Maginnes' third law of useless-but-interesting facts

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From the useless-but-interesting-facts department of the desk of John Maginnes:

We all know that J.B. Holmes won the FBR Open for the second time on Sunday, becoming the fourth player since 1995 to earn the first two victories of his career at the same event. If you can come up with the other three without a PGA TOUR media guide and a half an hour of research, then you should probably seek professional help -- or, come to work for us immediately. Not that those two are mutually exclusive.

Loren Roberts has continued his success on the Champions Tour. (Condon/PGA TOUR)

RE-ARM YOUR TRIVIA

More: Roberts' career details
More: Henninger's career details
More: Taylor's career details
More: Holmes' career details
More: Woods' career details
More: Glover's career details

Loren Roberts won the 1994 and '95 Nestle Invitationals. Obviously, he has a sweet tooth because once the tournament changed its name to the Bay Hill Invitational -- and later the Arnold Palmer Invitational -- Loren's run ended. He would go on to win six more times on the PGA TOUR -- including twice in Milwaukee. That means half his victories came at two venues, so I thought that a theory might develop. If a theory had developed, though, then this wouldn't qualify as fodder for the "useless-but-interesting-facts department."

The reason that any theory breaks down is that the other two players who earned their first two victories at the same tournament haven't won any other events. As a matter of fact, Brian Henninger won the 1994 Deposit Guarantee Golf Classic and the 1999 Southern Farm Bureau Classic -- different names for the same event played on the same golf course in Jackson, Miss.

Ironically, Brian may hold the distinction of being the only multiple winner on the PGA TOUR never to win a 72-hole event that was scheduled for 72 holes. The Sunday round of the 1994 event was washed out by rain, and Brian won in a playoff. In 1999, the tournament was shortened due to the memorial for Payne Stewart, and Brian won in a 54-hole Monday finish.

It is often forgotten that Brian shared the 18th green at Augusta National the next year with Ben Crenshaw when Gentle Ben captured his second Green Jacket. Brian had a share of the 54-hole lead there before finishing a distant 10th. Should Brian become the first player to win the same event three times before winning any other tournaments, he would have three trophies with three different names on it. The tournament is now known as the Viking Classic.

The final answer to this trivia question is Vaughn Taylor. Vaughn joins Loren as the only two players to win their first two TOUR titles back-to-back at the same event. Vaughn won the Reno-Tahoe Open in 2004 and '05. He could have become the first player to win his first three in consecutive years at the same event, but he was unable to go back to defend in '06 because he had qualified for the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational, played opposite the Reno-Tahoe Open.

I tried to find some commonality between these four players and their careers but came up empty. Some players play certain golf courses better than others. But that's obvious, and if I hear the term "horses for courses" one more time, I am going to scream. I was hoping for something a little meatier.

J.B. Holmes had to defeat FBR Open favorite Phil Mickelson in order to make his way into this interesting trivia. (Dunn/Getty Images)

Part of the problem is that J.B. is only 25 years old and Vaughn is only 32, while Loren is now a member of the Champions Tour and Brian plays sparingly. It is hard to compare careers in progress when win totals are not yet fixed. With his awesome power, J.B. could feasibly bring any course to its knees and win many more times on the PGA TOUR.

What Holmes' game lacks is the consistency that Taylor's game has exhibited over the past several years. Taylor has played well enough to contend in majors and even played on the ill-fated U.S. Ryder Cup Team in '06.

What we are left with is the simple fact that four players have done something pretty incredible and unique. Not even Tiger can make the same claim that these guys can. Of course, Tiger won his second PGA TOUR event within a couple of weeks of winning his first.

Now, Tiger brings up another question that may or may not be easier to answer. How many current players in their 20s have won PGA TOUR events when Tiger has been in the field? This question circulated around the media center at the Buick Invitational a few weeks ago. Everyone got Sergio and Adam Scott. A few even managed to come up with Trevor Immelman. But it was a week later that someone remembered that Tiger missed the cut back in '05 when Lucas Glover won the FUNAI Classic at Walt Disney World Resort.

None of these facts that I have regurgitated here will make you a better player. Heck, they won't even make you a better fantasy player. But they may win you a beer in the 19th hole, and, if so, then once again the "useless-but-interesting-facts department" has done its job.