Golfers With the Most Major Championship Wins

A professional golfer’s resume will forever be judged on one primary metric: the number of major championships they’ve won. The Masters, PGA Championship, U.S. Open and Open Championship (also known as the British Open) make up golf’s four majors. Only three players have won double-digit major championships, while five golfers have accomplished the career grand slam, winning all four majors in their career.

Golfers With the Most Major Championship Wins

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

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

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

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

2 U.S. Opens (1914, 1919)

Walter Hagan won all 11 of his major championships before the fourth major, the Masters, even existed. Hagan’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. Hagan 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

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

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 simultaniously holding all four major titles -- but five elite golfers have won each of the majors throughout their career. 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

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.