What are the Four Major Tournaments in Golf?
The four "Major" tournaments are considered the most prestigious of all events in men's golf. They are the Masters, the U.S. Open, the British Open - also referred to as the Open Championship - and the PGA Championship. The four Majors were originally the U.S. Open, U.S. Amateur, British Open and British Amateur. The "grand slam" - winning all four Majors in the same year - has been accomplished only once, by Bobby Jones under the original Major format in 1930.
The Masters, held in April, is the first Major of the year. It is held every year at Augusta National in Augusta, GA, and is the only Major to be played at the same course every year. The U.S. Open in June, the British Open in July and the PGA Championship in August all rotate the courses where they are played.
The Major tournaments attract more attention and notoriety than any other event in golf, and for that reason, a golfer's career is often defined by the number of Majors he has won. Jack Nicklaus holds the record, with 18 Major tournament victories, and Tiger Woods is the only golfer since Nicklaus to give any indication of being able to break that record. Woods won ten Majors before turning 30 in 2005.
Golfers are often not considered among the sport's greatest players until they win a Major. The "best player not to have won a Major" label is one that gets passed around until the players finally win their first Major. Phil Mickelson is probably the most well-known of these players, as he did not win his first Major - the 2004 Masters - until the age of 33.
There are also Major tournaments in women's and senior golf. These tournaments are all 72 holes - the length of professional men's events - instead of the 54-hole events typically played by women and seniors. The women's Major tournaments are the Kraft Nabisco Championship, the LPGA Championship, the U.S. Women's Open and the Women's British Open. The five senior Major tournaments are the Senior PGA Championship, the U.S. Senior Open, the Senior Players Championship, the Senior British Open, and The Tradition. Both of these lists have changed and evolved more often than the men’s list, which has been relatively stable.
Written by Leo J
