query: Since surgery Tiger Woods has struggled to regain his dominant form.

pos: Tiger Woods Eldrick Tont `` Tiger '' Woods ( born December 30 , 1975 ) is an American professional golfer who is among the most successful golfers of all time . He has been one of the highest-paid athletes in the world for several years .   Following an outstanding junior , college , and amateur career , Woods turned professional at the age of 20 , at the end of the summer in 1996 . By April 1997 he had already won his first major , the 1997 Masters . Woods won this tournament in a record-breaking performance , winning by 12 strokes while pocketing $ 486,000 . He first reached the number one position in the world rankings in June 1997 , after less than a year as a professional . Throughout the 2000s , Woods was the dominant force in golf ; from August 1999 to September 2004 ( 264 weeks ) and from June 2005 to October 2010 ( 281 weeks ) , Woods was the top-ranked men 's golfer in the world .   From December 2009 to early April 2010 , Woods took leave from professional golf to focus on his personal life after he admitted infidelity . Despite attempts at reconciliation , he and his wife Elin Nordegren eventually divorced . His many alleged extramarital indiscretions were revealed by several women , through many worldwide media sources . This was followed by a loss of golf form , and his ranking gradually fell to a low of No. 58 in November 2011 . He ended a career-high winless streak of 107 weeks when he triumphed in the Chevron World Challenge in December 2011 . After winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational on March 25 , 2013 , he ascended to the No. 1 ranking once again , holding the top spot until May 2014 . Woods had back surgery in April 2014 and September 2015 and has struggled since to regain his dominant form . By March 29 , 2015 , Woods had fallen to # 104 , outside of the top 100 for the first time since 1996 . In May 2016 , Woods dropped out of the world top 500 for the first time in his professional career .   Woods has broken numerous golf records . He has been World Number One for the most consecutive weeks and for the greatest total number of weeks of any golfer . He has been awarded PGA Player of the Year a record eleven times , the Byron Nelson Award for lowest adjusted scoring average a record eight times , and has the record of leading the money list in ten different seasons .  He has won 14 professional major golf championships , the second-highest of any player ( Jack Nicklaus leads with 18 ) , and 79 PGA Tour events , second all time behind Sam Snead , who had 82 wins . He has more career major wins and career PGA Tour wins than any other active golfer . He is the youngest player to achieve the career Grand Slam , and the youngest and fastest to win 50 tournaments on tour . Additionally , Woods is only the second golfer ( after Nicklaus ) to have achieved a career Grand Slam three times . Woods has won 18 World Golf Championships , and won at least one of those events in each of the first 11 years after they began in 1999 . Woods and Rory McIlroy are the only golfers to win both The Silver Medal and The Gold Medal at The Open Championship .

neg: 1922 PGA Championship The 1922 PGA Championship was the fifth PGA Championship , held August 14 -- 18 at Oakmont Country Club in Oakmont , Pennsylvania , a suburb northeast of Pittsburgh . The match play field of 64 competitors qualified by sectional tournaments . This was the first PGA Championship with a field of 64 in the bracket ; the previous four had fields of 32 players . In the Friday final , Gene Sarazen defeated Emmet French , 4 & 3 .   Sarazen , age 20 , also won the U.S. Open a month earlier near Chicago . Defending champion Walter Hagen did not enter this year due to exhibition engagements ; the two champions met the following year in the finals , won by Sarazen .   This was the first of eleven major championships at Oakmont ; three PGA Championships and eight U.S. Opens through 2013 . It has hosted the U.S. Amateur five times and the U.S. Women 's Open twice . The PGA Championship returned in 1951 and 1978 .   Sarazen was the first of four players in history to win the U.S. Open and the PGA Championship in the same calendar year . He was followed by Ben Hogan in 1948 and Jack Nicklaus in 1980 . Through 2012 , Tiger Woods is the last to win both , in 2000 , part of his Tiger Slam of four consecutive majors .

neg: Bass Pro Shops Legends of Golf The Bass Pro Shops Legends of Golf at Big Cedar is a golf tournament on the PGA Tour Champions . Beginning in 2014 , it will be played at Big Cedar Lodge on the par-3 Top of the Rock course , designed by Jack Nicklaus and the 18-hole Buffalo Ridge course , redesigned by Tom Fazio in Ridgedale , Missouri . The tournament is sponsored by Bass Pro Shops , which owns the Big Cedar Lodge . It is often called `` The tournament that launched the Champions Tour '' .   From 1978 until 2012 , it was known as the Liberty Mutual Insurance Legends of Golf in Savannah , Georgia at The Club at Savannah Harbor . Liberty Mutual was the main sponsor of the tournament .   It currently consists of two separate events using four-ball and alternate shot formats with two-man teams : the 54-hole Champions Division ( age 50 -- 65 ) and the 45-hole Legends Division ( age 65 + ) ( on the final day of the tournament , held at Top of the Rock , Legends play only the course once , while Champions play the course twice ) . Only the Champions Division event is an official money/official victory event .   For 2008 to 2013 , it consisted of three separate events : the Legends Division is a 54-hole two-man team better-ball event for men over 50 , the Raphael Division is a 36-hole two-man team better-ball event for men age 50 -- 69 , and the Demaret Division is a 36-hole two-man team better-ball event for men over 70 . Only the Legends Division event was an official money/official victory event .   The tournament was founded in 1978 and consisted of a 54-hole two-man team better-ball event for men over 50 . Its success provided impetus for the formation of the Senior PGA Tour in 1980 . In 1987 , a Legendary Division was added . This consisted of a 36-hole two-man team better-ball event for men over 60 . These teams also competed in the Legends Division - Charles Coody & Dale Douglass won both divisions in 1998 . In 1993 , the 36-hole Demaret Division ( named after tournament co-founder Jimmy Demaret ) was added for men over 70 . For this year alone , all three divisions were competed at individual stroke play . In 2002 , the Legends Division became an individual stroke play event and became an official money event on the Champions Tour . This format remained through 2007 . The Legendary Division was renamed the Raphael Division ( after tournament co-founder Fred Raphael who had died in 2001 ) and became the 36-hole two-man team better-ball event for men over 60 .   The purse for the 2014 tournament Champions Division was US$ 2,400,000 , with $ 230,000 going to each member of the winning team .

neg: 2005 Masters Tournament The 2005 Masters Tournament was the 69th Masters Tournament , played from April 7 -- 10 at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta , Georgia .   Tiger Woods , 29 , won his fourth green jacket on the first hole of a playoff with Chris DiMarco . Rain was a factor the whole week , and delayed much of the play . The purse was $ 7.0 million with a winner 's share of $ 1.26 million . It was the ninth of Woods ' fourteen major championships .   This Masters was the last as competitors for three former champions : Tommy Aaron ( 1973 ) , Billy Casper ( 1970 ) , and six-time winner Jack Nicklaus .   Ryan Moore was low amateur at 287 ( − 1 ) , the best score by an amateur since 1978 , and earned an exemption to the 2006 tournament .   Jerry Pate , a non-playing invitee , won the 46th Par-3 contest on Wednesday with a five-under 22 .

neg: 1995 Masters Tournament The 1995 Masters Tournament was the 59th Masters Tournament , held April 6 -- 9 at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta , Georgia . Ben Crenshaw won his second Masters championship , one stroke ahead of runner-up Davis Love III . It was an emotional victory for Crenshaw as it came just days after the death of his mentor , Harvey Penick . Crenshaw and Tom Kite attended the funeral in Texas on Wednesday and did not return to Augusta until that night , on the eve of the first round .   The 1995 Masters marked the first major championship for Tiger Woods , who qualified as the 1994 U.S. Amateur champion . A 19-year-old college freshman at Stanford , he tied for 41st place and was the leading amateur , the only one to make the cut . Woods ' average driving distance was the longest in the tournament .

