The

men's 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 ...

, also known simply as the majors, are the four most prestigious events in professional

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

. The competitions are the

Masters Tournament The Masters Tournament (usually referred to as simply The Masters, or the U.S. Masters outside North America) is one of the four major championships in professional golf. Scheduled for the first full week of April, the Masters is the first ma ...

, the U.S. Open,

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 t ...

and 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 ...

, contested annually. Jack Nicklaus Congressional Gold Medal (front)

Jack Nicklaus Jack William Nicklaus (born January 21, 1940), nicknamed The Golden Bear, is a retired American professional golfer and golf course designer. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest golfers of all time. He won 117 professional tou ...

has won the most majors, achieving 18 victories during his career. Second on the list is

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 ...

, who has won 15 majors to date; his most recent major victory was at the 2019 Masters.

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 Tig ...

is third with 11 majors; he and Nicklaus have both won the most PGA Championships with five. Nicklaus also holds the record for the most victories in the Masters, winning the tournament six times. Additionally, Nicklaus shares the record for the most U.S. Open victories with Willie Anderson, Bobby Jones and

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 an ...

, each winning four times.

Harry Vardon Henry William Vardon (9 May 1870 – 20 March 1937) was a professional golfer from Jersey. He was a member of the Great Triumvirate with John Henry Taylor and James Braid. Vardon won The Open Championship a record six times, and also won the ...

holds the record for the most Open Championship victories, winning six times during his career. Five men: Nicklaus, Woods, Hogan,

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 ...

and

Gene Sarazen Gene Sarazen (; born Eugenio Saraceni, February 27, 1902 – May 13, 1999) 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 (alon ...

are the only golfers to have won all four of the majors during their career, thus achieving the '' career grand slam'' Although the U.S. Amateur and

The Amateur Championship The Amateur Championship (sometimes referred to as the British Amateur or British Amateur Championship outside the UK) is a golf tournament which has been held annually in the United Kingdom since 1885 except during the two World Wars, and in 19 ...

were once considered to be majors, they are no longer recognized as such, and victories in these competitions are not included in the list. To date, 462 majors have been played. A total of 230 different men have won majors and, of these, 84 have won at least two.

By golfer

By country

Gallery

File:JackNicklaus.cropped.jpg,

won a record 18 majors File:Tiger Woods drives by Allison.jpg,

has won 15 majors File:Walter Hagen 1914.png,

won 11 majors File:Ben Hogan NYWTS.jpg,

won nine majors File:All Black.jpg,

won nine majors File:2008 Open Championship - Tom Watson.jpg, Tom Watson won eight majors File:Bobby Jones c1921.jpg, Bobby Jones won four U.S. Opens and three Open Championships, for a total of seven majors File:YN3ArnoldPalmer.jpg,

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 ...

won seven majors File:Gene Sarazen.JPG,

won seven majors File:Sam Snead 1967.JPG,

Sam Snead Samuel Jackson Snead (pronounced English_phonology">sni:d.html" ;"title="English_phonology.html" ;"title="nowiki/>English phonology">sni:d">English_phonology.html" ;"title="nowiki/>English phonology">sni:d May 27, 1912 – May 23, 2002) was an ...

won seven majors File:HarryVardon.jpg,

won

a record six times, and won one U.S. Open, for a total of seven majors File:Nick Faldo.jpg,

Nick Faldo Sir Nicholas Alexander Faldo, (born 18 July 1957) is an English retired professional golfer and television commentator. A top player of his era, renowned for his dedication to the game, he was ranked No. 1 on the Official World Golf Ranking fo ...

won six majors File:PhilMickelsonTPC18thTee.jpg,

Phil Mickelson Philip Alfred Mickelson (born June 16, 1970), nicknamed Lefty, is an American professional golfer who plays for LIV Golf. He has won 45 events on the PGA Tour, including six major championships: three Masters titles (2004, 2006, 2010), two ...

has won six majors File:Seve Ballesteros 2006-07-19.jpg,

Seve Ballesteros Severiano Ballesteros Sota (; 9 April 1957 – 7 May 2011) was a Spanish professional golfer, a World No. 1 who was one of the sport's leading figures from the mid-1970s to the mid-1990s. A member of a gifted golfing family, he won 90 inte ...

won five majors File:James Braid (golfer) 1913.jpg, James Braid won five majors File:JohnHenryTaylor.jpg,

John Henry Taylor John Henry "J.H." Taylor (19 March 1871 – 10 February 1963) was an English professional golfer and one of the pioneers of the modern game of golf. Taylor is considered to be one of the best golfers of all time. He was a significant golf ...

won five Open Championships File:WillieAnderson1909.jpg, Willie Anderson won four U.S. Opens File:Old and Young Tom Morris.jpg,

Tom Morris, Sr. Thomas Mitchell Morris (16 June 1821 – 24 May 1908), otherwise known as Old Tom Morris, and The Grand Old Man of Golf, was a Scottish golfer. He was born in St Andrews, Fife, the "home of golf" and location of the St Andrews Links, and died t ...

and

Tom Morris, Jr. Thomas Morris (20 April 1851 – 25 December 1875), known as Tom Morris Junior, Young Tom Morris and also Tommy Morris, was a Scottish professional golfer. He is considered one of the pioneers of professional golf, and was the first young prodig ...

both won four Open Championships File:Willie Park Senior wearing the Championship Belt.jpg, Willie Park, Sr. won four Open Championships

References

General * * * * Specific {{featured list Majors *Most wins Major wins

By golfer

By country

Gallery

See also

References