Top 10 Family Affairs in Golf History

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Golf is game that brings families together.

The golf course is a place where fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, and grandparents and grandchildren can bond.

The golf world is full of families, from Tiger Woods and his niece Cheyenne to the Molinari brothers.

Here are the top 10 family affairs in the golf world.

10. The Molinari Brothers

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Edoardo and Francesco Molinari are two of the more successful players in professional golf today.

Edoardo is the more successful of the two but neither have a PGA Tour win to their credit.

Both men were on the 2010 Ryder Cup team when the European team recaptured the cup from the defending U.S. champions.

They have been rather successful on the European Tour with two victories each.

Francesco has one top 10 in a Major championship, which came at the 2009 PGA Championship, and Edoardo's best finish in a Major came at the 2011 Masters, where he finished tied for 11th.

Both men are still young—Francesco, 28, and Edoardo, 30—and can still add to their already impressive resumes and improve their spot on this list in the future.  

9. Joe Kirkwood, Sr. and Joe Kirkwood, Jr.

Joe Kirkwood, Sr. and his son, Joe Kirkwood, Jr., became the first father-son pair to make the cut in a major in the 1948 US Open.

Kirkwood, Sr. was the more successful professional golfer of the two and is said to have put golf in Australia on the map, worldwide.

He tallied 13 PGA Tour victories in his career and his son added a single victory to the family tally in 1951 when he defeated Sam Snead for the Blue Ribbon Open.

Kirkwood, Jr. victory in the Blue Ribbon Open made the father-son duo the third such duo to each win a tournament on the PGA Tour.

There have been three more duos to accomplish the feat since.  

8. Craig and Kevin Stadler

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The Stadler clan and their round bellies come in at No. 8 on the list with a combined 38 professional wins. 

Craig's shining moment came in the 1982 Masters when he outlasted fellow American Dan Pohl in a playoff to win the Major championship. 

Kevin is still looking for that elusive win on the PGA Tour but has victories on the European, Asian, Nationwide and Challenge Tours.

His best finish in a Major championship came in the 2007 Open Championship where he finished tied for 51st.

If and when he gets that elusive win on the PGA Tour, the Stadlers will become the seventh father-son pair to each win on the Tour.

One more thing: How can you not love the facial hair on Craig? That alone would have got the duo a spot on the list.  

7. Julius and Guy Boros

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Julius and Guy Boros are a father-son duo that enjoys a spot on the list of fathers and sons who both have victories on the PGA Tour.

They are one of six duos to accomplish that feat. 

Julius is the much more successful of the two, with 24 professional wins to his merit, three of them Major championships. 

He won the US Open in 1952 and 1963 and the PGA Championship in 1968, giving him half of the career Grand Slam. 

Son, Guy, has just six professional wins to his credit, one of them coming on the PGA Tour. His best finish in a Major championship came at the 1995 US Open when he tied for 36. 

Julius was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1982 and was named PGA Tour Player of the Year in 1952 and 1963.

The success of Julius alone landed the father-son pair a spot on the list, which could have been much higher if Guy had a better resume. 

6. Willie Park, Sr., Mungo Park and Willie Park, Jr.

The Parks are one of the first families of golf. Willie Park, Sr. is considered one of the early pioneers of professional golf.

As a family, they have won seven Open Championships—four for Park, Sr., two for Park, Jr. and one for Mungo.

Willie Sr. and Mungo both only competed in the Open Championship during their professional careers, with a combined 31 appearances at the event.

Willie Jr. was not only a professional golfer but a golf course architect as well. He has 170 courses from Europe to the US and Canada.

Willie Sr. is the lone Hall of Fame inductee of the trio, inducted to the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2005. 

5. Arnold Palmer and Sam Saunders

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Arnold Palmer, "the King," is one of the greatest golfers of all time.

His grandson, Sam Saunders, is looking to add to the legend of Arnold Palmer.

Palmer accumulated 94 professional victories in his long, successful career, including 62 PGA Tour victories, good for fifth all time.

He won seven Major championships, four of them coming at the Masters, only failing to win the PGA Championship.

His impressive resume lead to an induction into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1974.

Not to mention he has a drink named after himself, the "Arnold Palmer," half iced tea, half lemonade.

Palmer's career achievements alone has this duo near the top of this list and if Saunders can put together even a mediocre career, they could find themselves atop the list in the future. 

4. Keegan and Pat Bradley

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Up until recently, this aunt and nephew duo would not have even found themselves on this list but that all changed when Keegan Bradley won the 2011 PGA Championship.

Keegan Bradley is the nephew of World Golf Hall of Famer, Pat Bradley, who has 36 professional victories to her credit. 

She still holds the lead in Major championship victories in the family with six to Keegan's one, but he is still young and has the potential to possibly pass his mother. 

Keegan's first PGA Tour victory came in May at the HP Byron Nelson Championship where he defeated Ryan Palmer in a playoff with a final score of 3-under-par. 

His PGA Championship victory catapulted the Bradleys onto this list and further success could help the aunt-nephew duo continue to climb in golf's all-time family rankings. 

3. Tom Morris, Sr. and Tom Morris, Jr.

Tom Sr. and Tom Jr. were both born in St. Andrews, Fife, Scotland, a fitting home for two of golf's all-time greats. 

Tom Sr. is referred to as "Old Tom" and Tom Jr. is referred to as "Young Tom."

The duo has a combined eight Open Championship titles, making them the most successful father-son duo in Major championship history.

"Young Tom" was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1975, a year earlier than his father.

They are the only father-son tandem in the World Golf Hall of Fame.

2. The Haas Family

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The Haas family is one of the biggest group of relatives to play professional golf.

The eldest of the family in golf are Jay and Jerry Haas.

Jay has 29 professional victories to his credit, including nine on the PGA Tour and 15 on the Champions Tour. 

His best finishes in Major championships came in the 1995 Masters and 1999 PGA Championship, where he finished tied for third. 

Jay is the more successful brother as Jerry failed to win a PGA Tour tournament in his career. All three professional victories came on the Nationwide Tour.

He now coaches the golf team at Wake Forest University.

Next in line in the Haas family comes the sons of Jay, Bill and Jerry Jr.

Bill has established himself on the PGA Tour with two victories at the age of 29. He tied for 12th in this years PGA Championship.

Jerry Jr. has yet to win a PGA Tournament, but with the family name now represented by him and his older brother, the future of the Haas family in golf is looking bright. 

1. Tiger and Cheyenne Woods

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Tiger Woods is arguably the best golfer of all time, and his half-brother, Earl Woods, Jr., added another star golfer to the family in the form to Tiger's niece, Cheyenne Woods.

Tiger has won 71 PGA Tour events, including 14 Major Championships, good for third all time behind Sam Snead and Jack Nicklaus. 

Cheyenne has won more than 30 amateur tournaments and currently plays on the golf team at Wake Forest University. 

She received an exemption in 2009, at the age of 19, to play in the Wegman's LPGA tournament.

Both were first taught to play golf by the late Earl Woods, Sr., Tiger's father.

Despite Tiger's recent falters, the pair's dominance at every level of competition lands them the top spot on the list of family affairs in golf.