neg: Golf instruction Golf instruction is the art of equipping and training golfers to play better golf through improved awareness of swing cause and effects as a result of the actions by their body , the club , and their effect on the golf ball . Most great golfers have a few common elements that make them great including : proper intentionality , swing repeatability to produce an action that fits the golfers intentionality , and a strong level of automaticity for long lasting enjoyment of the game golf . Golf instruction is unique as golf consists of five primary skills : shots from a tee ( most notable : driving that uses a driver ) , full shots from the ground ( mostly known as `` iron shots '' , pitching ( or 3/4 shots designed for distance control , chipping ( short shots around the green the require less than a full swing ) , putting ( 1 club preferably `` the putter '' ) and course strategy or gamesmanship .   Proficiency in teaching golf instruction requires not only technical and physical ability , but also knowledge of the rules and etiquette of the game . Golf instruction offered on many platforms in the United States including : the PGA of America , GolfTEC , and independent golfers who `` may '' or `` may not '' have credentials that are recognized by credible teachers certified sources such as the PGA of America . Although there are many great golf instructors in the United States , who are PGA Class A Professionals , not all great instructors carry this status nor find it a major determiner of golf instruction proficiency .   Golf Instruction can be wide ranging , but many great modern day instructors are able to diagnose and prescribe swing frustrations accurately and present a clear fix that encourages the golfer in the discovery of lasting repeatability from the specific ailment that `` plagued '' them from a sound repeatable swing to play a golf course successfully ( varying terms of success as a golfer ) Many modern instructors include the following in their diagnosis  1 . visual feedback through video and bio motion analysis  2 . personalized golf club fitting for individual body and swing types  3 . on-course play under real conditions  4 . mental performance development  5 . golf specific body conditioning for optimal golf bio-mechanics   Beginning players can start lesson in several ways , but most do so in either a group or individual setting , covering the five primary skills of golf as noted above golf swing . Golf is an asymmetrical exercise that can break body balances , requiring also adequate exercises to keep the balance in muscles . Experienced recreational players often return for instruction , either to fix a specific problem they are encountering or to improve their game . Reconstruction of a golf swing to reach a high level of play often involves series of lessons over an extended period of time . Junior golfers often begin receiving instruction by age 10 or younger , and often retain private teachers even when coached on a high school golf team .   Some top instructors who work with professional golfers have become quite well known in their own right over the years , including Harvey Penick , Jack Grout , Dick Harmon , David Leadbetter , Butch Harmon , Hank Haney , Chip Thomson , Sean Foley , and Mike Bennett and Andy Plummer . Some of the teachers maintain teaching facilities or schools where they or their disciples use their methods or systems . A few instructors focus solely on a particular aspect of the sport , such as Dave Pelz with the short game . Some famous golfers have been tightly bound with their instructor , such as Jack Nicklaus with Jack Grout , while in other cases golfers have made high-profile switches from one instructor to another , such as Tiger Woods moving from Butch Harmon to various other instructors .   Recreational golfers are constantly seeking tips on how to improve , and the major golf publications such as Golf Magazine and Golf Digest devote substantial portions of their pages to instructional material of various kinds , often written by top-level instructors . Even television broadcasts of professional golf tournaments often contain short instructional segments , delivered by commentators who are also instructors such as Peter Kostis .   Golf instruction may be augmented by training aids such as specially weighting or jointed clubs , putting cups for practice on the den room carpet , mini practice tees with feedback for use in garages , et cetera . Some training aids are sold via television infomercials and the more peculiar varieties were satirized in the 1996 film Tin Cup .   Golf instruction is no guarantee of success or improved play in the game . Bad mechanics can be deeply ingrained in a subject 's swing , and psychological factors can also hinder progress . The 2009 Golf Channel program The Haney Project : Charles Barkley showcased some of these issues , as Hank Haney attempted to fix former NBA great Charles Barkley 's infamously bad swing .

neg: 1983 Masters Tournament The 1983 Masters Tournament was the 47th Masters Tournament , held April 7 -- 11 at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta , Georgia . Seve Ballesteros won his second Masters and third major title , four strokes ahead of runners-up Ben Crenshaw and Tom Kite . Play on Friday was postponed due to heavy rain , and the final round was completed on Monday for the first time since 1973 .   Defending champion Craig Stadler was tied for the 54-hole lead with 1976 champion Raymond Floyd , with Ballesteros one stroke back , and two-time champion Tom Watson an additional stroke behind . Ballesteros got off to a fast start in the final round on Monday with a birdie-eagle start . With another birdie at the difficult par-3 fourth , he added four pars and another birdie at the ninth for a five-under 31 on the front nine . Ballesteros cruised to a 69 ( − 3 ) and a comfortable win as neither Stadler , Floyd , nor Watson broke par .   During the postponement of Friday 's round , the possibility was raised that the tournament would not complete the entire 72 holes , as the southeastern U.S. was experiencing heavy rains and flooding and forecasts were not favorable .   Saturday 's second round went off from split tees ( 1st and 10th ) and six players did not complete their rounds until early Sunday morning . With this extension , the tournament committee did not attempt to complete the final two rounds on Sunday , opting for the third round only on Sunday and the fourth on Monday .   Four-time champion Arnold Palmer , 53 , opened with a 68 on Thursday and made the cut at the Masters for the final time . In his 29th Masters , he stated that the conditions on Saturday were the worst he had ever seen at Augusta . Five-time winner Jack Nicklaus , 43 , withdrew before his second round start time due to back spasms experienced while warming up Saturday morning . It was only his second withdrawal as a pro , the first was three years earlier at the 1980 World Series of Golf . Nicklaus had missed only one cut in the previous 23 Masters and made ten consecutive after this year , including his record sixth green jacket in 1986 .   It was the final major championship for Sam Snead , 70 , a three-time Masters champion . He withdrew after a first round 79 as he assessed he could not make the cut .

neg: 1958 U.S. Open (golf) The 1958 U.S. Open was the 58th U.S. Open , held June 12 -- 14 at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa , Oklahoma . Amid oppressive heat and high winds which created difficult scoring conditions , native Oklahoman Tommy Bolt won his only major championship , four strokes ahead of runner-up Gary Player . It was Player 's debut in the U.S. Open at age 22 .   Bolt owned the 36-hole lead at 142 ( +2 ) , a stroke ahead of Player . After a third round 69 on Saturday morning , Bolt was at 211 ( +1 ) and three strokes ahead of Gene Littler , who carded a 67 for 214 ( +4 ) . Littler fell back in the final round in the afternoon , shooting a 76 to finish in fourth place . Bolt ran away from the field with a final round 72 for 283 ( +3 ) , four ahead of Player . Bolt was the only player not to record a round of 75 or over during the championship .   Ben Hogan , in search of his fifth U.S. Open title , was hampered by an injured left wrist and finished eleven strokes back in a tie for tenth . Eighteen-year-old Jack Nicklaus , in his second U.S. Open , made his first cut and finished in 41st place . Sam Snead missed the cut for the first time in 18 Open appearances . Two-time champion Gene Sarazen missed the cut in his final appearance , while three-time Masters champion Jimmy Demaret also played his final Open , withdrawing after the third round .   It was the first of seven major championships at Southern Hills . The U.S. Open returned in 1977 and 2001 and the PGA Championship has been played at the course four times : 1970 , 1982 , 1994 , and 2007 .

neg: 1986 Masters Tournament The 1986 Masters Tournament was the 50th Masters Tournament , held April 10 -- 13 at the Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta , Georgia .   Jack Nicklaus won his record 18th professional major with a historic one-stroke victory . He shot a final round 65 ( − 7 ) , with a back nine of 30 ( − 6 ) , for a total score of 279 ( − 9 ) . At age 46 , he became the oldest winner of the Masters and the second-oldest winner of any major championship , behind Julius Boros , who was 48 when he captured the PGA Championship in 1968 . The win also gave Nicklaus a record six Masters victories , the first in 1963 , less than ten months after his first major win at the 1962 U.S. Open . The 23-year span of Masters victories and 24-year span of major victories are also records . The runners-up were Tom Kite and Greg Norman , whose near-misses at the Masters are also noteworthy . The winner 's share was $ 144,000 , up from $ 20,000 at Nicklaus ' first win at Augusta in 1963 .

