Where famous golfers grew up and lived

Annika Sörenstam1970–1990

📍 Bro, Upplands-Bro, Sweden

Annika Sörenstam was born in Bro, a small town in the countryside north-west of Stockholm, in October 1970, the elder of two daughters of Tom, an IBM executive, and Gunilla, who worked in a…

Arnold Palmer1929–1954

📍 Latrobe, PA 15650, USA

I was born in Latrobe, a steel and coal town in the hills of western Pennsylvania, in September 1929, and I grew up in a modest house beside the fifth hole of Latrobe Country Club. My…

Babe Didrikson Zaharias1915–1930

📍 Beaumont, TX, USA

I was born Mildred Ella Didrikson in Port Arthur, Texas, in June 1911, the sixth of seven children of Ole and Hannah Didrikson, who had come from Norway. When I was about three, a hurricane…

Ben Hogan1922–1930

📍 Glen Garden, Fort Worth, TX 76119, USA

I was born in Dublin, Texas, in August 1912, the youngest of three children of Chester Hogan, a blacksmith and mechanic, and Clara. When I was nine, my father died, and my mother moved us…

Bernhard Langer1957–1976

📍 Anhausen, Diedorf, Germany

Bernhard Langer was born in August 1957 in Anhausen, a small, Catholic village in the farmland near Augsburg, in Bavaria. His father, Erwin, was a bricklayer who had been captured by…

Bobby Jones1908–1920

📍 East Lake, Atlanta, GA 30317, USA

I was born in Atlanta in March 1902, the son of Robert Permedus Jones, a prominent lawyer whom everyone called the Colonel, and Clara. I was a frail, sickly little boy with a digestive…

Byron Nelson1922–1932

📍 Glen Garden, Fort Worth, TX 76119, USA

I was born in February 1912 on a farm near Waxahachie, in Ellis County, Texas, and when I was about ten my family moved to Fort Worth, settling near the Glen Garden Country Club on the…

Ernie Els1969–1989

📍 Kempton Park, Gauteng, South Africa

Ernie Els was born in Johannesburg in October 1969 and grew up in Kempton Park, a suburb on the East Rand near what is now O.R. Tambo airport, in a sporty Afrikaans family. His father…

Gary Player1935–1953

📍 Johannesburg, South Africa

Gary Player was born in Johannesburg in November 1935, the youngest of three children of Harry Player, a gold miner who spent most of his working life far underground, and Muriel. The…

Gene Sarazen1902–1920

📍 Harrison, NY 10528, USA

I was born Eugenio Saraceni in February 1902 in Harrison, New York, in a two-family house in a working-class district, the son of Federico Saraceni, an Italian immigrant carpenter who had…

Greg Norman1955–1976

📍 Aspley, Brisbane QLD 4034, Australia

Greg Norman was born in Mount Isa, a remote mining town in outback Queensland, in February 1955, to Merv, an electrical engineer, and Toini, the daughter of a Finnish carpenter and a fine…

Harry Vardon1870–1890

📍 Grouville, Jersey JE3, Channel Islands

I was born in Grouville, on the east coast of Jersey, in May 1870, one of eight children of Philip Vardon, a gardener, and his French-born wife. Our cottage stood near Grouville Common, by…

Hideki Matsuyama1992–2007

📍 Matsuyama, Ehime, Japan

Hideki Matsuyama was born in February 1992 in Matsuyama, the castle city on the island of Shikoku that shares his family name, famous for its hilltop castle and the ancient Dōgo hot…

Jack Nicklaus1940–1961

📍 Upper Arlington, OH 43221, USA

Jack Nicklaus was born in Columbus, Ohio, in January 1940 and grew up in Upper Arlington, a leafy, well-to-do suburb on the north-west edge of the city, with his younger sister, Marilyn…

Karrie Webb1974–1994

📍 Ayr QLD 4807, Australia

Karrie Webb was born in December 1974 and grew up in Ayr, a small sugar-cane town in the Burdekin district of North Queensland, south of Townsville, surrounded by cane fields, the river…

Lee Trevino1939–1956

📍 Dallas, TX 75231, USA

Lee Trevino was born near Dallas, Texas, in December 1939, and never knew his father. He was raised by his mother, Juanita, and his grandfather, Joe Trevino, a Mexican immigrant…

