Here is a list of profiles and descriptions of some of the world’s most famous male golfers. It is a must for golf enthusiasts to know the personalities behind the sport. As the cliche goes, “To know them is to love them.”

Tiger Woods

It will be very disrespectful for the golf industry if Tiger Woods will not be included in this list. It is acknowledged that Woods is certainly a phenomenon in the sport.

He started to display golfing prowess at a very young age. Believe it or not, when he was still in his crib at six months, he started to imitate the swing of his father. He appeared in the Michael Douglas Show at age 2 and putted with Bob Hope. He played 48 for a 9-hole game when he was three and impressively featured in Golf Digest when he was 5. He started to claim golf titles when he was 8 years old. He started off with the Optimist International Junior tournament where he won six times. He also had three US Junior Amateur titles where he was the first golfer to do so. Woods became a professional golfer in 1996 and started winning and gained 14 professional major titles. In his whole career, he won a total of 65 tour victories. He was the youngest golfer to receive a grand slam title.

Jack Nicklaus

Considered the most accomplished male golfer by far, Nicklaus had won 73 tour victories all throughout his career. He was incomparable when it came to the number of his major titles where he gained 18 titles.

He started playing golf when he was 10 when he shot 51 in his first 9-hole game. At 12, he won six consecutive Ohio State Junior titles. He became pro in 1962 and immediately won his first major title in the US Open defeating another great name in golf, Arnold Palmer. At 26, he gained his career grand slam and continued to grab every title. His last major was in 1986 where he won his sixth Masters. He played in the Senior PGA Tour and won 10 times.

In 1974, Jack Nicklaus was inducted in the World Golf Hall of Fame.

Ben Hogan

Another legend in golf is Ben Hogan. He won a total of 64 tour victories and 9 professional titles. In his tour career, he had played a total of 292 events. In almost half of those events, Hogan finished in the top 3 and he was able to finish in the top 10 in 241 of those events.

He was just a caddy when he was young and there started his career. He became a professional player in 1929 and joined events in Texas. He started to play in the PGA Tour in 1932 but he started winning in 1940. Before Tiger Woods, he was the record holder for three professional major titles to be won consecutively in a year. There were two things that hindered Hogan’s career – World War 2 and a sever car accident. But after those events, he continued to play and win.

Since the average golfer swings around 83 mph, most golfers can use an increase in clubhead speed. The PGA Tour average is around 111 mph which results in an average drive of around 286 yards. However, you don’t need this kind of swing speed to get more out of your golf game.

Instead, try to get up around 90 mph first. Once you can get there, you can try to get up to around 100. Depending on how good your mechanics are, the time to get to these levels will vary. I recommend a Swing Speed Radar or Trackman Pro to measure your clubhead – any of the devices in golf stores will often have a big built in error.

Here are 3 golf exercises to help you increase your clubhead speed:

1. Make super fast dry swings. Swing 5 times back and forth without stopping with as much speed as possible. Keep an even tempo – don’t get quick, but instead feel the snapping of the wrists at the bottom of the arc. Do at least 5 sets of 5 every other day, always with a day of rest in between workouts.

2. Swing a slightly heavier weighted club like a persimmon driver with a steel shaft, and repeat exercise above. This will give your muscles extra resistance, and they will gain strength and power. If you don’t have a wooden driver on hand, you can always put an ankle high sport sock over your driver and swing. You really don’t need a lot of extra weight here. Perform another 5 sets of 5.

3. Holding your driver behind your neck and across the back of your shoulders, practice twisting your trunk back and forth. Do the first set slowly and try to increase the amount of rotation each time for a total of 10 repetitions. Increase the speed of the second set, and then go all out back and forth for all out explosive speed on the third set. This golf exercise will both lengthen out all the important muscles in your midsection, and train them to be more powerful too.

Going from 83 mph up to 90 mph will take about 4-6 weeks doing these 3 golf exercises about 3 times a week. Getting up to 100 after that will take another few months, but stick with it! The net increase in clubhead speed will allow you to hit longer drives and start reaching all the holes with a shorter iron.