neg: Alvis Woods Alvis `` Al '' Woods ( born August 8 , 1953 in Oakland , California ) is a former professional baseball player . He played all or part of seven seasons in Major League Baseball between 1977 and 1986 , primarily as a left fielder . He batted and threw left-handed .   Woods was originally drafted by the Montreal Expos in 1971 , but did not sign until being drafted by the Minnesota Twins the following season . He spent several seasons in the minor leagues before being selected by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 1976 Major League Baseball expansion draft .   Woods was on the Opening Day roster for the Blue Jays ' inaugural season . In his -- and the team 's -- first ever major league game , on April 7 , 1977 , he entered the game in the fifth inning as a pinch hitter for right fielder Steve Bowling . He proceeded to homer in his first at bat , on the fifth pitch he saw , off Chicago White Sox pitcher Francisco Barrios . He ended the 1977 season with a .284 batting average in 122 games as the regular Blue Jays left fielder .   Woods enjoyed a good season in 1979 , appearing a career-high 132 games while hitting .278 with 33 extra-base hits . In 1980 , he recorded career highs in average ( .300 ) , home runs ( 15 ) and RBI ( 47 ) . The next two years he shared outfield duties with George Bell , Lloyd Moseby , Garth Iorg and Barry Bonnell , and also saw action as a designated hitter .   Following the 1982 season , Woods was traded to the Oakland Athletics for Cliff Johnson . The A 's released him during spring training , and he re-signed to a minor league contract with the Blue Jays in July . He spent the next two seasons with the Triple-A Syracuse Chiefs , and was released by the Blue Jays at the end of the 1984 season .   Woods returned to the Minnesota Twins for the 1985 season , spending the entire year with the Triple-A Toledo Mud Hens . He started 1986 with Toledo , but received a brief call-up in May , and again was brought up to the majors when rosters expanded in September . He became a free agent after the season , and subsequently retired .   Overall , in a seven-season career , Woods was a .271 hitter with 35 home runs and 196 RBI in 618 games .

neg: Gene Sauers Gene Craig Sauers ( born August 22 , 1962 ) is an American professional golfer , currently playing on the PGA Tour Champions . He had three wins on the PGA Tour and overcame a deadly skin condition that kept him off the golf course for five years . He won the U.S. Senior Open in 2016 , a senior major championship .   Born in Savannah , Georgia , Sauers started him playing golf at the age of nine with his father . He attended Georgia Southern University in Statesboro , turned pro , and joined the PGA Tour in 1984 .   Sauers has four dozen top-10 finishes in PGA Tour events including three official wins . His first win was in 1986 at the Bank of Boston Classic ; his second came at the 1989 Hawaiian Open ; his third , which came after a 13-year hiatus , was in 2002 at the final edition of the Air Canada Championship in British Columbia . He also won the Deposit Guaranty Golf Classic in Mississippi in 1990 , opposite the Masters in April , before it was an official money event .   He finished two other tournaments in a tie for first place at the end of regulation : the 1992 Bob Hope Chrysler Classic , which he lost on the fourth extra hole of a playoff to John Cook , and the St. Jude Classic in 1994 , which he and Hal Sutton lost to Tour rookie Dicky Pride . After his win in Canada , Sauers received the PGA Comeback Player of the Year award in 2002 . His best finish in a major was a tie for second at the PGA Championship in 1992 .   Sauers lost his tour card in 1995 and had to play primarily on the Nike Tour until his PGA Tour victory in 2002 with its two-year exemption . He recorded one victory on the Nike Tour at the 1998 Nike South Carolina Classic , and about a dozen top-10 finishes .   Sauers competed on the PGA Tour until 2005 . From 2006 to 2010 , he did not compete professionally after a misdiagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis turned out to be a rare , painful skin condition Stevens-Johnson syndrome , and he was given only a 25-percent chance of survival . His condition had worsened when blood vessels in his arms and legs clogged , causing his skin to burn from the inside out . Although he eventually recovered after many debilitating months , his forearms show the scars of numerous skin grafts .   Sauers finally overcame the disease and played a limited Nationwide Tour schedule in 2011 and 2012 before making his Champions Tour debut at the Boeing Classic near Seattle in 2012 . He earned two top-10 finishes in 2012 and was also inducted into the Georgia Golf Hall of Fame . Playing a full season in 2013 , Sauers was twice a runner-up , including a playoff loss to Esteban Toledo at the Insperity Invitational . He finished nineteenth on the Champions Tour money list .   In the first six months of 2014 , Sauers played in eleven events , with six top-25 finishes and a best of T-15 at the Allianz Championship in early February . At the U.S. Senior Open in Oklahoma in July , he was tied with Colin Montgomerie after 72 holes but lost in a three-hole playoff .   Two years later in 2016 , Sauers earned his first win as a senior at the U.S. Senior Open in Ohio .

neg: World championship A world championship is generally an international sports competition open to elite competitors from across the world , representing their nations , and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport or contest .   The title is usually awarded through a combination of specific contests or , less commonly , ranking systems ( e.g. the ICC Test Championship ) , or a combination of the two ( e.g. World Triathlon Championships in Triathlon ) . This determines a ` world champion ' , who or which is commonly considered the best nation , team , individual ( or other entity ) in the world in a particular field , although the vagaries of sport ensure that the competitor recognised at the best in an event is not always the ` world champion ' ( see Underdog ) .   Certain sports do not have a world championship . Instead , they may organise a world cup competition , or they may organize both , for example cycling ( UCI World Championships and UCI World Cups ) ) . Often , the use of the term cup or championship in this sense is just a choice of words . Some sports have multiple champions because of multiple organizations , such as boxing , mixed martial arts and wrestling .   Certain sports do not have a world championship or a world cup as such , but may have one or several world champions . Professional boxing , for example , has several world champions at different weights , but each one of them is decided by a `` title fight '' , not a tournament .   A certain number of sports hold world championships or world cups which are overshadowed , in terms of prestige , by the same events in the Olympic Games , the most prestigious multi-sports event .   Still other sports may or may not have a true world championship but may designate the winners of a domestic competition to be `` world champions . '' This is especially true of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada ; world cups and championships exist in all of the major sports , but the domestic U.S. and Canadian leagues are generally recognized as the world professional championships or the equivalent of a world club championship . ( In American football , although an IFAF World Championship exists , the United States is so far above and beyond the other nations it faces that the winner of the U.S.-based Super Bowl , a competition limited to the 32 teams in the National Football League , is commonly recognized as the world champion . )   Finally , certain professional sports do not have a world championship or world cup , but rather hold a series of events recognised as the elite level in their field ( e.g. tennis has a series of four Grand Slam events recognised as the pinnacle of the game , in addition to key team events , world tour finals and the Olympic Games , but no world championship or world cup ) .

neg: Sergio García Sergio García Fernández ( -LSB- ˈseɾxjo ɣaɾˈθi.a feɾˈnandeθ -RSB- ; born 9 January 1980 ) is a Spanish professional golfer who plays on both the PGA Tour and the European Tour . García has won 30 international tournaments as a professional , most notably the 2008 Players Championship and the 2017 Masters Tournament . Garcia is also the Chairman of Spanish football team CF Borriol .   García has spent much of his career in the top 10 of the Official World Golf Ranking , including over 300 weeks in the top 10 between 2000 and 2009 , and over 400 weeks in the top 10 in total . García reached his highest career ranking , 2nd , after winning the HSBC Champions tournament in November 2008 . García has achieved career earnings of more than US$ 43 million . As a player , he is noted for strong iron play and accuracy . In the Ryder Cup , García competed in eight of the nine matches playing during his professional career cumulatively earning 22.5 points during those matches .

neg: 1984 Masters Tournament The 1984 Masters Tournament was the 48th Masters Tournament , held April 12 -- 15 at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta , Georgia . Ben Crenshaw won the first of his two major titles , both Masters , two strokes ahead of runner-up Tom Watson , the winner in 1977 and 1981 .   The leader after 36 holes was Masters rookie Mark Lye at 135 ( − 9 ) , three strokes ahead of Tom Kite . Play was halted near the end of the third round due to thunderstorms and the final groups completed it on Sunday morning . After 54 holes , Kite led at 207 ( − 9 ) and Lye was a stroke back . Crenshaw was two strokes back at 209 and shot a final round 68 ( − 4 ) to slip on his first green jacket . He won again eleven years later in 1995 .   Defending champion Seve Ballesteros was assessed a two-stroke penalty in the second round for grounding his club within the confines of a water hazard at the 13th hole and missed the cut by a stroke . He also missed the cut as defending champion in 1981 .   Normally scheduled to conclude on the second Sunday of April , this Masters was held a week later , as was 1979 .

