Golf's Top Stars and the Course Each 'Owns' the Most
Of the 200-some full-membership golfers on the PGA Tour, the vast majority haven't raised a trophy on golf's top circuit.
And of those who have won, fewer still have had repeated success at the same venue.
Here are six of the game's stars and the golf course they own. "Own," as you'll see, has a slightly flexible definition, but to own a course, a golfer must have returned to it year after year, won at least once and found additional success.
So, which courses do this group of golf stars own?
Read on to find out.
Rory McIlroy
1 of 6
Course he owns: Quail Hollow (Wells Fargo Championship)
His record there: 2010: 1; 2011: CUT; 2012: 2; 2013: T10; 2014: T8; 2015: 1
Rory McIlroy has teed it up six times at Quail Hollow. He's won twice and recorded an additional three top-10 finishes, with his most recent win coming at the course in soft and receptive conditions this year.
One of the longest courses on tour, the North Carolina track sets up particularly well for McIlroy's power game, as his driving places him a cut above his competitors.
Tiger Woods
2 of 6
Course he owns: Torrey Pines (Farmers Insurance Open/U.S. Open)
His record there: Eight wins: 1999, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2008 (U.S. Open), 2013
In addition to his seven Farmers Insurance Open wins, Tiger Woods famously won the 2008 U.S. Open on a broken left leg at Torrey Pines.
No golfer in history has played as well at a single venue as Tiger Woods has at the La Jolla course. Few of even the best golfers in tour history have ever played half as well at a single course as Tiger has in his career at Torrey Pines.
Woods' record at the California course is the most impressive achievement on this list by far.
Bubba Watson
3 of 6
Course he owns: Augusta National, recently (The Masters)
His record there: Two wins in his last four starts (2012, 2014), hasn't missed a cut in seven tries.
Bubba Watson has won the Masters twice in his last four attempts. In fact, he's won the Masters twice in seven attempts: that's nearly a 30 percent clip.
Watson, who's averaging 306.9 yards per drive this season, has a singular combination of distance, the ability to work the ball and imagination around the greens that makes him a perennial favorite at Augusta National.
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
Dustin Johnson
4 of 6
Course(s) he owns: Pebble Beach, Spyglass, Monterey Peninsula Country Club (AT&T National Pro-Am)
His record there: 2008: T7; 2009: 1; 2010: 1; 2011: T55; 2012: T5; 2013: CUT; 2012: T2; 2013: CUT; 2014: T2; 2015: T4
Two wins. An additional five top-10 finishes. Dustin Johnson does well for himself on the Monterey Bay Peninsula.
The long-hitting Columbia, South Carolina, native has been paired with father-in-law-to-be Wayne Gretzky in recent years during the tournament's famous (or deplorable, depending on your persuasion). If we can expect that trend to continue, expect Johnson to be relaxed and enjoying himself even more in the years to come: a daunting prospect for his competition.
Phil Mickelson
5 of 6
Course he owns: TPC Scottsdale (Waste Management Phoenix Open)
His record there: Win: 1996, 2005, 2013
As you're reminded three million times during the telecast every year, Phil Mickelson spent his college days at Arizona State University. Thus, Lefty has ties to the Phoenix area.
The lovefest culminated in Mickelson's 2013 bid to shoot 59 at the course, which he came within a heartbreaking fraction of an inch of doing as his putt for golf's magic number horseshoed the cup and lipped out.
The left-hander has won three times at the Tom Weiskopf-designed desert track, with his most recent victory coming in 2013.
Jimmy Walker
6 of 6
Course he owns: Waialae Golf Course (Sony Open in Hawaii)
His record there: Win (2014, 2015); 4: 2011
Jimmy Walker didn't start out with a stranglehold at bucolic Waialae, struggling at the oceanside Honolulu course early in his career. In recent years, however, the tour's only space photographer has availed himself nicely in Hawaii's most populous city.
The adoptive Texan finished fourth at Waialae in 2011. While he missed the cut in 2013, Walker rebounded with a tie for 26th in 2013. The reason he makes this list, however, is his recent form at the Sony Open: He's won the event the last two seasons.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
