrews to compete in the first post-war Open Championship, and is victorious, winning by four shots from Johnny Bulla and Bobby Locke.

Lloyd Mangrum wins the U.S. Open in a second playoff, after three players - Mangrum, Byron Nelson and Vic Ghezzi - all tie with 72 in the first playoff.

The U.S. Women's Open is instituted. Patty Berg is the first winner.

1947

Mildred "Babe" Zaharias becomes the first American to win the British Ladies Amateur, at Gullane. Golf is televised for the first time, in a local St. Louis telecast of the U.S. Open. Lew Worsham wins a playoff for the U.S. Open against Sam Snead. The playoff ends in controversy as Worsham asks officials to measure which ball is closest to the hole, just as Snead is about to putt. The measure proves Snead is to putt first, but he misses, and Worsham holes his putt for victory. Amateur Frank Stranahan finishes runner-up at both the U.S. Masters (two shots behind Jimmy Demaret), and the British Open (a shot behind Fred Daly). Leading amateur players would continue to make occasional forays onto the leaderboards of major championships (excepting the PGA, for obvious reasons) until the early 1960s, since when it has become extremely rare for an amateur to finish in the top-ten. Jim Ferrier becomes the first Australian to win a major championship, when he defeats Chick Harbert 2 and 1 in the final of the PGA Championship. Golf World magazine is founded.

1948

Henry Cotton wins his third British Open, at the age of 41. Ben Hogan wins eleven tournaments during the season, including both the U.S. Open and PGA Championships. Club professional Claude Harmon - invited after finishing twentieth in the previous year's U.S. Open - wins the Masters championship. Bobby Locke sets a PGA Tour record with a 16-stroke winning margin in the Chicago Victory National Championship. Herbert Warren Wind's authoritative The Story of American Golf is published. The U.S. Junior Amateur is instituted. Ken Venturi loses to Dean Lind in the first final. The USGA Golf Journal is founded.

1949

In February, Ben Hogan is involved in a terrible car accident that nearly kills him, and leaves him unable to walk, let alone play golf, for the whole season. In his absence, Sam Snead enjoys his finest season, winning the Masters, the PGA Championship and finishing second at the U.S. Open to Cary Middlecoff. Bobby Locke becomes the first South African to win the Open Championship . Louise Suggs wins the U.S. Women's Open by a record margin of 14 strokes. Marie Roke of Wollaston, Massachusetts aces a hole—the longest ace ever recorded by a woman. The U.S. side defeat Great Britain and Ireland 7–5 to win the Ryder Cup at Ganton, in Yorkshire. The following week, the team stay in England to accept invites to the News of the World Match Play; here, however, they are unable to take the trophy, for although Lloyd Mangrum reaches the semi-final, the eventual winner is Welshman Dai Rees.

1950s 1950

The LPGA is founded, replacing the ailing Women's Professional Golf Association. Ben Hogan, only weeks after returning to the PGA Tour following a near-fatal auto accident, wins the U.S. Open at Merion.

1951

Francis Ouimet becomes the first American Captain of The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews. The USGA and the R & A, in a conference, complete a newly revised Rules of Golf. Although in 1951 the R & A and the USGA continue to differ over the size of the golf ball, all other conflicts are resolved in this momentous conference. The center-shafted putter is legalized worldwide. The out-of-bounds penalty is standardized at stroke-and-distance, and the stymie is finally and forever abolished. Golf Digest is founded, with Bill Davis as editor. On February 10, Al Brosch became the first PGA player to shoot a round of 11 under par. Brosch set the record in the third round of the Texas Open at Brackenridge Park Golf Course in San Antonio, Texas. Despite competing in only 5 events in a playing schedule severely curtailed following his car crash, Ben Hogan finishes fourth on the U.S. Tour money list. From his five starts, Hogan wins the Masters, the U.S. Open and the World Championship of Golf. He finishes 2nd and 4th in his other two events - the Seminole Pro-Am and the Colonial Invitational.

1952

Marlene Hagge wins the Sarasota Open when she is 18 years 14 days old—an LPGA record. Patty Berg shoots an LPGA-record of 64 for an 18-hole round. The National Hole-in-One Clearing House is established by Golf Digest.

1953

Tommy Armour's How to Play Your Best Golf All the Time is published and becomes the first golf book ever to hit the best-seller lists. Ben Hogan wins the first three legs of the modern Grand Slam (The Masters, U.S. Open, and British Open), but does not compete in the final leg, the PGA Championship. The Tam O'Shanter World Championship becomes the first tournament to be nationally televised. Lew Worsham holes a wedge shot on the final hole for eagle and victory in one of the most dramatic finishes ever. The Canada Cup is instituted, the first event that brings together teams from all over the world. After 1966 the tournament is known as the World Cup. The inaugural tournament is won by Argentina, whose two-man team of Roberto De Vicenzo and Antonio Cerdá beats a 9-team field that includes a United States team of Julius Boros and Jim Turnesa. Within a couple of years, more than 30 nations are represented at the event, which becomes one of the most important fixtures on golf's calendar.