neg: Denis Watson Denis Leslie Watson ( born 18 October 1955 ) is a professional golfer from Zimbabwe .   Born in Salisbury , Rhodesia ( now Harare , Zimbabwe ) Watson was educated at Oriel Boys High School , Chisipite . He was Rhodesian Sportsman of the Year in 1975 , but went on to represent South Africa in the World Series of Golf in 1980 and 1982 -- sporting connections between Rhodesia and Apartheid South Africa were blurred at the time , for example the Rhodesian cricket team was once part of the South African domestic set-up .   Watson turned professional in 1976 and played on the European Tour from 1978 to 1980 . After moving to the United States , where he joined the PGA Tour , he had his career year in 1984 when he won the Buick Open , NEC World Series of Golf , and Panasonic Las Vegas Invitational to tie for the most wins on the PGA Tour that season .   Watson finished second in the 1985 U.S. Open , missing out on forcing a playoff by one shot , having incurred a two-stroke penalty earlier in the tournament . The penalty was assessed on the eighth hole in the first round , after he had waited longer than the allowed ten seconds for a putt that had hung on the lip of the hole to drop in . The ball did fall into the hole , but the birdie was disallowed and the penalty strokes added . The USGA and R&A , the sports governing bodies , have since amended the penalty for this rules infraction to just a single stroke . Andy North was eventually the only player to beat him , by one shot despite himself bogeying the last hole .   Watson 's career came to a sudden halt when he was injured while playing in the 1985 Goodyear Classic in South Africa . While hitting his ball out of the rough with a 9-iron , he struck a tree stump that had been hidden from view causing damage to his wrist , elbow and neck . He went on to win the tournament , but his problems had just begun . He required surgery on his wrist and neck , and was initially told that he would never play again . He did , but was unable to consistently reach the high standard that he had previously attained and after several more operations he retired towards the end of the 1990s .   After turning fifty , Watson joined the Champions Tour , and began to rediscover competitive form . He won the 2007 Senior PGA Championship at Kiawah Island , a senior major , by two strokes over Argentina 's Eduardo Romero , his first win in 23 years . In one of the most remarkable comebacks ever seen in professional golf , Watson has become one of the Champions Tour 's most competitive stars . He was voted the 2007 Champions Tour Rookie of the Year .

neg: Len Mattiace Leonard Earl `` Len '' Mattiace ( born October 15 , 1967 ) is an American professional golfer on the PGA Tour .   Mattiace was born in Mineola , New York . He attended Nease High School in Ponte Vedra , Florida . He graduated from Wake Forest University in 1990 with a degree in Sociology . While at Wake Forest , he played on the team that won the NCAA Division I Golf Championship in 1986 . He turned pro later in 1990 .   Mattiace first gained notoriety when he surged into contention in the final round of the 1998 Players Championship . Trailing by one shot going into the par-3 17th hole , he hit his tee shot into the water , his third shot into a bunker , and his fourth shot into the water . He ended up with a quintuple-bogey 8 on the hole and finished in a tie for fifth , four strokes behind the eventual winner Justin Leonard .   Mattiace 's career year was 2002 , when he earned wins at the Nissan Open and the FedEx St. Jude Classic . In 2003 , he contended for the The Masters Trophy by shooting a 65 in the final round which put him into a playoff with Mike Weir . On that first playoff hole , Mattiace found himself stymied by trees when his approach drifted offline . Weir needed only a bogey to secure the victory and Mattiace finished second , earning $ 648,000 in prize money . Shortly after the 2003 season , Mattiace 's career was threatened by a skiing accident and torn ACLs in both knees .   Mattiace has been ranked in the top 50 of the Official World Golf Rankings , but has not been fully exempt on the PGA Tour since 2005 . Mattiace splits his time between the PGA Tour ( where he relies on past champion status for entries ) and Web.com Tour . He currently resides in Jacksonville , Florida . Mattiace is naturally left-handed but plays right-handed .

neg: 2001 Players Championship The 2001 Players Championship was a golf tournament in Florida on the PGA Tour , held at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach , southeast of Jacksonville . It was the 28th Players Championship .   Tiger Woods won the first of his two Players Championships , one stroke ahead of runner-up Vijay Singh . Because of bad weather , the tournament was completed on Monday , March 26 . In the final pairing with 54-hole leader Jerry Kelly , Woods played the final nine holes on Monday .   Woods had won the previous three majors in 2000 ; he won the Masters Tournament two weeks later to hold all four major titles at once , the Tiger Slam , as well as this Players , an unofficial `` fifth major . '' He won his second Players a dozen years later in 2013 .   Through 2016 , Woods is the only winner of the Players and Masters in the same calendar year ( 2001 ) , and he was the third Players champion to win a major in the same calendar year , joining Jack Nicklaus ( 1978 ) and Hal Sutton ( 1983 ) ; it expanded to four with Martin Kaymer in 2014 .   Defending champion Sutton finished seven strokes back , in a tie for fifth place .

neg: 1960 Open Championship The 1960 Open Championship was the 89th Open Championship , played 6 -- 9 July at the Old Course in St Andrews , Scotland . In the centenary year of the Open Championship , Kel Nagle prevailed over Arnold Palmer by a single stroke ; this year marked the championship 's re-emergence as a major stop for American players .   The total prize money was increased by forty percent , from # 5,000 to # 7,000 . The winner 's share was increased to # 1,250 with # 900 for second , # 700 for third , # 500 for fourth , # 400 for fifth , # 300 for sixth , # 250 for seventh , # 200 for eighth , # 150 for ninth , and # 130 for tenth . The next fifteen places each received # 60 with # 50 for next seven and then # 40 for the next eighteen . The # 50 prize for winning the qualification event was unchanged while the four prizes for the lowest score in each round were was increased to # 50 . For the centenary event there was a special prize for the winner in the form of a replica of the claret jug .   Qualifying took place on 4 -- 5 July , Monday and Tuesday , with 18 holes on the Old Course and 18 holes on the New Course . A maximum of 100 players could qualify . Gary Player led the qualifiers as medalist at 135 , and the qualifying score was 147 and 74 players qualified ; 28 players on 148 were not included . Dick Metz , who had won the World Senior Golf Championship at Gleneagles on 3 July , was one of those on 148 who just failed to qualify .   Roberto De Vicenzo opened the tournament proper with consecutive rounds of 67 on Wednesday and Thursday to take a two-stroke lead over Nagle . In the third round , De Vicenzo 's drive on the 14th ended up on top of a wall and he finished the round with a score of 75 , allowing Nagle to take a two-shot lead . Palmer , who had won the U.S. Open three weeks earlier by erasing a seven-shot deficit in the final round , was four back after 54-holes . The final round on Friday afternoon was delayed until Saturday due to a heavy rainfall that flooded portions of the course ; the first postponement in over fifty years . When play resumed the next day , Palmer and Nagle both went out in 34 . Still four-strokes behind , Palmer began another charge on the back . He made up strokes on the 13th and 15th , made a 4 on the 17th , then made birdie at the last . Nagle was standing over a crucial par putt on the Road Hole 17th when he heard the roar signifying Palmer 's birdie at 18 . He managed to collect himself and hole the putt , then made a safe 4 at the last to win the title by a single shot over Palmer .   Already 39 at the time of his victory , this was Nagle 's first top ten finish in a major championship . Although little-known outside of Australia at the time of the tournament , he went on to have success throughout the next decade and came close to winning another major at the 1965 U.S. Open , losing to Gary Player in an 18-hole playoff .   Palmer had won the first two majors at the Masters and U.S. Open , and was attempting to equal Ben Hogan 's 1953 season with a third consecutive major . His appearance established the British Open as an important tournament for American golfers and , although Palmer himself skipped the tournament a few times afterward , the best American players began crossing the Atlantic with regularity from then on . Palmer won the next two Opens in 1961 and 1962 .   The appearance of Palmer , already the most popular golfer in the world , proved to be a turning point for the Open Championship . Until the 1960s , few Americans made the trip to the Open Championship , with the lengthy ocean-voyage and high costs of traveling to Britain often more than they stood to win in the tournament . Even Palmer , winner of the first two majors of the year , had to play in the 36-hole qualifier immediately preceding it . The 1960 event included only four Americans following the qualifier , and only two made the cut . Ten years later , 24 Americans were in the field of 134 . For many years , the event often conflicted with the PGA Championship in the U.S. , a more lucrative major which gradually moved to late July and then August .

