The Triple Crown of Golf is the winning of three
major golf championships
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 a ...
in the same year. This feat has been accomplished only twice in modern golf history:
* In 1953,
Ben Hogan
William Ben Hogan (August 13, 1912 – July 25, 1997) was an American professional golfer who is generally considered to be one of the greatest players in the history of the game. He is notable for his profound influence on golf swing theory and ...
won the
Masters, the
U.S. Open, and
The Open Championship
The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later th ...
, which was touted as the Triple Crown. The dates of the
PGA Championship
The PGA Championship (often referred to as the US PGA Championship or USPGA outside the United States) is an annual golf tournament conducted by the Professional Golfers' Association of America. It is one of the four men's major championships ...
overlapped with The Open that year, which made winning the
Grand Slam
Grand Slam most often refers to:
* Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves
Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to:
Games and sports
* Grand slam, winning category te ...
impossible. The PGA Championship was also a match play event during that era. After winning The Open (the third major of the year), Hogan was honored with a
ticker tape parade
A ticker-tape parade is a parade event held in an urban setting, characterized by large amounts of shredded paper thrown onto the parade route from the surrounding buildings, creating a celebratory flurry of paper. Originally, actual ticker tap ...
in New York.
* In 2000,
Tiger Woods
Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer. He is tied for first in PGA Tour wins, ranks second in men's major championships, and holds numerous golf records.
*
*
* Woods is widely regarded as ...
won the last three majors (the U.S. Open, The Open, and the PGA Championship), which was called "Tiger's Triple Crown." Woods also held the
PGA Tour's Triple Crown that year (see below) and would win the 2001 Masters, which was the next major, for a non-calendar year Grand Slam, the first time it has happened in the modern professional game.
The Triple Crown has also been referred to:
* Winning the
PGA Tour
The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also k ...
's three oldest events in the same year: The Open Championship (1860), the U.S. Open (1895), and the
Canadian Open (1904). This combination of wins has been called the Triple Crown of the PGA Tour.
There have been two holders of this Triple Crown:
Lee Trevino
Lee Buck Trevino (born December 1, 1939) is an American retired professional golfer who is regarded as one of the greatest players in golf history. He was inducted to the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1981. Trevino won six major championships and ...
in 1971 and Tiger Woods in 2000. There are only six players to carry the career triple crown, winning the three national championship throughout their playing career, Woods, Trevino,
Tommy Armour
Thomas Dickson Armour (24 September 1896 – 11 September 1968) was a Scottish-American professional golfer. He was nicknamed The Silver Scot. He was the winner of three of golf's major championships: 1927 U.S. Open, 1930 PGA, and 1931 Open C ...
,
Walter Hagen
Walter Charles Hagen (December 21, 1892 – October 6, 1969) 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 ...
,
Arnold Palmer
Arnold Daniel Palmer (September 10, 1929 – September 25, 2016) was an American professional golfer who is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most charismatic players in the sport's history. Dating back to 1955, he won numerous ev ...
, and
Rory McIlroy
Rory Daniel McIlroy (born 4 May 1989) is a professional golfer from Northern Ireland who is a member of both the European and PGA Tours. He is the current world number one in the Official World Golf Ranking, and has spent over 100 weeks in tha ...
.
[
* Winning the world's three oldest golf tournaments in the same year: The Open Championship (1860), the U.S. Open (1895), and the South African Open (1903). No one has won this Triple Crown. Only two players, Gary Player and Ernie Els, have won all three of these events throughout their playing career.
In South Africa:
* Winning the three major domestic championships in the same year: the South African Open, the ]South African Masters
The South African Masters was one of the most prestigious golf tournaments on the Sunshine Tour. It was last played in 2011. Before its discontinuation, it had a prize fund of 1.2 million rand and was held at the Wild Coast Sun Country Club on ...
*, and the South African PGA Championship
The South African PGA Championship is one of the most prestigious golf tournaments on the Sunshine Tour. It is generally played in February, depending on the Tour Schedule, with a prize fund of 2 million rand, and is currently held at Eye of Afri ...
. This Triple Crown has been held by Gary Player
Gary James Player DMS, OIG (born 1 November 1935) is a South African retired professional golfer who is widely considered to be one of the greatest golfers of all time. During his career, Player won nine major championships on the regular tou ...
in 1979 and Ernie Els
Theodore Ernest Els (; born 17 October 1969) is a South African professional golfer. A former , he is known as "The Big Easy" due to his imposing physical stature (he stands ) along with his fluid golf swing. Among his more than 70 career victor ...
in 1992.
''*Note: The South African Masters
The South African Masters was one of the most prestigious golf tournaments on the Sunshine Tour. It was last played in 2011. Before its discontinuation, it had a prize fund of 1.2 million rand and was held at the Wild Coast Sun Country Club on ...
has been discontinued since 2011.''
In Australia:
* Winning the three major domestic championships in the same year: the Australian Open
The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
, the Australian Masters
The Australian Masters was an annual golf tournament on the PGA Tour of Australasia held in Victoria, Australia from 1979 to 2015.
History
In 1989 the International Management Group took control of the management of the tournament.
Though the ...
*, and the Australian PGA Championship
The Australian PGA Championship is a golf tournament on the PGA Tour of Australasia. It is the home tournament of the Australian PGA. Since 2000 it has been held in the South East Queensland region. The tournament was part of the OneAsia Tour fro ...
. This Triple Crown was held by Robert Allenby
Robert Allenby (born 12 July 1971) is an Australian professional golfer.
Early years
Allenby was born on 12 July 1971 in Melbourne, Victoria. His father had emigrated to Australia from Leeds, UK as a young man.
Professional career
He turned p ...
in 2005.
''*Note: The Australian Masters
The Australian Masters was an annual golf tournament on the PGA Tour of Australasia held in Victoria, Australia from 1979 to 2015.
History
In 1989 the International Management Group took control of the management of the tournament.
Though the ...
has been discontinued since 2015.''
See also
* Grand Slam (golf)
The Grand Slam in professional golf is winning all of golf's major championships in the same calendar year. Variations include a Career Grand Slam: winning all of the major tournaments within a player's career and the Tiger Slam: winning four con ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Triple Crown Of Golf
Golf terminology
Golf records and rankings