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The List: Golfers With Most Champions Tour Wins

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Who Are the Golfers With the Most Majors?

• DESCRIPTION Jack Nicklaus walking at 1986 Masters
• SOURCE David Cannon/David Cannon Collection
• PERMISSION Getty Images License

The Masters, PGA Championship, U.S. Open and Open Championship (also known as the British Open) make up golf’s four majors. They are the pinnacles of achievement in the game and are looked at as the defining factors for greatness amongst the best players to ever pick up a golf club. Here is a list of the golfers, past and present, with the most major titles to their names.

1. Jack Nicklaus - 18 Major Championships

6 Masters (1963, 1965, 1966, 1972, 1975, 1986)

5 PGA Championships (1963, 1971, 1973, 1975, 1980)

4 U.S. Opens (1962, 1967, 1972, 1980)

3 Open Championships (1966, 1970, 1978)

Jack Nicklaus’ unmatched major championship run spanned from 1962 to 1986 as the “Golden Bear” won major championships in three decades. Jack won multiple majors in a year an incredible four times, doing so in 1963, ’66, ’72 and ’80. He won at least one major in four consecutive years from 1970-1973, and rattled off seven of his 18 major triumphs in a six-year span from 1970-1975. Records are made to be broken, but it’s hard to imagine anybody breaking Nicklaus’ record of 18 major championships.

2. Tiger Woods - 15 Major Championships

• DESCRIPTION Tiger Woods swing at 1997 Masters
• SOURCE Sam Greenwood/PGA Tour

5 Masters (1997, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2019)

4 PGA Championship (1999, 2000, 2006, 2007)

3 U.S. Opens (2000, 2002, 2008)

3 Open Championships (2000, 2005, 2006)

Despite sitting a few major titles short of Jack Nicklaus, many golf fans and historians alike consider Tiger Woods the best golfer of all time. Tiger absolutely blitzed the Tour by winning 14 of his 15 majors in a span of just 12 years from 1997 - 2008. He became the first golfer of all time to hold all four major championships at one time, what is now referred to as the “Tiger Slam” when he won the PGA Championship, U.S. Open and Open Championship in 2000 and followed it up with a Masters win in early 2001. He won the 2008 U.S. Open on a broken leg and added perhaps the most impressive major championship victory to his resume by winning the 2019 Masters, 22 years after his maiden major win.

3. Walter Hagen - 11 Major Championships

• DESCRIPTION Walter Hagen golf swing
• SOURCE Hulton Archive

5 PGA Championships (1921, 1924, 1925, 1926, 1927)

4 Open Championships (1922, 1924, 1928, 1929)

2 U.S. Opens (1914, 1919)

Walter Hagen won all 11 of his major championships before the fourth major, the Masters, even existed. Hagen’s final major triumph came at the 1929 Open Championship, five years before the first Masters was played. Although he competed in six Masters Tournaments in his career, his best finish was T11 and he was unable to accomplish what is today known as the career grand slam. Hagen did however win four consecutive PGA Championships from 1924-27 and rack up 11 major championships in an era when only three majors were contested each year.

T4. Ben Hogan - 9 Major Championships

• DESCRIPTION Ben Hogan holding golf club
• SOURCE Bettmann

4 U.S. Opens (1948, 1950, 1951, 1953)

2 PGA Championships (1946, 1948)

2 Masters (1951, 1953)

1 Open Championship (1953)

Ben Hogan had an incredible six-year run from 1948-1953, winning all nine of his majors in that span. In 1953 he won three of the year’s four majors, the U.S. Open, Masters and Open Championship, and did not enter the PGA Championship due to issues relating to his serious car crash in 1949. He completed the career grand slam with his 1953 Open Championship win, which proved to be the final major of his career.

T4. Gary Player - 9 Major Championships

• DESCRIPTION Gary Player sitting on golf bag
• SOURCE Peter Dazeley/Getty Images Sport

Gary Player Profile & Career Highlights

3 Open Championship (1959, 1968, 1974)

3 Masters (1961, 1974, 1978)

2 PGA Championships (1962, 1972)

1 U.S. Open (1965)

Gary Player won majors in the 1950s, 60s and 70s, amassing nine majors in that span. After winning his first major at the 1959 Open Championship, Player completed the career grand slam in just six years, culminating in the 1965 U.S. Open, the only U.S. Open win of his career. Player’s won both the Open Championship and Masters in 1974 and won his final major in 1978, his third Masters win.