neg: 2000 PGA Championship The 2000 PGA Championship was the 82nd PGA Championship , held August 17 -- 20 at the Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville , Kentucky . It was the second time for the event at Valhalla , which hosted four years earlier in 1996 . Tiger Woods won his second straight PGA Championship and fifth major in a three-hole playoff over Bob May . Woods and May finished at 18 under par to set the PGA Championship record to par , later equaled by Woods in 2006 . It was the first time since 1937 that a PGA Championship title was successfully defended , and the first ever as a stroke play event . Woods and May were five shots ahead of third-place finisher Thomas Bjørn .   Woods ' victory marked the first time since 1953 ( Ben Hogan ) that a player had won three major championships in the same calendar year ; Woods won the U.S. Open and the British Open in the previous two months for three consecutive majors . He won the Masters in April 2001 to complete the Tiger Slam of four consecutive majors .   May opened with an even-par 72 then shot 66 ( − 6 ) in each of the final three rounds ; this was the only time he was in contention in a major championship . Designer of the course and five-time champion Jack Nicklaus , age 60 , made his final appearance at the PGA Championship . Playing with Woods , he needed an eagle on the 36th hole to make the cut ; his pitch shot missed by inches and he settled for birdie .   Valhalla later hosted the Ryder Cup in 2008 , the first U.S. victory in nine years . The Senior PGA Championship was played at the course in 2004 and 2011 and the PGA Championship returned in 2014 .

neg: 1969 Ryder Cup The 18th Ryder Cup Matches were held 18 -- 20 September 1969 at the Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport , England . The competition ended in a draw at 16 points each , when America 's Jack Nicklaus conceded a missable three-foot ( 0.9 m ) putt to Britain 's Tony Jacklin at the 18th hole , in one of the most famous gestures of sportsmanship in all of sport . It was the first draw in Ryder Cup history , and the United States team retained the Cup .   The matches were marred by considerable acrimony and unsportsmanlike behavior by players on both sides . Britain 's captain Eric Brown had instructed his players not to search for the opposition 's ball if it ended up in the rough . American Ken Still , in the first-day foursomes , had deliberately and regularly stood too close to Briton Maurice Bembridge as he was putting . During one of the fourballs on the second day , both captains had to come out and calm down the warring players . This led to Nicklaus conceding Jacklin 's final putt with the knowledge that the overall competition would end in a draw . On the previous hole , Jacklin sank a long eagle putt while Nicklaus missed his from 15 ft and the match was squared .   Jacklin had won the Open Championship two months earlier at nearby Royal Lytham & St Annes to become the first British champion in eighteen years . After holing his final putt for par , Nicklaus picked up Jacklin 's ball marker and told him , `` I do n't think you would have missed it , but I was n't going to give you the chance , either . ''   Playing in his first Ryder Cup at age 29 , Nicklaus ' gesture became known as `` the concession '' and marked the beginning of a lasting friendship between the two that has spanned nearly a half century . It was the inspiration for The Concession Golf Club in Florida near Sarasota , which was co-designed by Nicklaus and Jacklin . The two were opposing captains in the competition in 1983 and 1987 .   The U.S. team had only two players with previous Ryder Cup experience , Billy Casper and Gene Littler . On the previous four teams , Arnold Palmer did not participate in 1969 , but returned in 1971 and 1973 .

neg: BMW PGA Championship The BMW PGA Championship , as it is currently known for sponsorship reasons , is an annual men 's professional golf tournament on the European Tour . It was founded in 1955 by the Professional Golfers ' Association , and as such was originally called the British PGA Championship . Since then it has had several sponsored names , but the phrase `` PGA Championship '' has usually been included in the name .   The BMW PGA Championship is played each May over the West Course at the Wentworth Club in Surrey , England . The PGA European Tour has its headquarters at the club and as the tour 's home tournament , the BMW PGA Championship is often regarded as the flagship event on the European Tour .   It has usually had the highest prize money of any event which the tour organises , but this changed in 2009 with the introduction of the Race to Dubai , and the $ 10 million Dubai World Championship at the end of the season . There are other more lucrative events than the BMW PGA Championship which are part of the European Tour schedule , such as the majors and the World Golf Championship events , but these are organised by other bodies . It is also the European Tour 's designated `` Premier event '' for the purposes of the Official World Golf Rankings , with a minimum of 64 ranking points available to the winner .   The winner of the tournament is given an exemption into that season 's U.S. Open and the next three Open Championships .   In 2000 , Colin Montgomerie became the only player to win three years in a row .


query: England is on the island of Great Britain which also includes Scotland and Wales.

pos: Great Britain Great Britain , also known as Britain , is a large island in the north Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe . With an area of 209,331 km2 , Great Britain is the largest of the British Isles , the largest European island , and the ninth-largest island in the world . In 2011 the island had a population of about 61 million people , making it the world 's third-most populous island after Java in Indonesia and Honshu in Japan . The island of Ireland is situated to the west of it , and together these islands , along with over 1,000 smaller surrounding islands , comprise the British Isles archipelago .   The island is dominated by a maritime climate with quite narrow temperature differences between seasons . Politically , the island is part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland , and constitutes most of its territory . Most of England , Scotland , and Wales are on the island . The term `` Great Britain '' often extends to include surrounding islands that form part of England , Scotland , and Wales , and is also sometimes loosely applied to the UK as a whole .   A single Kingdom of Great Britain resulted from the union of the Kingdom of England ( which had already comprised the present-day countries of England and Wales ) and the Kingdom of Scotland by the 1707 Acts of Union . More than a hundred years before , in 1603 , King James VI , King of Scots , had inherited the throne of England , but it was not until 1707 that the two countries ' parliaments agreed to form a political union . In 1801 , Great Britain united with the neighbouring Kingdom of Ireland , forming the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland , which was renamed the `` United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland '' after the Irish Free State seceded in 1922 .

pos: England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom . It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west . The Irish Sea lies northwest of England and the Celtic Sea lies to the southwest . England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south . The country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain ( which lies in the North Atlantic ) in its centre and south ; and includes over 100 smaller islands such as the Isles of Scilly , and the Isle of Wight .   The area now called England was first inhabited by modern humans during the Upper Palaeolithic period , but takes its name from the Angles , one of the Germanic tribes who settled during the 5th and 6th centuries . England became a unified state in the 10th century , and since the Age of Discovery , which began during the 15th century , has had a significant cultural and legal impact on the wider world . The English language , the Anglican Church , and English law -- the basis for the common law legal systems of many other countries around the world -- developed in England , and the country 's parliamentary system of government has been widely adopted by other nations . The Industrial Revolution began in 18th-century England , transforming its society into the world 's first industrialised nation .   England 's terrain mostly comprises low hills and plains , especially in central and southern England . However , there are uplands in the north ( for example , the mountainous Lake District , and the Pennines ) and in the southwest ( for example , Dartmoor and the Cotswolds ) . The capital is London , which is the largest metropolitan area in both the United Kingdom and the European Union.According to the European Statistical Agency , London is the largest Larger Urban Zone in the EU , a measure of metropolitan area which comprises a city 's urban core as well as its surrounding commuting zone . London 's municipal population is also the largest in the EU . England 's population of over 53 million comprises 84 % of the population of the United Kingdom , largely concentrated around London , the South East , and conurbations in the Midlands , the North West , the North East , and Yorkshire , which each developed as major industrial regions during the 19th century .   The Kingdom of England -- which after 1535 included Wales -- ceased being a separate sovereign state on 1 May 1707 , when the Acts of Union put into effect the terms agreed in the Treaty of Union the previous year , resulting in a political union with the Kingdom of Scotland to create the Kingdom of Great Britain . In 1801 , Great Britain was united with the Kingdom of Ireland through another Act of Union to become the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland . In 1922 the Irish Free State seceded from the United Kingdom , leading to the latter being renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland .

