Top Ten Finishes in All Four Modern Majors in One Season
It was rare, before the early 1960s, for the leading players from around the world to have the opportunity to compete in all four of the 'modern' majors in one season, because of the different qualifying criteria used in each at the time, the costs of traveling to compete (in an era when tournament prize money was very low, and only the champion himself would earn the chance of ongoing endorsements), and on occasion even the conflicting scheduling of the Open and PGA Championships. In 1937, the U.S. Ryder Cup side all competed in The Open Championship, but of those who finished in the top ten of that event, only Ed Dudley could claim a "top ten" finish in all four of the majors in 1937, if his defeat in the last-16 round of that year's PGA Championship (then at matchplay) was considered a "joint 9th" position.
Following 1960, when Arnold Palmer's narrowly failed bid to add the Open Championship to his Masters and US Open titles (and thus emulate Hogan's 1953 "triple crown") helped to establish the concept of the modern professional "Grand Slam", it has become commonplace for the leading players to be invited to, and indeed compete in, all four majors each year. Even so, those who have recorded top-ten finishes in all four, in a single year, remains a small and select group.
| Three majors won in calendar year that the top ten was completed # |
| Two majors won in calendar year that the top ten was completed ‡ |
| One major won in calendar year that the top ten was completed † |
| No majors won in calendar year that the top ten was completed ^ |
| Never won a regular tour major championship in their careers * |
| Nationality | Player | Year | Wins | Major championship results | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters | U.S. Open | Open Ch. | PGA Ch. | ||||
| United States | Ed Dudley * | 1937 | 0 | 3rd | 5th | 6th | R16 |
| United States | Arnold Palmer ‡ | 1960 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2nd | T7 |
| South Africa | Gary Player ^ | 1963 | 0 | T5 | T8 | T7 | T8 |
| United States | Arnold Palmer (2) ^ | 1966 | 0 | T4 | 2nd | T8 | T6 |
| United States | Doug Sanders * | 1966 | 0 | T4 | T8 | T2 | T6 |
| United States | Miller Barber * | 1969 | 0 | 7th | T6 | 10th | T5 |
| United States | Jack Nicklaus † | 1971 | 1 | T2 | 2nd | T5 | 1 |
| United States | Jack Nicklaus (2) † | 1973 | 1 | T3 | T4 | 4th | 1 |
| United States | Jack Nicklaus (3) ^ | 1974 | 0 | T4 | T10 | 3rd | 2nd |
| South Africa | Gary Player (2) ‡ | 1974 | 2 | 1 | T8 | 1 | 7th |
| United States | Hale Irwin ^ | 1975 | 0 | T4 | T3 | T9 | T5 |
| United States | Jack Nicklaus (4) ‡ | 1975 | 2 | 1 | T7 | T3 | 1 |
| United States | Tom Watson † | 1975 | 1 | T8 | T9 | 1 | 9th |
| United States | Jack Nicklaus (5) ^ | 1977 | 0 | 2nd | T10 | 2nd | 3rd |
| United States | Tom Watson (2) ‡ | 1977 | 2 | 1 | T7 | 1 | T6 |
| United States | Tom Watson (3) ‡ | 1982 | 2 | T5 | 1 | 1 | T9 |
| United States | Ben Crenshaw ^ | 1987 | 0 | T4 | T4 | T4 | T7 |
| United States | Tiger Woods # | 2000 | 3 | 5th | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Spain | Sergio García * | 2002 | 0 | 8th | 4th | T8 | 10th |
| South Africa | Ernie Els ^ | 2004 | 0 | 2nd | T9 | 2nd | T4 |
| United States | Phil Mickelson † | 2004 | 1 | 1 | 2nd | 3rd | T6 |
| Fiji | Vijay Singh ^ | 2005 | 0 | T5 | T6 | T5 | T10 |
| United States | Tiger Woods (2) ‡ | 2005 | 2 | 1 | 2nd | 1 | T4 |
On 12 of the 23 occasions the feat has been achieved, the player in question did not win a major that year - indeed, three of the players (Dudley, Sanders and Barber) failed to win a major championship in their careers (although Barber would go on to win five senior majors), and García has also yet to win one (as of the 2012 season).
Read more about this topic: Men's Major Golf Championships
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