6. Tom Watson - 8 Major Championships

5 Open Championships 2 Masters 1 U.S. Open

T7. Bobby Jones - 7 Major Championships

4 U.S. Opens 3 Open Championships

T7. Gene Sarazen - 7 Major Championships

3 PGA Championships 2 U.S. Opens 1 Open Championship 1 Masters

T7. Sam Snead - 7 Major Championships

3 PGA Championships 3 Masters 1 Open Championship

T7. Arnold Palmer - 7 Major Championships

4 Masters 2 Open Championships 1 U.S. Open

T7. Harry Vardon - 7 Major Championships

6 Open Championships 1 U.S. Open

Career Grand Slams

No one has yet won all four majors in one calendar year, although Tiger Woods coined the "Tiger Slam" by simultaneously holding all four major titles. However, five elite golfers have won each of the majors throughout their careers. This achievement is known as the career grand slam. The following is a list of golfers to win the career grand slam.

Jack Nicklaus (Won each major at least three times) Tiger Woods (Won each major at least three times) Ben Hogan Gary Player Gene Sarazen

Golf's Career Grand Slam's Winners and Seekers

Grand Slam Hopefuls

Three active players have completed three legs of the career grand slam, and need just one more to join the exclusive group of grand slam winners.

Most Majors Won: Wins in Men's Professional Golf Events

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Most Wins in Champions Tour Majors

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Below is the full list of golfers who have won at least two senior majors - tournaments designated by the Champions Tour as major championships for the 50-and-over set. There are today five tournaments called senior majors: the Senior PGA Championship , U.S. Senior Open , Senior Players Championship , Regions Tradition and Senior British Open .

The Champions Tour was founded in 1980, and so only counts senior majors from 1980 forward. (Only the Senior PGA Championship was played prior to 1980, but its tournaments prior to 1980 are not included in the totals below, as per Champions Tour protocol.)

Also note that while the Senior British Open was founded in 1987, only since 2003 has it been counted as a Champions Tour major; wins prior to 2003 are not counted by the Champions Tour as majors.

Golfers With Most Wins in Senior Majors Bernhard Langer, 11 Jack Nicklaus, 8 Hale Irwin, 7 *Gary Player, 6 Tom Watson, 6 Miller Barber, 5 Arnold Palmer, 5 Allen Doyle, 4 Raymond Floyd, 4 Kenny Perry, 4 Loren Roberts, 4 Lee Trevino, 4 Fred Funk, 3 Jay Haas, 3 Tom Lehman, 3 Gil Morgan, 3 Dave Stockton, 3 Billy Casper, 2 Roger Chapman, 2 Fred Couples, 2 Peter Jacobsen, 2 Graham Marsh, 2 Orville Moody, 2 Mike Reid, 2 Chi Chi Rodriguez, 2 Eduardo Romero, 2 Craig Stadler, 2 Doug Tewell, 2

*Why is there an asterisk next to Gary Player 's name? Player won three Senior British Open titles, but as noted above, the Champions Tour only counts wins in the Senior British as majors from 2003 forward. All of Player's Senior British wins were prior to 2003, so are not reflected in his total above of six majors. If the Champions Tour someday changes this recordkeeping policy and starts counting all Senior British Open wins as majors, then Player's total would increase from six to nine.

Is it possible such a change could happen? Well, we're not sure how likely it is, but it's certainly possible. Once upon a time, the PGA Tour did not count all British Open wins as majors. It was only around 2002 or 2003 that the PGA Tour finally began counting all British Open wins, all the way back to 1860, as major championships. So there is precedence.

But, just to reiterate, at this time Senior British Opens prior to 2003 (and Senior PGA Championships prior to 1980) are not included in the totals above, as per Champions Tour recordkeeping policy.

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