neg: List of Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, 1980–99 This is a complete list of Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for the years 1980 -- 1999 . Note that the first parliament of the United Kingdom was held in 1801 ; parliaments between 1707 and 1800 were either parliaments of Great Britain or of Ireland ) . For Acts passed up until 1707 see List of Acts of the Parliament of England and List of Acts of the Parliament of Scotland . For Acts passed from 1707 to 1800 see List of Acts of the Parliament of Great Britain . See also the List of Acts of the Parliament of Ireland .   For Acts of the devolved parliaments and assemblies in the United Kingdom , see the List of Acts of the Scottish Parliament from 1999 , the List of Acts of the Northern Ireland Assembly , and the List of Acts and Measures of the National Assembly for Wales ; see also the List of Acts of the Parliament of Northern Ireland .   The number shown after each Act 's title is its chapter number . Acts passed before 1963 are cited using this number , preceded by the year ( s ) of the reign during which the relevant parliamentary session was held ; thus the Union with Ireland Act 1800 is cited as `` 39 & 40 Geo . 3 c. 67 '' , meaning the 67th Act passed during the session that started in the 39th year of the reign of George III and which finished in the 40th year of that reign . Note that the modern convention is to use Arabic numerals in citations ( thus `` 41 Geo . 3 '' rather than `` 41 Geo . III '' ) . Note also that Acts of the last session of the Parliament of Great Britain and the first session of the Parliament of the United Kingdom are both cited as `` 41 Geo . 3 '' . Acts passed from 1963 onwards are simply cited by calendar year and chapter number .  __ NOTOC __

neg: British Overseas Territories The 14 British Overseas Territories ( BOT ) are territories under the jurisdiction and sovereignty of the United Kingdom . They are the parts of the British Empire that have not been granted independence or have voted to remain British territories . These territories do not form part of the United Kingdom and , with the exception of Gibraltar , are not part of the European Union . Most of the inhabited territories are internally self-governing , with the UK retaining responsibility for defence and foreign relations . The rest are either uninhabited or have a transitory population of military or scientific personnel . They share the British monarch ( Elizabeth II ) as head of state .   The term `` British Overseas Territory '' was introduced by the British Overseas Territories Act 2002 , replacing the term British Dependent Territory , introduced by the British Nationality Act 1981 . Prior to 1 January 1983 , the territories were officially referred to as British Crown Colonies . With the exceptions of the British Antarctic Territory and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands ( which host only officials and research station staff ) and the British Indian Ocean Territory ( used as a military base ) , the Territories retain permanent civilian populations . Permanent residency for the 7,000 or so civilians living in the Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia is limited to citizens of the Republic of Cyprus .   Collectively , the Territories encompass a population of about 250,000 people and a land area of about 667018 sqmi . The vast majority of this land area , 660000 sqmi , constitutes the almost uninhabited British Antarctic Territory , while the largest territory by population , Bermuda , accounts for almost a quarter of the total BOT population . At the other end of the scale , three territories have no civilian population ; the Antarctic territory , the British Indian Ocean Territory ( from which the Chagos Islanders were controversially removed ) and South Georgia . Pitcairn Islands , settled by the survivors of the Mutiny on the Bounty , is the smallest settled territory with 49 inhabitants , while the smallest by land area is Gibraltar on the southern tip of the Iberian peninsula . The United Kingdom participates in the Antarctic Treaty System and , as part of a mutual agreement , the British Antarctic Territory is recognised by four of the other sovereign nations making claims to Antarctic territory .   Although the Crown dependencies of Jersey , Guernsey and the Isle of Man are also under the sovereignty of the British monarch , they are in a different constitutional relationship with the United Kingdom . The British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies are themselves distinct from the Commonwealth realms , a group of 15 independent countries ( and the United Kingdom ) which each also have Elizabeth II as their reigning monarch , and from the Commonwealth of Nations , a voluntary association of 52 countries mostly with historic links to the British Empire ( which also includes all Commonwealth realms ) .   the Minister responsible for the Territories excluding the Falkland Islands , Gibraltar and the Sovereign Base Areas is Baroness Anelay , Minister of State for the Commonwealth and the UN . The other three territories are the responsibility of Sir Alan Duncan MP , Minister of State for Europe and the Americas .

neg: Extreme points of the British Isles This is a list of the extreme points of the British Isles , the points that are farther north , south , east , west , higher or lower than any other location   Northernmost Point -- Out Stack , Shetland Islands , Scotland  Northernmost Settlement -- Skaw , Unst , Shetland Islands , Scotland  Southernmost Point -- Les Minquiers Reef , Jersey , Channel Islands  Southernmost Settlement -- Saint Clement , Jersey , Channel Islands  Westernmost Point -- Rockall , Harris , Scotland  Westernmost Settlement -- Dunquin , County Kerry , Ireland  Easternmost Point -- Lowestoft Ness , Suffolk , England  Easternmost Settlement -- Lowestoft , Suffolk , England  Most Inland Point -- Church Flatts Farm , Derbyshire , England  Most Inland Settlement -- Coton in the Elms , Derbyshire , England  Highest Point -- Ben Nevis , Highland , Scotland at 1,344 m above sea level .  Highest Settlement -- Flash , Staffordshire , England at 463 m above sea level .  Lowest Point -- North Slob , County Wexford , Ireland at 3 m below sea level .

neg: Centre points of the United Kingdom There has long been debate over the exact location of the geographical centre of the United Kingdom , and its constituent countries , due to the complexity and method of the calculation , such as whether to include offshore islands , and the fact that erosion will cause the position to change over time . There are two main methods of calculating this `` centre '' : either as the centroid of the two-dimensional shape made by the country ( projected to the Airy ellipsoid then flattened using the Transverse Mercator projection ) , or as the point farthest from the boundary of the country ( either the sea , or , in the case of constituent countries , a land border ) . These two methods give quite different answers .

neg: Literature of England The literature of England is literature written in what is now England , or by English writers . It consists mainly of English literature - i.e. literature written in the English language - but there are important examples of literature from England written in other languages .

neg: Geology of South Wales South Wales is an area with many features of outstanding interest to geologists , who have for long used the area for University field trips .   This varied and accessible region has provided a written record of geological interest that dates to the 12th century , when Giraldus Cambrensis noted pyritous shales near Newport . Some of the first published representations of fossils were of fossil plants from coal measures near Neath ( Gibson late 17th century ) . The British geologists Adam Sedgwick and Roderick Murchison did fundamentally important work in South Wales on Old Red Sandstone and the underlying rocks . The first volume of memoirs ( 1846 ) published by the Geological Survey contained a conspectus of the geology of South Wales that set a template for all future work .   Significant discoveries continue to be made . For instance , in Carmarthenshire , in the late 70s , John Cope detected a small area of Precambrian and Cambrian rocks . Other parts of South Wales , however , have not seen a Geological Survey officer since the mid-19th century . The geology of south Wales was central to the massive contribution Wales made to the Industrial Revolution .   Several successive periods are represented , including all of the Palaeozoic periods . Pembrokeshire has outcrops of both Precambrian and Cambrian ( 542-488 million years ago ) rocks . A notable feature of the Ordovician system ( 488-444 million years old ) is a major subsidence area , or basin , which later filled with substantial thicknesses of mostly sandy and muddy sediment . The line of the shallower continental shelf area , to the south-east , ran approximately from the Long Mynd ( in Shropshire ) to Haverfordwest in Pembrokeshire . Some volcanic action also occurred . This thick sedimentary deposition continued into the Silurian period ( 444-416 million years old ) . Silurian volcanicity led to production of lavas at localised sites such as Skomer Island .   Silurian rocks are widely distributed in south Wales and are well displayed on the Cardiganshire coast . The Silurian and earlier rocks were folded , faulted , and distorted several times , notably during the late Ordovician , and late Silurian , by which time the area had begun to rise above sea level as mountain ranges were uplifted to the north-west . This was caused by the collision of a proto-North America ( `` Laurentia '' ) and the present southern Britain ( `` Eastern Avalonia '' ) . The intervening sea , the Iapetus Ocean , closed as a result of plate tectonic movements , similar to those that now close the Mediterranean Sea between Europe and Africa .   The succeeding Devonian period ( 416-359 million years ago ) saw mostly alluvial deposits ( `` Old Red Sandstone '' ) , which were interrupted by major uplift . Following this , the land subsided again in the Carboniferous period ( 359-299 million years ago ) . In the early Carboniferous period , limestones were deposited on a continental shelf , which deepened towards the south where there was a major sea area . During earth movements caused by the approach of a continent from the south , sea shallowing led to thick alluvial and coastal plain sediments ( see below ) containing economic developments of coal . Carboniferous Limestone outcrops occur in south Pembrokeshire , the Gower Peninsula , the Vale of Glamorgan and around the edge of the coalfield .   At the end of the Carboniferous , during Permian ( 299-251 my ago ) time , Wales is thought to have been a landmass . Only in late Triassic ( 251-200 my ago ) times did deposition return , with coarse-grained screes forming around a series of low but rugged hills . Continuing deposition led to the formation of the early Jurassic deposits of mudstones and muddy limestones ( the `` Lias '' ) . Deposits later than this are almost completely absent , although the Chalk sea probably covered most of Wales between 100 and 66 million years ago . Any such later deposits have been eroded away .   One of the geological rarities of south Wales is the coastline of St Brides Major at Ogmore-by-Sea and Southerndown . Its cliffs are composed partly of earliest Jurassic Sutton stone , a rare freestone that is a marginal or coastal deposit derived in part from erosion of carboniferous limestone . Sutton stone has always been highly regarded : as well as being used in construction throughout the Vale of Glamorgan , it was also shipped over the Bristol Channel to North Devon and North Cornwall , which are both deficient in limestone .   A major geological feature of the Upper Carboniferous rocks in south Wales is the south Wales coalfield . The rocks comprising this important area were laid down during the later Carboniferous . This sedimentary succession includes a sequence with a thickness of more than 1800 m in the west . The coal measures were laid down on a low-lying waterlogged plain with peat mires immediately south of an ancient and persistent geological feature known as the Wales-London-Brabant High . Burial converted the peat deposits to thinner coal seams . Later earth movements distorted the coal-bearing strata , and the difficulty of mining led to premature closure of many mines on economic grounds , especially in Pembrokeshire where seams were squeezed completely out of shape .

