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When Bobby Jones was reigning over the men\u2019s game from 1923 to 1930, the U.S. Amateur and British Amateur championships were considered majors, together with the U.S. Open and British Open. Later, following the launch of the Masters at Augusta, the modern-day Grand Slam became the U.S. and British Opens, the Masters and the U.S. PGA Championship. Only five players have won at least one of each of the four majors: Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods. The latter is the only one of the four to have held all four titles at the same time, albeit not in the same calendar year, a feat dubbed the \u201cTiger Slam\u201d. <\/p>\n
The women\u2019s Grand Slam has undergone a much more significant transformation. The five current majors are (in order on the calendar): ANA Inspiration, U.S. Women\u2019s Open and KPMG Women\u2019s PGA Championship (all in the United States), Ricoh Women\u2019s British Open and Evian Championship (France). Three other tournaments have had major status in the past: du Maurier Classic (Canada), Titleholders Championship (until 1972) and Women\u2019s Western Open (discontinued after 1967). As these events have been held so far apart, no player has been able to win all eight. Arguably, the only player who can claim to have won a modern-day Grand Slam is Australian Karrie Webb \u2013 victorious in all five of the Grand Slam events (ANA, U.S., PGA, British and du Maurier) before the Evian was added to the Grand Slam roster in 2013. No player has won all five of the current majors. <\/p>\n
In this new regular series on Grand Slam winners, we look at the tournament careers, records and stellar moments of the game\u2019s major stars, starting with the two who have won the highest number of majors in the men\u2019s and women\u2019s games, respectively, Jack Nicklaus (18) and Patty Berg (15).<\/p>\n
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Jack Nicklaus: <\/strong>Exceptional Grand Slam Record During an Unprecedented Golden Era<\/strong><\/p>\n Barely three years ago, few would have bet against Tiger Woods matching and even overtaking Jack Nicklaus\u2019s record tally of 18 majors. Today, Woods \u2013 with 14 Grand Slam titles to his name \u2013 is simply focused on regaining his competitive touch and challenging for any tournament prize. For the moment, and perhaps forever, the Golden Bear\u2019s record is safe. <\/p>\n The only other player to have achieved a double-digit total in majors is Walter Hagen (11), followed by Ben Hogan and Gary Player (nine each) and Tom Watson (eight). Five players have won seven each, two have six in their trophy cabinet, six have accumulated five, nine are four-time winners, 17 have won a major three times and a further 36 are multiple winners (two majors). <\/p>\n Only five players have won at least one of each of the four majors: Gene Sarazen, Hogan, Nicklaus, Player and Woods. Three currently active players, Phil Mickelson, Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy, need just one title to join that elite club: the U.S. Open, PGA Championship and U.S. Masters, respectively. <\/p>\n Taking all that into account, therefore, for many golf fans there is no argument. Jack Nicklaus is, quite simply, the greatest player in the history of the modern game. Now 78, and 13 years after retiring from professional golf, the GoldenBeer can look back on one of the most remarkable careers in sport. He won 18 Grand Slams and 70 U.S. PGA Tour tournaments \u2013 reigning for most of the \u201960s, \u201970s and even the \u201980s. <\/p>\n Nicklaus chose the 2005 British Open \u2013 an event he had won three times \u2013 for his farewell appearance as an active player, because, as he said, the championship had a special significance and had been an important part of his sporting career. \u201cI\u2019m a sentimental old fool, but I still believe I\u2019m competitive.\u201d <\/p>\n Nicklaus won at St Andrews in 1979 and 1978. In what was the last event of his prolific career, his son Steve was his caddie \u2013 which provided the championship with an even more sentimental touch. He was unable to hold back the tears as he completed his final British Open round. <\/p>\n Jack William Nicklaus was born in Columbus, Ohio, in the well-heeled Upper Arlington suburb to Charles Nicklaus, a pharmacist, and Helen Nicklaus. He played basketball, baseball and tennis through high school. <\/p>\n A child prodigy, he started playing golf at 10 and by the time he was 12 he had won the Ohio Junior State Championship. At 14 he won the Tri-State High School Championship and, still just 16, his first major non-junior event, the Ohio Open. <\/p>\n While he was studying at the university, he actively participated in sports and won the U.S Amateur title twice (1959 and 1961) and an NCAA championship (1961). He studied insurance for a brief period and sold insurance policies while attending college. <\/p>\n In 1961 he graduated from the Ohio State University with a major in \u201cpre-pharmacy\u201d and he planned to join his father\u2019s pharmaceutical business after graduation.<\/p>\n Golf was his true calling, however, and he went on to forge an unrivalled career in the sport.<\/p>\n From 1959 to 1961 \u2013 when he joined the professional ranks \u2013 he won every tournament he teed up in except for one.<\/p>\n In 1962, Nicklaus won the U.S. Open after beating compatriot Arnold Palmer, another golfing legend. Throughout his long and successful professional career he tallied an amazing record: including six U.S. Masters (1963, 1965, 1966, 1972, 1975 and 1986); five U.S. PGA Championships (1963, 1971, 1973, 1975 and 1980); four U.S. Opens (1962, 1967, 1972 and 1980); and three British Opens (1966, 1970 and 1978). He was named Player of the Year five times (1967, 1972, 1973, 1975 and 1976). <\/p>\n The Golden Bear joined the U.S. Seniors Tour in 1990 and went on to win eight majors. He remains the only player to have achieved the \u201ccareer Grand Slam\u201d on both the regular and senior tours. <\/p>\n He was named \u201cGolfer of the Century\u201d or \u201cGolfer of the Millennium\u201d by almost every leading golf publication in the world, and also the Individual Male Athlete of the Century by Sports Illustrated and one of the 10 Greatest Athletes of the Century by ESPN. In 2015 he received the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest honor the United States Congress can bestow on an individual or group. <\/p>\n <\/strong> Patty Berg: <\/strong>Dynamite Power Behind the Women\u2019s Pro Game<\/strong><\/p>\n The US LPGA Tour owes a lot to Patty Berg. In fact, \u201cDynamite\u201d \u2013 her nickname \u2013 was one of the promoters and the first president of the Ladies Professional Golfers Association and helped popularise the sport among women thanks to her spectacular results on the course, where she led the rankings for three decades: the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. <\/p>\n Berg is considered one of the greatest women golfers in the history of the game: among other achievements, she won the most majors (15) and the second highest number of titles (83), topped by Kathy Whitworth, who \u201conly\u201d won six majors.