1954

Sam Snead defeats Ben Hogan 70–71 in a playoff for the U.S. Masters Peter Thomson wins the British Open, the first of five victories he will achieve in the event. Architect Robert Trent Jones, upon receiving complaints that he has made the par-3 fourth hole at Baltusrol too hard for the upcoming U.S. Open, plays the hole to see for himself and records a hole-in-one. The U.S. Open is nationally televised for the first time. The Tam O'Shanter World Championship offers the first $100,000 purse for a golf tournament. Bob Toski wins the $50,000 first prize. Toski's three other tournament victories on the PGA Tour this year earn him a total of $8,000. All-Star Golf, a filmed series of matches, debuts on network television. Babe Zaharias returns to the LPGA Tour following cancer surgery and wins the U.S. Women's Open. The first PGA Merchandise Show is held in a parking lot in Dunedin, Florida, outside the PGA National Golf Club. Salesmen work the show out of the trunks of their cars. The Show goes on to become one of the main events on the golfing calendar—by 1994 it grows to over 30,000 attendees, four days, and has become the single largest tenant of the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, spilling over of exhibit space.

1955

Ben Hogan, chasing a record fifth U.S. Open title, surprisingly loses a playoff to rookie Jack Fleck. On February 17, Mike Souchak began one of the most spectacular four-day performances in PGA history with a round of 60. In winning the Texas Open at the Brackenridge Park Golf Course in San Antonio, Texas, three days later Souchak set a 72-hole record by finishing 27 under par. His rounds of 60–68–64–65 resulted in a total of 257. Souchak's record withstood the challenges of nearly 2,000 PGA events before Mark Calcavecchia finally broke it in 2001.

1956

Cary Middlecoff, winner of the Masters the previous year, wins the U.S. Open title, by a shot from Ben Hogan and Julius Boros. Peter Thomson, who would go on to win a third consecutive British Open championship, finishes fourth. Jack Burke Jr. wins both the Masters and the PGA Championship, his Masters victory coming after third-round leader, amateur Ken Venturi, stumbles with an 80 in the final round. The current yardage guides for par are adopted by the USGA.

1957

The Great Britain and Ireland team wins the Ryder Cup Matches at Lindrick, ending a drought that dates back to 1935. Harvie Ward loses his amateur status for accepting expenses from sponsors for golf tournaments. The ruling is reversed in 1958. Ben Hogan's Five Lessons is published.

1958

Arnold Palmer is allowed a controversial free drop to save par in the final round of The Masters, and he goes on to defeat Ken Venturi.

1959

Art Wall Jr. enjoys his finest season, winning the Masters and topping the U.S. Tour Money list following three further victories. The year also marks the arrival as major champions of Gary Player, winner of the British Open, and Billy Casper, winner of the U.S. Open. Bill Wright, in winning the U.S. Amateur Public Links, becomes the first African-American to win a national championship. Golf Magazine is founded, with Charles Price as the first editor.

1960s 1960

Arnold Palmer comes back from six shots down in the final round to win the U.S. Open, with 20-year-old Amateur Jack Nicklaus finishing runner-up. With his victory, Palmer completes the first two legs of the modern Grand Slam after winning The Masters in April, the first player to win both since Ben Hogan in 1953. He goes on to finish second to Australian Kel Nagle in the British Open to end his bid for the Grand Slam. Palmer's entry in the British Open is credited with reviving American interest in the championship, which had rarely attracted America's leading players since World War Two. Palmer went on to win the British Open in both 1961 and 1962. Lifting, cleaning, and repairing ball marks is allowed on the putting green for the first time.

1961

Gary Player becomes the first foreign player to win The Masters. Caucasians-only clause stricken from the PGA constitution, and at the Greater Greensboro Open, Charlie Sifford becomes the first black golfer to play in a PGA co-sponsored tournament in the South.

1962

Dr. Joseph Boydstone records 11 aces in one calendar year. Three were recorded in one round, at Bakersfield C.C., Calif. Jack Nicklaus wins his first professional tournament, the U.S. Open, making him (among his many other notable records) one of very few players to win the U.S. Open as their first pro victory (Orville Moody and Jerry Pate would later emulate the feat). Painted lines are first utilized to mark water hazards at the U.S. Open.

1963

Arnold Palmer becomes the first professional to earn over $100,000 in official prize money in one calendar year. Mickey Wright wins a record 13 events on the LPGA Tour in one year. Bob Charles becomes the first New Zealander to win a major championship, winning the British Open after a playoff with American Phil Rodgers. The casting method for irons is first employed.

1964

PGA National opens, in Palm Beach, Florida. Mickey Wright sets the LPGA 18-hole record with a 62 at Hogan Park GC in the Tall City Open. Norman Manley, an amateur from Long Beach, California, scores holes-in-one on two successive par-4s at Del Valley CC, Calif. It is the first and only time this feat has been accomplished. Tony Lema, the colorful U.S. professional, wins the British Open at St Andrews. It would be Lema's greatest triumph before he was killed in an air crash in 1966, aged just 32.