What Are The Four Majors In Golf? – The List Of Most Golf Majors Winners

Last Updated on August 21, 2022 by Deb

We already know that there is a chance to win many championships in professional golf, giving the golfers honor and attractive prize money. Among these championships, Men’s golf Major Championships or simply Majors are the four most prestigious events in professional golf. These four majors in golf championships are –

• The Master’s Tournament (April)
• PGA Championship (May)
• The U.S. Open (June)
• The Open Championship (July)

All these four competitions are contested annually in a specific month of the year. The U.S. Amateur and the Amateur championship were considered majors in the previous period, but now it does not recognize them. In this article, you will detail these four majors and the list of golfers who won these major championships more times in their pro golf careers.

When any professional Golfer wins these four Majors in the same calendar year, this winning is called the “Grand Slam.” In golf history up to 1930, only Bobby Jones won the Grand Slam. However, it was the Pre-master Grand Slam because, at that time, the concept of the Modern Grand Slam was still unknown to the golfers.

You will get the list of Bobby Jones’s winning detail in the middle of this article. Tiger woods also Won these four Majors but not in the same calendar year. Woods won the U.S. Open, PGA Championship, Open Championship in 2000, and the Masters in 2001.

A golfer can win all four majors in his professional golf career: Career Grand Slam, Non-Calendar Year Grand Slam, or Tiger Slam. Only five men could win Career Grand Slam: Nicklaus, Tiger, Hogan, Gary Player, and Gene Sarazen. To date, 451 majors held, and 231 golfers won majors in their golf careers. Among these 231 golfers, 82 won at least two majors in their professional golf career. We list five golfers below according to all four Major victories for the highest time in my career.

Top Five Golfers List Who Win All Four Majors

Four Majors in Golf History

At the early golf period, two British tournaments, ‘The Open Championship’ and ‘The Amateur’ and two American tournaments, ‘The U.S. Open’ and ‘The Amateur Championship,’ were regarded as The Major golf championships. It is difficult to say that the Major golf tournaments were termed only for The Master’s Tournament, The PGA Championship, The U.S. Open, The Open Championship. However, it guesses that this change has happened after the introduction of the Masters’ Tournament in 1934. The rising of professional golf in the late 1940s to 1960s also contributes to concise four tournaments.

However, many marked out that it was carried out at Arnold Palmer’s 1960s season when he introduced the term “A Grand Slam.” In 1950, the World Golf Championship was considered as a ‘Major’ by its competitors. More impressive about this tournament was that its finale lived on the U.S. Golf Channel, the first live broadcast of a game. Besides, the first prize in this competition was worth almost ten times any other match sports.

The Golf Writer Bob drum introduced Modern Grand Slam after a conversation between Palmar and Pittsburgh.

Bobby Jones (Pre-master) Grand Slam Winning History

The Masters

The Masters is the most impressive tournament in golf that is held in April every year. The legendary golfer Bobby Jones founded this major. The most prosperous Banker Clifford Roberts invest in this competition. In 1934, the Master played for the first time in Augusta National Golf club, Georgia, Southern United States, and it is only the championship held every year in the same course. The par-3 tournament, the main event of this competition, is stored in the famous fast greens, the charming Magnolia Lane Driveway.

In 1952, Ban Hogan first hosted the championship dinner to honor previous Champions. Along with the trophy, the champion receives a green jacket since 1949. And, the winner can keep it for 12 months. It is a symbol of an honorary member of this club. After one year, he has to return it to the clubhouse and store it in the specially designated cloakroom with other champions’ jackets. The major golf winners would use the same coat if they won multiple events.

In 1934, Horton Smith first won this major and owned $1500 as prize money. At present, the winner is none but Tiger Woods, who achieve $20,70,000 in 2019 and has five green jackets. This tournament becomes unique because of its uniform, including a white jumpsuit, white tennis shoes, and a green Master’s cap.

Besides, the golf channel fits the cameras in each hole without spoiling the golf course’s stunning surroundings. While the tournament is going on, the golf channel network plugs on the hidden cameras. The most challenging fact to get this exclusive and private golf course membership is recognizing the founder of Microsoft, Bill Gates, or the former Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice. Gary Player is the first Non-American champion golfer who won this prestigious tournament in 1961. After him, Seve Ballesteros, a skilled Spanish golfer, won it in 1980 and 1983.

The list of golfers who won the Masters multiple times

Due to the ongoing outbreak of Corona Virus, The 2020 Masters were postponed until November that scheduled for April 9-12, 2020. On April 14, 2018, Augusta National chairman Fred Ridley announced that the club would host the Augusta National Women Amateur in 2019. And the winner is exempt from two women’s golf majors.

PGA Championship

The PGA Championship is often referred to as the U.S. PGA Championship or the U.S. PGA because The club professionals Association of the United States of America organizes it. In 1916, Sowanoy Country Club, Bronxville, New York, hosted the first PGA Championship, and the winner was Jim Barnes. The prize money was $500, and Rodman Wanamaker donated a diamond-studded gold medal for the tournament winner. Now the PGA Champion is awarded a replica of the Wanamaker Trophy that can keep for one year. Each recipient receives a trophy replica of the Wanamaker trophy in a small size for a lifetime.

Usually, this major tournament is held in mid-August on the third weekend before Labor Day weekend. In 2019, this championship was played as the second majors in May on the weekend before Memorial Day. In 2018, for the 100th edition, it was declared as an official money event with a purse of $11 million on the PGA Tour, European Tour, LPGA Tour, and Japan Golf Tour. The PGA is only an exclusive professional event among these four Majors of golf.

Due to the outbreak of Coronavirus, Seth Waugh, CEO of USGA, confirmed that this year, 2020, it takes place as scheduled but without golf fans’ presence. Thus, PGA Championship became the first official Majors in 2020.

PGA champions automatically get the other three majors’ invitations and The Players Championship for the next five years. At the early time, it held various courses in the eastern half of the United States. Now it had indifferent venues that decided when making the schedule. San Francisco’s TPC Harding Park in 2020 will take place the first time the tournament occurs. The PGA Championship is only the major where the players need to fulfill the criteria the authority declared. Only the top 50 golfers don’t get entry; any player who is still not qualified can get an offer to participate in the tournament. The list of PGA qualification criteria till to date –

• Every former PGA champion
• Winners of the last five The U.S. Opens
• Winners who won the previous five The Masters
• Winners of the previous five The Open Championships
• Winners of the last three The Players Championships
• Present Senior PGA Champion
• Fifteen low scorers of the previous PGA Championship
• Twenty low scorers on the last PGA Professional Championship
• Seventy leaders of the official money rankings on the PGA Tour
• Members of the top 100 of The World Official Golf Ranking
• Winners of the PGA-approved tournament

Besides, The PGA of America has t 156 golfers who participated in the tournament. The right to invite any golfers who don’t fulfill the above criteria. One hundred fifty-six golfers participated in the game. If any vacancy creates, then the authority asks any golfer to join as their wish.

The U.S. Open

Generally, The United States Open Championship was recognized as the U.S. Open and staged by UAGA in mid-June. It is also an annual national championship and the third of four majors in the golf tournament. Since 1988, this championship has held on 72 holes of stroke play (4 rounds in 18-holes). The winner selects from the lowest total number of strokes. U.S. Open stages in various types of golf courses and set up with premium placed on precise driving. That’s why this setup will make it too difficult for the players to win the championship. In 2019, this competition’s prize money was $12.5 million, enormous for all four majors.

In 2020, the 120th U.S. Open, the dates were June 18-21. COVID-19 has forced the postponement of the tournament until September 17-20.

On October 4, 1895, U.S. Open was first played on a 9-holes course at the Newport Country Club in Newport, Rhode Island. And the first winner was an a21-years-old Englishman, Horace Rawlins. Until 1911, the British golfers dominated this tournament. John J. McDermott was the first native-born avid golfer who won it in 1911. The American players started to beat it regularly, and this competition became one of the four major golf events. It is a field of 156 players, and both male and female golfers can participate through a qualification test or get a place by being fully exempt. The present exemption categories of this U.S. open tournament are –

• Winner of the U.S. Open for the last 10 yrs
• Winner and Runner-up of the last year’s U.S. Amateur, U.S. Junior Amateur, and U.S. Mid-Amateur
• Previous year’s winner of Amateur Championship
• Mark H. McCormack medal winner of the last year
• Last year’s winners of the rest three majors
• Winners of the last three Players Championships
• The present winner of the BMW PGA Championship
• Winner of the previous U.S. Senior Open
• Winners of the multiple U.S. PGA Tour events

These exemptions apply only for the Amateurs to remain till the scheduled date. But on August 20, 2019, the USGA announced that the player could turn to a professional and retain his U.S. Open exemption.

The List Of Last Five U.S. Open Winners

The Open Championship

The Open Championship also is known as “The Open” or “British Open.” It is the oldest and even the fourth major of a calendar year. It is only the major that played out. In 2019, PGA Championship moved in May, and The Open became the fourth and final tournament of the year. On October 17, 1860, Prestwick Golf Club, Scotland, hosted the first Major of this kind. At the exact location that The R & R&A played in the Open Championship before moving to coastal links courses nationwide.

This major is also named “Open” because both Professional and Amateur golfers can participate by invitation or qualification. Until 1890, the winning of the Open was dominated by the Scottish golfers before it wined by three English professionals four times from 1890 to 1914. In 1920, The Royal & Ancient Golf Club became the sole organizer of this Open championship.

In 1922, the first American-born golfer Walter Hagen won the Open. After him, Bobby Jones and Gene Sarazen won this central as American Professional. Up to 2016, the prize fund was presented in Pound sterling (£), then from 2017, it was converted into U.S. Dollars ($). After getting the sole responsibility to organize the British Open Championship, The R&A authority brings about more than 40 criteria to qualify the players to participate in this Major. In this section, we outline some essential criteria.

• Former winners of Open championship under the age of 60
• The previous 10 Open Championship winners
• Top 50 players in Official World Golf Rankings
• Top 30 of Dubai final standings
• Previous 5 Majors champions

List of the last five Open Championship winners

The Masters Explained

Final Words

All four golf majors are the most prestigious tournaments and are too challenging to win the Grand Slam. But it is not so tricky to win as everybody thinks. The legend golfer Bobby Jones proves it; however, that was the Pre-Master version of majors. Not only honor but the Majors also provide a chance to enter into the list of the Richest Golfers of the world. Because of the considerable amount of prize money, The champions wanted to win as many championships as possible. The professional who dedicates himself to challenging golf and is determined to succeed and practice exclusively can win the Grand Slam in his pro golf career.