<\/p>\n Born on 13 February 1918 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the freckled, red-headed youngster preferred to play football with the boys in her suburb rather than with her dolls. At 13 she became interested in golf and in 1934, at 16, won her first tournament of note, the Minneapolis City Championship. <\/p>\n Her first appearance on the national stage came the following year, when she reached the final of the U.S. Women\u2019s Amateur. In 1937, she was second once again in the prestigious competition; and, on her third attempt, in 1938, she finally captured the title. <\/p>\n Her big step to international fame was in 1937 when, still an amateur, she won the Titleholders, the first of 15 majors she collected during her career (six more times this same title; seven Western Opens; and one US Women\u2019s Open).<\/p>\n In 1940, after having won 20 events as an amateur, Berg turned professional. During World War II, between 1942 and 1945, she served in the army as a lieutenant in the Marines. <\/p>\n On her return to civilian life, Berg joined the Women\u2019s Professional Golf Association, precursor to the LPGA. She helped found the LPGA in 1948 and was its first president. By then, she had 20 victories to her name, including several majors. In 1946, she won the inaugural edition of the U.S. Women\u2019s Open. Her 14 titles in the other majors were won from 1937 to 1958. <\/p>\n Patty was not considered a big hitter, but where she dominated \u2013 pure dynamite \u2013 was in the short game.<\/p>\n She won the Vare Trophy three times for the best average score, in 1953, 1955 and 1956; and in 1952 she established the record for the lowest round by a woman, 64, which would not be beaten for 12 years, in 1964, when Mickey Wright shot 62. Another interesting fact is that she was the first player to score a hole-in-one in the US Women\u2019s Open, in 1959. <\/p>\n She was named Sportswoman of the Year three times (1938, 1942 and 1955) by the Associated Press agency; and was honored with induction into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1974. In 1978, the LPGA established the annual Patty Berg Award, \u201cto the golfer who has made a great contribution to women\u2019s golf throughout the year\u201d. In 1963, she received the Bob Jones Award, the highest honor given by the United States Golf Association, in recognition of her achievements in the world of golf. <\/p>\n Her final victory on the women\u2019s circuit was in 1962, aged 44, but she continued to play sporadically on the LPGA Tour, including after a cancer operation in 1970.<\/p>\n Her appearances in tournaments became limited, but she never stopped taking part in initiatives aimed at promoting the sport she loved so much, and which had given her so much throughout her life. Her activities included clinics, speeches, promotional campaigns, public relations and even golf classes for youngsters in the area where she lived, Fort Myers, Florida. In an interview with Chicagoland Magazine, she said she had taught over 16,000 clinics during her lifetime \u2013 many sponsored by Wilson Sporting Goods and called the \u201cPatty Berg Hit Parade\u201d. <\/p>\n Berg announced in December 2004 that she had been diagnosed with Alzheimer\u2019s Disease. She died in Fort Myers from complications of the disease 21 months later at the age of 88. In her obituary, The Guardian described her as \u201cthe golfer who sacrificed her game to pioneer the U.S. women\u2019s circuit\u201d. <\/p>\n \n \n \n \n \n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When Bobby Jones was reigning over the men\u2019s game from 1923 to 1930, the U.S. Amateur and British Amateur championships were considered majors, together with the U.S. Open and British Open. Later, following the launch of the Masters at Augusta, the modern-day Grand Slam became the U.S. and British Opens, the Masters and the U.S. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":8190,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[125],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21964","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/andaluciagolf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21964","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/andaluciagolf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/andaluciagolf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/andaluciagolf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/andaluciagolf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21964"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/andaluciagolf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21964\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/andaluciagolf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8190"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/andaluciagolf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21964"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/andaluciagolf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21964"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/andaluciagolf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21964"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/andaluciagolf.holaincompany.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/images_News245_Patty-Berg-1-OK.jpg\")
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