There are many theories about the origin of the term.

The United States Golf

Association (USGA) cites three stories explaining that the term derived from the
name of a Canadian golfer, David Mulligan, one time manager of the Waldorf
Astoria Hotel in New York City, who played at the Country Club of Montreal golf
course, in Saint-Lambert near Montreal during the 1920s. One version has it
that one day after hitting a poor tee shot, Mulligan re-teed and shot again. He
called it a "correction shot," but his friends thought it more fitting to name the
practice after him. David Mulligan then brought the concept from Canada to the
famous U.S. golf club Winged Foot. A second version has the extra shot given
to Mulligan due to his being jumpy and shaky after a difficult drive over
the Victoria Bridge to the course. The final version of the David Mulligan story
gives him an extra shot after having overslept, rushing to get ready to make
the tee time.[1]

An alternative, later, etymology credits a different man named Mulligan John

A. "Buddy" Mulligan, a locker room attendant at Essex Fells Country Club
in New Jersey.[2] In the 1930s, he would finish cleaning the locker room and, if
no other members appeared, play a round with the assistant pro, Dave
O'Connell, and a reporter and member, Des Sullivan, who was later golf editor
for the Newark Evening News. One day his first shot was bad and he beseeched
O'Connell and Sullivan to allow another shot since they "had been practicing all
morning" and he had not. Once they agreed and the round finished, Mulligan
proudly exclaimed to the members in his locker room for months how he had
gotten an extra shot from the duo. The members loved it and soon began
giving themselves "Mulligans" in his honor. Sullivan began using the term in his
golf articles in the Newark Evening News. The Today Show TV program ran this
story around 2005 and have it in their archives. Mulligan was located in the
1970s at the Lyons, New Jersey VA Hospital, helping with their golf facility. Des
Sullivan, now semi-retired, wrote of this find in his July 22, 1970 column, in
the Myrtle Beach Sun News.

Use in golf[edit]

In golf, a mulligan is a stroke that is replayed from the spot of the previous
stroke without penalty, due to an errant shot made on the previous stroke. The
result is that the hole is played and scored as if the first errant shot had never
been made. This practice is disallowed entirely by strict rules in formal play and
players who attempt it or agree to let it happen may be disqualified from
sanctioned competitions.[3]However, in casual play, mulligans speed play by
reducing the time spent searching for a lost ball, and reduce frustration and
increase enjoyment of the game, as a player can "shake off" a bad shot more
easily with their second chance.

The opposite of a mulligan is a "gilligan", which is to redo a successful stroke

when so requested by your opponent.[4]
As mulligans aren't covered by strict rules except to prohibit them there are
many variations of the practice among groups of players who do allow them in
friendly games. If a mulligan is allowed to be used to replay any shot, each
player is typically limited to 18 per round, sometimes 9 in the first 9 holes and
9 in the second nine.[5] Traditionally, mulligans can only be played on tee shots
(which are notoriously difficult to make accurately), and sometimes they may
only be played on the first tee shot of the round. In the case of a mulligan used
to replay the first tee shot, multiple "mulligans" may be allowed under different
names (Finnegan, Branagan, Flanagan or a Craig) until the player has hit a
playable tee shot.

Although certain players may wish to bank their shots, this is deemed un-
sportsman-like and is generally frowned upon, with the exception of ladies golf.
Golf tournaments held for charity may sell mulligans to collect more money for
the charity.[6]

In other games[edit]

The term has found a broader acceptance in both general speech and
other games, meaning any minor mistake or unfortunate happenstance that is
allowed to pass unnoticed and without consequence. In both senses, it is
implied that a mulligan is forgiven because it was either made by a rank
beginner, or it is unusual and not indicative of the level of play or conduct
expected of the person who made the mulligan.

In Titan the rules in 1982 version allow a "First move mulligan" for an
unfortunate dice roll.[7]

In classic rules of Merchant of Venus a piece of equipment on sale for players,

called Mulligan Gear, permits a player to re-roll one of two dice in each of his
movements.