What is the format for a golf tournament?

Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players strike balls into several holes on a course in the fewest number of strokes feasible. The game is usually played on a course with an 18-hole ordered sequence, while leisure courses are sometimes smaller, with nine holes.

At least twenty professional golf tournaments are held each year, each organised by a PGA or an independent tour organisation that is in charge of planning events, recruiting sponsors, and regulating the tour.

A tour often has “members” who are eligible to compete in the majority of its events, as well as non-members who are invited to compete in some of them. Membership in a top tour is extremely competitive, and the majority of professional golfers never make it.

Professional golf tournaments usually have four rounds. The playing field is substantially decreased after two rounds of play.

The tournaments are played in a stroke play format over 72 holes, which entails four full rounds played over four days. The top 70 players, including ties, typically make the cut and advance to the third and fourth rounds.