A List of Golf Major Champions Since 1860



cc from commons.wikimedia.org
James Foulis 1896 U.S. Open Champion



I wanted to share a great resource for learning the champion of each golf major since 1860. This is the modern form of the golf majors, which is:

  • Masters (1934)
  • U.S.Open (1895)
  • British Open (1860)
  • PGA Championship (1916)

Used to be the amateur championship events in America and Britain were considered majors. The number next to each major is the first year they started, and they're listed in order of the time they occur during the year.

The link I'm sharing is a simple website, where all the golf majors are neatly listed along with the course it was played on. When placing the cursor over the names and courses, where they occur in other years will highlight. This is a nice feature because it helps you see how many Majors each player won, and also how many times has a course been used.

Of course, when golf began there was no television, so the memory and tales of those older years are all we have now. The television started picking up golf in 1947 locally, and in 1953 the first golf major was nationally televised. This changed golf for the better for fans and players alike.

Now, we have the Internet, and can find vintage major footage from ABC, CBS, and more. Personally, I like to watch the ABC crew in the 80's covering always the U.S. Open. Still today we're blessed with great golf announcers such as Jim Nantz, Nick Faldo, Lanny Wadkins, Johnny Miller, and more. Many of those great golfers in the 70s and 80's are now commenting and playing on the Champions Golf Tour.

I shared Tom Kite's U.S. Open 1992 victory at Pebble Beach in an article not too long ago, and this is a great video to watch. The wind was treacherous that day, and beat the players into huge rounds over par. All except Kite went by the wayside, and it's amazing to watch. All of the majors are amazing to watch in my opinion, including the new ones.

In this 1992 ABC broadcast, Dave Marr was no longer broadcasting and is replaced by Brent Musburger. This was a bad choice in my opinion, and was the end of the great years of commenting ABC provided throughout the late 70's and 80's with Dave Marr and Tim McKay at the helm. The supporting crew was excellent with Peter Alliss, Jack Whitaker, Judy Rankin, Ed Sneed, Bob Rosburg, and others. This has been my favorite era to watch, and I spend more time watching 80's golf, then I do watching modern golf.


Just some thoughts around this resource I'm sharing. I may just make it a page tab at the top of the page, as this site develops and grows. So far so good. Getting ready for the 2016 year of golf, expecting this to be my best year ever and the majors are always exciting to watch.



Comments

Follow BGD on Substack