neg: Culture of the United Kingdom The culture of the United Kingdom is influenced by the UK 's history as a developed island country , a liberal democracy and a major power ; its predominantly Christian religious life ; and its composition of four countries -- England , Wales , Scotland and Northern Ireland -- each of which has distinct customs , cultures and symbolism . The wider culture of Europe has also influenced British culture , and Humanism , Protestantism and representative democracy developed from broader Western culture .   British literature , music , cinema , art , theatre , comedy , media , television , philosophy , architecture and education are important aspects of British culture . The United Kingdom is also prominent in science and technology , producing world-leading scientists ( e.g. Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin ) and inventions . Sport is an important part of British culture ; numerous sports originated in the country , including football . The UK has been described as a `` cultural superpower '' , and London has been described as a world cultural capital .   The Industrial Revolution , which started in the UK , had a profound effect on the socio-economic and cultural conditions of the world . As a result of the British Empire , significant British influence can be observed in the language , law , culture and institutions of a geographically wide assortment of countries , including Australia , Canada , India , the Republic of Ireland , New Zealand , Nigeria , Pakistan , South Africa , the United States and English speaking Caribbean nations . These states are sometimes collectively known as the Anglosphere , and are among Britain 's closest allies . In turn the empire also influenced British culture , particularly British cuisine .   The cultures of England , Scotland , Wales and Northern Ireland are diverse and have varying degrees of overlap and distinctiveness .

neg: List of Acts of the Parliament of Great Britain, 1720–39 This is an incomplete list of Acts of the Parliament of Great Britain for the years 1720 -- 1739 . For Acts passed up until 1707 see List of Acts of the Parliament of England and List of Acts of the Parliament of Scotland . See also the List of Acts of the Parliament of Ireland to 1700 and the List of Acts of the Parliament of Ireland , 1701 -- 1800 .   For Acts passed from 1801 onwards see List of Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom . For Acts of the devolved parliaments and assemblies in the United Kingdom , see the List of Acts of the Scottish Parliament from 1999 , the List of Acts of the Northern Ireland Assembly , and the List of Acts and Measures of the National Assembly for Wales ; see also the List of Acts of the Parliament of Northern Ireland .   The number shown after each Act 's title is its chapter number . Acts are cited using this number , preceded by the year ( s ) of the reign during which the relevant parliamentary session was held ; thus the Union with Ireland Act 1800 is cited as `` 39 & 40 Geo . 3 c. 67 '' , meaning the 67th Act passed during the session that started in the 39th year of the reign of George III and which finished in the 40th year of that reign . Note that the modern convention is to use Arabic numerals in citations ( thus `` 41 Geo . 3 '' rather than `` 41 Geo . III '' ) . Note also that Acts of the last session of the Parliament of Great Britain and the first session of the Parliament of the United Kingdom are both cited as `` 41 Geo . 3 '' .   Acts passed by the Parliament of Great Britain did not have a short title ; however , some of these Acts have subsequently been given a short title by Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom ( such as the Short Titles Act 1896 ) .   Before the Acts of Parliament ( Commencement ) Act 1793 came into force on 8 April 1793 , Acts passed by the Parliament of Great Britain were deemed to have come into effect on the first day of the session in which they were passed . Because of this , the years given in the list below may in fact be the year before a particular Act was passed .

neg: Geology of New England New England is a region in the North Eastern United States consisting of the states Rhode Island , Connecticut , Massachusetts , New Hampshire , Vermont , and Maine . Most of New England consists geologically of volcanic island arcs that accreted onto the eastern edge of the Laurentian Craton in prehistoric times . Much of the bedrock found in New England is heavily metamorphosed due to the numerous mountain building events that occurred in the region . The most recent rock layers are glacial conglomerates .

neg: List of rock formations in the United Kingdom This is a selected list of notable , natural landscape features in England , Scotland , Wales and Northern Ireland . It includes isolated , scenic , or spectacular surface rock outcrops . These formations are usually the result of weathering and erosion sculpting the existing rock . For the stratigraphic term ` formation ' applied by geologists to rock sequences , see Formation ( stratigraphy ) .

neg: Kingdom of Great Britain The United Kingdom of Great Britain , officially Great Britain , was a sovereign state in western Europe from 1 May 1707 to 31 December 1800 . The state came into being following the Treaty of Union in 1706 , ratified by the Acts of Union 1707 , which united the kingdoms of England and Scotland to form a single kingdom encompassing the whole island of Great Britain and its outlying islands . It did not include Ireland , which remained a separate realm . The unitary state was governed by a single parliament and government that was based in Westminster . The former kingdoms had been in personal union since James VI , King of Scots , became King of England and King of Ireland in 1603 following the death of Queen Elizabeth I , bringing about a `` Union of the Crowns '' . Also after the accession of George I to the throne of Great Britain in 1714 , the kingdom was in a personal union with the Electorate of Hanover .   The early years of the unified kingdom were marked by Jacobite risings which ended in defeat for the Stuart cause at Culloden in 1746 . Later on in 1763 , victory in the Seven Years ' War led to the dominance of the British Empire , which was to become the foremost global power for over a century and later grew to become the largest empire in history .   On 1 January 1801 , the kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland were merged to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland . In 1922 , five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the United Kingdom and the state was renamed the `` United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland '' -- a title it has retained to date .

neg: Continental Europe Continental Europe , also referred to as mainland Europe , or , by Europeans , simply the Continent , is the continuous continent of Europe , excluding surrounding islands .   The most common definition of continental Europe excludes continental islands , encompassing the Greek Islands , Cyprus , Malta , Sicily , Sardinia , Corsica , the Balearic Islands , Ireland , Great Britain , the Isle of Man , the Channel Islands , Novaya Zemlya and the Danish archipelago , as well as nearby oceanic islands , including the Canary Islands , Madeira , the Azores , Iceland , the Faroe Islands , and Svalbard .   The Scandinavian peninsula is sometimes also excluded , as even though it is technically part of `` mainland Europe '' , the de facto connections to the rest of the continent are across the Baltic Sea or North Sea ( rather than via the lengthy land route that involves travelling to the north of the peninsula where it meets Finland , and then south through north-east Europe ) .   The notion of Europe as a geopolitical or cultural term is centred on core Europe ( Kerneuropa ) , the continental territory of the historical Carolingian Empire and the core of Latin Christendom , corresponding to modern France , Italy , Germany ( or German-speaking Europe ) and the Benelux states ( historical Austrasia ) . This historical core of `` Carolingian Europe '' was consciously invoked in the 1950s as the historical ethno-cultural basis for the prospective European integration ( see also Multi-speed Europe ) .

