Major Golf Championships

In professional golf, players plan their year around the four Major Golf Championships that are held at regular intervals throughout the calendar year, at the end of a career players are judged on how many Major Championships they have won. Currently it is Jack Nicklaus with 18 who has won the most Majors in history but he is being hotly chased down by a certain Tiger Woods who is not far behind. Three of the four Majors are played in the US with just one being played in the UK in the British Open. We are going to be having a closer look at each of the four Major Championships right here and relive some of the great moments.

US Masters

The US Masters is played at Augusta National and has been the scene of some of the great moments in golfing history. Tiger Woods won his first Major Championship at Augusta at the age of just 21. He won by a record breaking 12 shots to break the four day scoring record and that was the start of one of the greatest careers of all time. Another memorable moment at Augusta was in 1986 when Jack Nicklaus won his 18th Major at the age of 46 which made him the oldest player to win the event.

US Open

The US Open is often the toughest of the four Majors with the organisers deliberately setting the course up to be as difficult as possible for the competitors. Frequently the tournament is one with an over par score no matter what course the event is played on which makes it a great viewing spectacle. It is an event that is nearly always won by Americans with Europeans in particular struggling in the US Open. The last European to win the event was Tony Jacklin who picked up the prize in 1970 which is a remarkable stat considering the great Europeans to have played the tournament since then.

The British Open Championship

The British Open Championship has been the scene of some of golfs great memories over the years with some classic duels living long in the memory. Turnberry in 1977 played host to the infamous Duel in the Sun which saw Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson go head-to-head down the back nine in a legendary contest. In the end it was Watson who triumphed but it was a great sporting moment that lives in the memory. tom Watson went on to win five Opens which is more than any other since the 1950's.

US PGA Championships

The US PGA Championships was won by Padraig Harrington in 2008 which meant he became the first European to win the event in an incredible 78 years. Harrington performed brilliantly over the weekend to claim his place in the record books at Oakland Hills Country club by finishing two shots ahead of Ben Curtis and Sergio Garcia. The Tiger Woods Open odds show him as favourite and he has been the dominant force in the USPGA Championships over the previous years with four wins coming in the last ten years.