The men's major golf championships, also known simply as the majors, are the four most prestigious events in professional golf. [1] The competitions are the Masters Tournament, the PGA Championship, the U.S. Open, and The Open Championship, contested annually.
Jack Nicklaus has won the most majors, achieving 18 victories during his career. [2] Second on the list is Tiger Woods, who has won 15 majors to date; his most recent major victory was at the 2019 Masters. [3] Walter Hagen is third with 11 majors; [4] he and Nicklaus have both won the most PGA Championships with five. [5] Nicklaus also holds the record for the most victories in the Masters, winning the tournament six times. [6] Additionally, Nicklaus shares the record for the most U.S. Open victories with Willie Anderson, Bobby Jones and Ben Hogan, each winning four times. [7] Harry Vardon holds the record for the most Open Championship victories, winning six times during his career. [8] Five men: Nicklaus, Woods, Hogan, Gary Player and Gene Sarazen are the only golfers to have won all four of the majors during their career, [9] thus achieving the career grand slam . Although the U.S. Amateur and The Amateur Championship were once considered to be majors, [10] they are no longer recognized as such, and victories in these competitions are not included in the list.
To date, 470 majors have been played. A total of 233 different men have won majors and, of these, 89 have won at least two.
* | Completed a career Grand Slam |
Country | Masters | U.S. Open | The Open | PGA | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
United States | 64 | 88 | 47 | 88 | 287 |
Scotland | 1 | 13 | 41 | 0 | 55 |
England | 4 | 8 | 22 | 2 | 36 |
South Africa | 5 | 5 | 10 | 2 | 22 |
Australia | 1 | 2 | 10 | 5 | 18 |
Spain | 6 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 10 |
Jersey | 0 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 9 |
Northern Ireland | 0 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 7 |
Germany | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
Ireland | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 4 |
Zimbabwe | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
Fiji | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
Argentina | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
New Zealand | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
France | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Wales | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Canada | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Japan | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
South Korea | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Sweden | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Italy | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Total | 88 | 124 | 152 | 106 | 470 |
The Grand Slam in professional golf is winning all of golf's major championships in the same calendar year. The only player who has accomplished this feat is Bobby Jones in 1930, winning the four major tournaments of that era: the British Amateur, the British Open, the United States Open, and the United States Amateur. Modern variations include a Career Grand Slam: winning all of the major tournaments within a player's career and the Tiger Slam: winning four consecutive major titles but not in the same calendar year.
Gene Sarazen was an American professional golfer, one of the world's top players in the 1920s and 1930s, and the winner of seven major championships. He is one of five players to win each of the four majors at least once, now known as the Career Grand Slam: U.S. Open , PGA Championship , The Open Championship (1932), and Masters Tournament (1935).
Jack William Nicklaus, nicknamed "the Golden Bear", is a retired American professional golfer and golf course designer. He is widely considered to be either the greatest or one of the greatest golfers of all time. He won 117 professional tournaments in his career. Over a quarter-century, he won a record 18 major championships, three more than second-placed Tiger Woods. Nicklaus focused on the major championships—the Masters Tournament, U.S. Open, Open Championship and PGA Championship—and played a selective schedule of regular PGA Tour events. He competed in 164 major tournaments, more than any other player, and finished with 73 PGA Tour victories, third behind Sam Snead (82) and Woods (82).
Thomas Sturges Watson is an American retired professional golfer on the PGA Tour Champions, formerly on the PGA Tour.
The men's major golf championships, commonly known as the major championships, and often referred to simply as the majors, are the most prestigious tournaments in golf. Historically, the national open and amateur championships of Great Britain and the United States were regarded as the majors. With the rise of professional golf in the middle of the twentieth century, the majors came to refer to the most prestigious professional tournaments.
Walter Charles Hagen was an American professional golfer and a major figure in golf in the first half of the 20th century. His tally of 11 professional majors is third behind Jack Nicklaus (18) and Tiger Woods (15). Known as the "father of professional golf," he brought publicity, prestige, big prize money, and lucrative endorsements to the sport. Hagen is rated one of the greatest golfers ever.
The following is a partial timeline of the history of golf.
Craig Ralph Wood was an American professional golfer in the 1930s and 1940s, the winner of 21 PGA Tour titles including two major championships and a member of three Ryder Cup teams (1931, 1933, 1935).
The 1941 Masters Tournament was the eighth Masters Tournament, held April 3–6 at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia. Craig Wood won his first major title, three strokes ahead of runner-up Byron Nelson.
The 1949 Masters Tournament was the 13th Masters Tournament, held April 7–10 at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia. This was the first year that the famous Green Jacket was awarded to the tournament winner, and previous champions were awarded theirs retroactively.
The 1972 U.S. Open was the 72nd U.S. Open, held June 15–18 at Pebble Beach Golf Links in Pebble Beach, California. Jack Nicklaus, age 32, captured his third U.S. Open title, three strokes ahead of runner-up Bruce Crampton. This was the first of six major championships held to date at Pebble Beach: five U.S. Opens and the PGA Championship in 1977. This was also the first time the U.S. Open was played at a public golf course.
The 2000 Open Championship was a men's major golf championship and the 129th Open Championship, held from 20 to 23 July at the Old Course in St Andrews, Scotland. Tiger Woods, 24, won his first Open Championship and fourth major title, eight strokes ahead of runners-up Thomas Bjørn and Ernie Els.
The 1980 PGA Championship was the 62nd PGA Championship, held August 7–10 at the East Course of Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, New York. Jack Nicklaus won his fifth PGA Championship, seven strokes ahead of runner-up Andy Bean. The victory tied Nicklaus with Walter Hagen, who won five PGA titles in match play competition in the 1920s.
The 1928 Open Championship was the 63rd Open Championship, held 9–11 May at Royal St George's Golf Club in Sandwich, England. Walter Hagen won the third of his four Open Championship titles, two strokes ahead of runner-up Gene Sarazen. It was his second triumph at Royal St George's, the site of his first Open win in 1922. It was the tenth of his eleven major titles; his second Open victory came in 1924 at Royal Liverpool.
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 and 3.
The 1973 PGA Championship was the 55th PGA Championship, played August 9–12 at Canterbury Golf Club in Beachwood, Ohio, a suburb east of Cleveland. Ohio native Jack Nicklaus won the third of his five PGA Championships, four strokes ahead of runner-up Bruce Crampton.
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