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WHEN I THINK OF USGA CHAMPIONSHIPS, the U.S. Open, U.S. Women's Open, U.S. Senior Open and U.S. Amateur come to mind. But the USGA conducts a bunch of national championships, more than a dozen.

Below is the 2015 lineup, including two new amateur fourball championships.

2015 USGA Championship Schedule

U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship, The Olympic Club, San Francisco, Calif., May 2-6

U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Championship, Bandon Dunes Resort, Bandon, Ore., May 9-13

U.S. Open, Chambers Bay, University Place, Wash., June 18-21

The following edited content was supplied by Golf Channel in a news release.

Phil Mickelson will make his first professional start this week since the 2014 Ryder Cup, headlining the field at the Humana Challenge in partnership with the Clinton Foundation. Golf Channel will carry live coverage of all four rounds of the event, and Patrick Reed – already having won in 2015 at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions earlier this month – is in the field defending his 2014 title.

The Champions Tour begins its 2015 season at the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai in Hawaii, with 2014 Charles Schwab Cup winner Bernhard Langer looking to capture the season-opener for the second consecutive year.

On the European Tour, Sergio Garcia defends at the Commerical Bank Qatar Masters, with Henrik Stenson and Justin Rose also headlining the field.

JACK NICKLAUS WAS BORN ON THIS day in 1940 in Upper Arlington, Ohio, a suburb of Columbus. He took up golf in earnest at age 10, putting in long hours at Scioto Country Club, where Bobby Jones won the 1926 U.S. Open.

Compared to others, the game came easily to Nicklaus, and he won often at every level before experiencing his first prolonged slump in the late 1960s. Even then the man who would become known as the Golden Bear won golf tournaments, although he did have to endure a majors drought from the summer of 1967 to the summer of 1970.

The drought ended when Jack beat Doug Sanders in an 18-hole playoff to win the British Open at the Old Course in St. Andrews, Scotland. It was his eighth major title. He would go on to win 18 major championships as a professional,...

Fred Hawkins often practiced with the most feared player on the circuit—Ben Hogan. “I played a number of practice rounds with [Hogan],” Hawkins told me. “[H]e’d always ask me to come down to Fort Worth a couple of days early so he’d get a little competition [and] practice that way.” In the continuation of this series, you'll learn about Hawkins and his Hogan stories. Read Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4 and Part 5.
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A CENTURY AGO SIX-TIME BRITISH OPEN champion Harry Vardon may have said it best when he uttered, "Golf is master of us all." I expect Martin Kaymer would agree with Vardon's maxim, especially on this Monday.

The two-time major champion began yesterday's final round in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship with a six-shot lead. Kaymer's fourth title at Abu Dhabi Golf Club was assured; the only open question was the margin of victory.

The German's lead grew to 10 shots when he birdied three of the first four holes. With 14 holes to play and a 10-stroke lead, all it seemed Kaymer had to do was hold onto the golf club. Firing 64, 67 and 65 through the first three rounds and with a hot start on Sunday, Kaymer was in control of everything that mattered: himself, his game and the golf tournament.

Then, inexplicably, the man who was 23 under par for 58 holes played the final 14 in 6 over. And lost....

A NEW JACK NICKLAUS DOCUMENTARY that coincides with Jack turning 75 will air on Fox Sports this Sunday at noon ET.

From the USGA, which, along with Ross Greenburg Productions, produced "Nicklaus: The Making of a Champion":

The following edited content was supplied by Golf Channel in a news release.

NBC Sports Group continues its coverage of the PGA TOUR on the big island this week with the Sony Open in Hawaii. Golf Channel will air all four rounds in primetime – beginning Thursday – and NBC will carry early, final round coverage on Sunday from 4-6 p.m. ET. This week’s event is the first full tournament field on the PGA TOUR in 2015.

World No. 1 Rory McIlroy and No. 2 Henrik Stenson headline the field at the European Tour’s Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship, with McIlroy making his first start since November. Golf Channel will air early-morning coverage during all four rounds, beginning on Thursday.
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KENNY PERRY IS RETURNING to the PGA Tour in the 2015 season.

Golfweek's Alex Micelli reported: