Golf is club-and-ball sport that was founded in Scotland, probably in medieval times. It is defined in its own rules as: "playing a ball with a club from the teeing ground into the hole by a stroke or successive strokes in accordance with the Rules." Golf competition is generally played for the lowest number of strokes by an individual, known simply as stroke play, or the lowest score on the most individual holes during a complete round by an individual or team, known as match play.
Golf is played professionally at its highest level on a global basis. Tournaments usually last four days and the players contest 18 holes per daily round. The four most famous and prestigious tournaments are known as the "majors": the British Open, the US Open, the US Masters and the US PGA.