neg: Upland Britain Upland Britain may refer to a semi-natural habitat of the British Isles , generally at over 250 to altitude :  Black Mountains , in southern Wales  Cambrian Mountains , in mid Wales  Dartmoor , in southwestern England  Exmoor , in southwestern England  Pennines , in northern England  Scottish Highlands  Southern Uplands , in southern Scotland

neg: Northumberland Northumberland ( -LSB- nɔːrˈθʌmbərlənd -RSB- -LSB- localnɔːˈθʊmbələnd -RSB- ) ( abbreviated Northd ) is a county in North East England . The northernmost county of England , it borders Cumbria to the west , County Durham and Tyne and Wear to the south and Scotland to the north . To the east is the North Sea coastline with a 103 km long distance path . The county town is Alnwick although the county council is in Morpeth ( for the moment , as there are plans to move it to nearby Ashington ) . The northernmost point of Northumberland and England is at Marshall Meadows Bay .   The county of Northumberland included Newcastle upon Tyne until 1400 , when the city became a county of itself . Northumberland expanded greatly in the Tudor period , annexing Berwick-upon-Tweed in 1482 , Tynedale in 1495 , Tynemouth in 1536 , Redesdale around 1542 and Hexhamshire in 1572 . Islandshire , Bedlingtonshire and Norhamshire were incorporated into Northumberland in 1844 . Tynemouth and other settlements in North Tyneside were transferred to Tyne and Wear in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972 .   Lying on the Anglo-Scottish border , Northumberland has been the site of a number of battles . The county is noted for its undeveloped landscape of high moorland , now largely protected as the Northumberland National Park . Northumberland is the most sparsely populated county in England , with only 62 people per square kilometre .

neg: Northern North Sea basin The North Sea is part of the Atlantic Ocean in northern Europe . It is located between Norway and Denmark in the east , Scotland and England in the west , Germany , the Netherlands , Belgium and France in the south .   The geology of the North Sea describes the geological features such as channels , trenches , and ridges today and the geological history , plate tectonics , geological events that created them .   A geological basin is a large low-lying area or depression . It is often below sea level . Depressions are typically formed by tectonic processes acting on the lithosphere , providing `` accommodation space '' for sediment to be preserved . Basins are formed in a variety of tectonic settings : extensional , compressional , strike-slip and intraplate .   Geological basins are one of the most common places which collect sediment . The type of rocks which form there tell about the palaeoclimate of the continent . The geology is of interest to oil prospectors , hydrologists and palaeontologists . Exploration in the North Sea was initiated in May 1964 when the first well was spudded and the area has now become one of the most prolific hydrocarbon provinces in the world . Total recoverable reserves found to date , including adjacent land areas , amount to over 100 billion barrels of oil and natural gas .   Geologically speaking , the North Sea is divided into four main basins : Northern , Moray Firth , Central , and Southern . Each has a long and complex geologic history with unique structural and stratigraphic developments driven by tectonic events over the last 400 Million years . The northern North Sea Paleorift system , including the Viking and Sogn graben , is an approximately 150-200 km wide zone of extended upper crust with preserved strata from pre-Triassic to Tertiary . It is bounded by the Shetland Platform to the west and the Norwegian mainland to the east .

neg: Unionism in England In England , Unionism is a political ideology which favours the continuation of some form of political union between England and the other countries of the United Kingdom ( Scotland , Wales and Northern Ireland ) . It is part of the wider British unionist movement and is closely linked to the notion of Britishness . Unionism in England is characterised by both opposition to England 's independence as a separate state and the belief that Scotland , Wales and Northern Ireland should continue to be constituent countries of the Union .

neg: Geography of London London is the largest urban area and capital city of the United Kingdom , located in southeastern Great Britain . The London region covers an area of 1579 km2 , and had a population of 7,172,036 in 2001 and a population density of 4,542 people per square kilometre . A larger area , referred to as the London Metropolitan Region or the London Metropolitan Agglomeration covers an area of 8382 km2 , and had a population of 12,653,500 and a population density of 1,510 people per square kilometre . London is a port on the Thames ( see main article Port of London ) , a navigable river . The river has had a major influence on the development of the city . London began on the Thames ' north bank and for a long time the main focus of the city remained on the north side of the Thames . For many centuries London Bridge was the only bridge in or close to the city . When more bridges were built in the 18th century , the city expanded in all directions as the mostly flat or gently rolling countryside presented no obstacle to growth .

neg: Economy of Devon Devon has the 19th largest economy in England out of 46 ceremonial counties . Situated in the region of South West England , it is a maritime county . Like neighbouring Cornwall to the west , Devon is disadvantaged economically compared to other parts of southern England , owing to the decline of a number of core industries , notably fishing , mining and farming . Consequently , most of Devon has qualified for the European Community 's Objective 2 status , particularly around Exmoor , Bideford Bay and the Hartland Point peninsula which is somewhat cut off from industrial Britain due to poor road and rail transport links . These areas of North Devon are , however , only around 50 mi by boat from Swansea in Wales . A proposal which has the backing of both the Welsh Assembly Government and the South West Regional Assembly , as well as Devon County Council , is a year-round ferry service from either Ilfracombe or Bideford to Swansea , which it is hoped would stimulate economic growth in both South West Wales and the North coast of Devon and Cornwall .   The 2001 UK foot and mouth crisis harmed the farming community severely .   The attractive lifestyle of the area is drawing in new industries which are not heavily dependent upon geographical location ; Dartmoor , for instance , has recently seen a significant rise in the percentage of its inhabitants involved in the financial services sector . In 2003 , the Met Office , the UK 's national and international weather service , moved to Exeter .  Devon is one of the rural counties , with the advantages and challenges characteristic of these . Despite this , the county 's economy is also heavily influenced by its two main urban centres , Plymouth and Exeter . Nearly half of the holdings of the Duchy of Cornwall are in Devon , including a large area of farmland .   Since the rise of seaside resorts with the arrival of the railways in the 19th century , Devon 's economy has been heavily reliant on tourism . The county 's economy has followed the declining trend of British seaside resorts since the mid 20th century , with some recent revival . This revival has been aided by the designation of much of Devon 's countryside and coastline as the Dartmoor and Exmoor national parks , and the Jurassic Coast and Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape World Heritage Sites . In 2004 the county 's tourist revenue was # 1.2 billion .   The Met Office is in Exeter as is Connaught plc , and Pennon Group , the water company . The Wrigley Company ( chewing gum ) and HMNB Devonport ( the largest naval base in western Europe ) are in Plymouth . Torquay was home to Beverage Brands , the producers of WKD Original Vodka . Britannia Royal Naval College is at Dartmouth .

neg: Counties of England Counties of England are areas used for the purposes of administrative , geographical , cultural or political demarcation .   For administrative purposes , England outside Greater London and the Isles of Scilly is divided into 83 metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties . These counties may consist of a single district or be divided into several districts . As of April 2009 , 27 of these counties are divided into districts and have a county council . Six of the counties , covering the major conurbations , are known as metropolitan counties , which do not have county councils , although some functions are organised on a county-wide basis by their districts ( metropolitan boroughs ) acting jointly .   All of England ( including Greater London and the Isles of Scilly ) is also divided into 48 ceremonial counties , which are also known as geographic counties . Most ceremonial counties correspond to a metropolitan or non-metropolitan county of the same name but often with reduced boundaries .   The current arrangement is the result of incremental reform . Many of the counties have their origins in the Middle Ages , although the larger counties of Yorkshire and Sussex lost many or all of their administrative functions centuries ago . The geographic counties which existed before the local government reforms of 1965 and 1974 are referred to as ancient counties or historic counties . From 1889 to 1974 areas with county councils were known as administrative counties , which excluded larger towns and cities known as county boroughs and included divisions of some geographic counties . From 1974 to 1996 the metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties , some of which were established only in 1974 , corresponded directly with the ceremonial counties .   Counties , usually either historic counties or current ceremonial counties , are used as the geographical basis for a number of institutions such as police and fire services , sports clubs and other non-government organisations .   For the purpose of sorting and delivering mail , England was divided into 48 postal counties until 1996 ; these have been abandoned by Royal Mail in favour of postcodes .

neg: English English may refer to :   Something of , from , or related to the country of England  English people , an ethnic group of people native to England  English national identity , an identity and common culture  English language  English studies , the study of English language and literature  English language in England , a variant of the English language  List of dialects of the English language