Lorena Ochoa1981–2000

📍 Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico

Lorena Ochoa was born in Guadalajara, Mexico, in November 1981 and grew up in a family home that overlooked the swimming pool and grounds of the Guadalajara Country Club, a leafy, green…

Lydia Ko2003–2013

📍 North Shore, Auckland, New Zealand

Lydia Ko was born in Seoul in 1997 and moved with her family to Auckland's North Shore when she was four, settling near Lake Pupuke and its golf course. Her parents wanted a calmer life and…

Nancy Lopez1957–1975

📍 Roswell, NM, USA

Nancy Lopez was born in Torrance, California, in January 1957, to Mexican-American parents, Domingo and Marina, and grew up in Roswell, a farming and ranching town in the high desert of…

Nick Faldo1957–1976

📍 Welwyn Garden City AL8, UK

Nick Faldo was born in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, in July 1957, the only child of George, an accountant at Imperial Chemical Industries, and Joyce, a cutter and pattern-maker…

Old Tom Morris1865–1908

📍 8 The Links, St Andrews KY16 9JB, UK

I was born in St Andrews in June 1821, the son of a weaver, and I grew up playing golf on the links with a cut-down club and a wine cork. At fourteen I was apprenticed to Allan Robertson…

Payne Stewart1957–1975

📍 Springfield, MO, USA

I was born William Payne Stewart in Springfield, Missouri, in January 1957, the youngest of three children and the only son of Bill Stewart, a travelling salesman for a bedspring company…

Phil Mickelson1970–1988

📍 San Diego, CA, USA

Phil Mickelson was born in San Diego in June 1970, the son of Phil Sr., a former Navy pilot who became a commercial airline pilot, and Mary, and he grew up in the San Diego area with his…

Rory McIlroy1989–2007

📍 Holywood, County Down BT18, UK

Rory McIlroy was born in Holywood, County Down, in May 1989, and grew up an only child in a modest semi-detached house in this small, leafy town on the shores of Belfast Lough, a few miles…

Sam Snead1912–1936

📍 Hot Springs, VA 24445, USA

I was born in May 1912 in Ashwood, a hamlet in the Allegheny Mountains near Hot Springs, Virginia, the youngest of six children of a farmer, Harry Snead, and his wife, Laura. Our family had…

Se Ri Pak1977–1996

📍 Daejeon, South Korea

Se Ri Pak was born in Daejeon, South Korea, in September 1977. Her father, Pak Joon-chul, was a former soldier and businessman who loved golf, and he was fiercely determined that his…

Sergio García1980–1999

📍 Borriol, Castellón, Spain

Sergio García was born in January 1980 in Borriol, a small hill town of whitewashed houses and orange groves just inland from Castellón de la Plana on Spain's Mediterranean coast. His…

Seve Ballesteros1957–1976

📍 Pedreña, Cantabria, Spain

I was born in April 1957 in Pedreña, a fishing and farming village on the Bay of Santander in Cantabria, in a stone farmhouse that my great-grandparents had built, where we slept in rooms…

Tiger Woods1975–1994

📍 6704 Teakwood Street, Cypress, CA 90630, USA

Eldrick Tont Woods was born in Cypress, California, in December 1975, the only child of Earl Woods, a former US Army officer and Green Beret who had served in Vietnam, and Kultida Woods…

Tom Watson1949–1967

📍 Kansas City, MO, USA

Tom Watson was born in Kansas City, Missouri, in September 1949, the son of Ray Watson, an insurance broker and fine amateur golfer who had been club champion at the Kansas City Country…

Vijay Singh1963–1981

📍 Nadi, Fiji

Vijay Singh was born in Lautoka, Fiji, in February 1963, and grew up in Nadi, a town on the dry western side of Viti Levu, the main island, among sugar-cane fields, beaches and coconut…

Walter Hagen1892–1914

📍 Brighton, NY 14618, USA

I was born in December 1892, the only son among the five children of William Hagen, a blacksmith and millwright in the railway-car shops of Rochester, New York, and his wife, Louisa. We…