Luke is an avid weekend-warrior golfer from the East Coast who plays golf more than he cares to admit.
Golf is a historic and widely popular sport, played and enjoyed by people all over the world. However, to the uninitiated, golf can be a confusing sport, filled with terms that only the experts could ever understand.
One such example is the ‘4 majors’, something that has a specific meaning and importance within the sport, and amongst those who regularly play.
But what exactly are the ‘4 majors’, and what significance do they have for the sport?
The ‘4 Majors’: Everything You Need To Know
With the world of golf, the 4 majors refer to the 4 main men’s golfing tournaments played on the professional circuit – namely The Masters, the PGA Championship, the US Open, and The Open Championship.
The Masters
Played throughout the first week of April, The Masters takes place every year at the Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta Georgia.
The Masters represents the first major championship of the calendar year, and the tournament consists of four rounds of eighteen holes each – taking place Thursday while Sunday, depending on potential delays due to weather and other unavoidable factors.
PGA Championship
The PGA Championship is an annual golfing tournament organized and paid for by the Professional Golfing Association of America, which was formerly held in mid-August on the third week before Labor Day weekend, but which (as of 2019) is now held in May on the weekend before Memorial Day.
This represents the second major golfing tournament of the calendar year, and is played at the Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
The US Open
The US open is a hard court golf tournament held every year in Brookline, Massachusetts.
Founded in 1895, and hosted at the Country Club, the US open features four rounds of 18 hole play, with games taking place over a number of days, with playoffs in the event of a tie.
The Open Championship
Founded in Fife, Scotland in 1860, the Open Championship is hosted by the Old Course at St Andrews, and is called as such because it is, in theory, open to amateur and professional golfers alike.
Composed of four days, with eighteen holes each day, the Open Championship is one of the oldest sporting traditions in the world, and is a prestigious place for both professional golfers and spectators alike.
Why Are They Called The ‘4 Majors’?
These tournaments are known as the four majors due to the fact that they are the four largest golfing events throughout the calendar year.
While they are by no means the only events, they are the most prestigious, and attract some of the best and brightest names in modern golfing.
Why Are They Important?
Aside from the Ryder cup, which takes place biennially (every other year), the majors are the most important men’s golfing tournaments in the world, and are widely responsible for making and breaking the careers of some of the biggest golfing legends the sport has ever seen.
The 4 majors, or more precisely the scores achieved at each event, set in motion the professional careers of golfers, and have helped to foster some of the best players over the years – not to mention providing some of the largest cash prizes in the entire sport.
Are They Run By The Same Companies?
Despite being joined together on a level of importance, all four of the tournaments are owned by separate business entities, and operate entirely independently of one another.
However, they each share the same level of prestige, and the wins achieved at each tournament carry significant weight when it comes to players being considered for other events.
Do They Have Individual Characteristics?
As four individual tournaments, they each have individual characteristics that make them unique.
The Masters
For example, The Masters is the only tournament to be hosted at the same course every single year (Augusta), and attracts the smallest number of players to each event (around 100).
There are also numerous traditions with The Masters, including the Champion’s Dinner, the Par Three Contest, and the winning of the famed green jacket – something that is held up as an unconventional yet prestigious honor amongst golfers and fans.
PGA Championship
The PGA Championship has the honor – or perhaps the ‘reputation’ – of being one of the hardest tournaments throughout the year, due to the fact that the course is subject to change, and the courses chosen are often notoriously difficult.
The PGA is not open to amateurs, and to have the honor of entering, golfers generally need to have won one of the other majors.
The placement of the PGA in the middle of the US summer sets it apart from other, more ambient tournaments, causing an extra layer of hardship and difficulty for players and fans.
The US Open
The US Open also has a reputation for being difficult, boasting especially tight courseways that can cause even the best players to slip up.
The greens are also challenging, and the course has a number of high roughs that can add an extra challenge to unsuspecting players.
The Open Championship
What sets the Open Championship apart from the crowd is the age of the club, the fact that anyone can enter, and the continuation of rules and traditions that originated with the sport in Scotland.
The main source of challenge is the Scottish weather, which can cause problems for even the most experienced golfers.
Final Thoughts
And there we have it, everything you need to know about the 4 majors, and their importance to professional golf.
The 4 majors represent some of the most prestigious sporting events in the world, where some of the best golfers come together to compete for the various titles.
So if you are a fan of golf, or fancy yourself as an up and comer with a future, then why not check out the 4 majors for yourself?
