The game of professional golf in America

Professional golf is one of the most popular games in America. Players like Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus and Phil Mickelson are known across the globe. With the advent of high profile professional golfers such as Tiger Woods, professional golf in America has exploded into the mainstream. With that in mind, here is a look at the game of golf and American professional golf tournaments. The PGA Tour is one of the most prominent tournaments in America. It is held on an annual basis, usually in the month of August. The tournament is the last one of the four major championships and the cash reward for winning the tournament is a whopping $7,000,000. Another major championship is the Masters. It is one of America's most popular and prestigious golf championships. The Masters is held every year on the very same golf course located in Augusta, Georgia. The usual schedule for this championship starts on the first weekend of the month of April. The cash reward for the Masters is a little bigger than the PGA tour which comes to a total of $7,500,000. Once the Masters tournament is over, the golfers have a month off and then they return in June to resume the tournament tour. The next big tournament is the US Open. The US Open shares a similarity with the PGA championship in that it is played on different courses. However, the game is a little tougher because the chosen courses in this tournament are often more difficult which makes it harder to earn good scores. Tiger Woods holds the record for the best score as he earned a -12 in the 2000 U.S. Open. Another shared similarity between the two championships is the prize money which is $7,000,000 as well. Finally, one of the richest prizes for a golf tournament in the United States is The Players Championship. It is owned and administered by the PGA Tour. The amount of the prize as of 2008 was $9.5 million. This tournament is played annually on the Stadium Course at the Tournament Players Club at Sawgrass (TPC at Sawgrass) in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. Besides the $9.5 million prize money, the winner will also receive 80 points towards his Official World Golf Ranking, a 5-year exemption on the PGA Tour, a 3-year invitation to the Masters, a 3-year exemption for the British Open, and an exemption for the British Open and the PGA Championships for that year. The field usually consists of the top 50 golfers in world rankings. The Players Championship is world-renown for the Stadium Course's signature hole - the 17th hole (par 3) also known as "the Island Green". The last three holes are considered to be one of golf's toughest finishes. The Players Championship is played mid-May each year. For a golf lover, a vacation in America should include one of these tournaments. It is a good and rare opportunity to see the best players in the world fighting it out on the course.