The existing four major championships in golf are viewed as the ultimate benchmark in assessing true and lasting greatness.
Since the end of World War II, the events have consisted of the Masters each April, the PGA Championship in May, the U.S. Open in June, and The Open played in July. Interestingly, three of the four are played in the United States.
But the present line-up of “majors” has not always been so easily identified or even accepted.
Initially, the Open, which started in 1860, was viewed as the global championship in the sport. Joining the Open was the Amateur, which commenced in 1885. Both events remain under the auspices of the R&A in St. Andrews, Scotland, and are held at various sites throughout the United Kingdom.
By 1895, the U.S. Open and U.S. Amateur championships were first played at Newport CC in Rhode Island. Both were quickly viewed as significant events.
The Western Open started in 1899 and was elevated to the highest of levels. In 1916, the PGA of America was formed and played its inaugural event that same year at Siwanoy Country Club in New York. That event was the first strictly for professionals and was conducted at match play—where players compete head-to-head against each other.
Bob Jones, the renowned amateur, claimed a calendar year “grand slam” when winning the U.S. and British Opens and Amateur championships in 1930. With Jones being an amateur, he was unable to compete in the PGA Championship.
Interestingly, Jones is counted as having won 13 major titles. His esteemed rival in that time frame, Walter Hagen, is credited with 11, although Hagen did win five Western Open titles.
Four years later in 1934, Jones started the Augusta Invitational with Augusta National Golf Club, the perennial host site. In 1939, the tournament was later renamed The Masters.
With the ascendancy of professional golf in the 1940s following WWII, the U.S. and British Amateurs fell off the majors listing, although both are still viewed as key events in identifying promising talent for the professional ranks. Major status slipped, too, for the Western Open, although it remains a key event on the PGA Tour—now since renamed the BMW Championship and the second leg of the Fed-Ex Cup Playoffs.
The PGA Tour has tried for years to get a 5th major status for The Players Championship. That event started in 1974 and is annually played at TPC/Sawgrass in the greater Jacksonville area and held in the March time frame.
Even with all the self-promotion from the leadership brass, The Players remains a coveted title but has not been viewed on the same level as the four in place now.
For a 5th major to be even rightly considered, it would require an event not held each year in the United States so that a meaningful global connection is present. As stated, three of the existing four are already held in the States. The timing of the event is another consideration given the already compact nature of how golf events are scheduled globally.
Professional tennis smartly stages its four major events in different countries at specific times of the year. Kicking off the new year is the Australian Open in Melbourne in late January, followed by the French Open in June in Paris, Wimbledon in London in July, and concluding with the U.S. Open in New York City in early September.
This week marks the 120th playing of the Australian Open, which was first played in 1904. Under the banner of its sponsor ISPS HANDA, the Australian Open will be played this week with final round play scheduled for Dec. 1.
The 72-hole event is hosted jointly by Kingston Heath Golf Club and Victoria Golf Club. Both the men’s and women’s Opens will be played simultaneously via separate events.
The return of the event to the Sandbelt region of Melbourne reestablishes a clear reconnection to one of the true hotspots for golf globally.
While four majors have been the norm in men’s golf for a number of years, on the other side of the gender aisle, women’s golf has fluctuated between two and five. In fact, no less than eight different events have been classified as LPGA majors at some point.
The present women’s majors include the Chevron Championship in Texas.
The Evian Championship in France, the U.S. Women’s Open, and the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship are both played in the USA, and The AIG Women’s Open is hosted in the United Kingdom.
The Australia connection is a key element on the global golf scene. Not only is the country home to some of the finest courses on the planet, but the line-up of players who have successfully competed on the world stage is an amazing achievement.
With an area the size of the continental United States and a population of 23 million, Australia has produced an array of home-grown talents with the likes of Peter Thomson, Kel Nagle, Bruce Crampton, Greg Norman, David Graham, Adam Scott, Geoff Ogilvy, and Robert Allenby—each having won the championship. The most prominent players actively competing today include Jason Day and Cameron Smith—both winners of major titles.
What does it mean to win the Australian Open? Jack Nicklaus and Rory McIlroy have stated the event is truly golf’s 5th major tournament, with each man winning the event, with Nicklaus claiming six titles, just one behind the record total of Gary Player, with seven.
The roster of other non-Aussie champions includes an all-star grouping with the likes of Gene Sarazen, Bobby Locke, Arnold Palmer, Tom Watson, Jordan Spieth, and Lee Westwood. The defending champion is Joaquin Niemann from Chile.
The Australian Open takes place in the late spring/early summer period, when much of organized golf in the Northern Hemisphere is dormant. It’s an ideal time frame since the gap now between The Open and the Masters is nine months.
In addition to the scheduling of the championship, turf conditions are generally ideal, featuring firm and fast conditions. The bounce of the ball is a central emphasis point in demonstrating shotmaking prowess of the highest level. However, this year’s event may be vastly different given the wet conditions that have plagued the area in recent weeks.
Securing the designation of a 5th major is not something that can be easily attained. A sizeable purse increase would need to happen, and closer coordination with the existing global tours—notably the PGA Tour—to incentivize the pathway for key star players to participate in the event.
When LIV Golf came to Adelaide in 2023 at the Grange Golf Club, the attendance figures were impressive and the enthusiasm from those attending demonstrated a deep love of the game that Aussies have. A reconstituted Australian Open could do similarly.
The exact timing would need to be worked out, but the summer period for Australia works very well given the general cold climates throughout much of the Northern Hemisphere.
Televising the championship live could also be a tough hurdle to overcome, given the time zone change of 16 hours between Melbourne and New York. But in today’s sports-crazed universe, the appeal of such an event could generate its own audience—similar to what the Australian Open for tennis does now.
There’s also the issue of determining the time frame when the designation of a major constitutes recognition. Those winning in the past before the designation will still be listed as champions, but the victories would not confer a major championship achievement.
The LPGA faced this by providing a clear demarcation for events that existed before and after being designated major status. The Colgate-Dinah Shore Winners Circle event started in 1972 in the Palm Springs, California, desert but did not receive major status until 1983.
The same approach happened with the du Maurier Classic, which started off as a regular event in 1973. The tournament was elevated in 1979, when it was called the Peter Jackson Classic, before ending its run with the du Maurier connection as title sponsor and concluding in 2000.
For those ardent Nicklaus and Player fans, that would mean their existing major championship totals of 18 and 9 respectively would remain as they are now.
Australia remains a distant locale, but its bond with golf is as strong as any other country on the planet. This week’s Open Championship continues the rich tradition of showcasing talented players and revered courses. The elevation would be a long overdue recognition in celebrating successes both past and future ahead.
To use an Aussie expression—elevating the Open to a status as golf’s 5th major would be a real “ripper.”
Will such a development actually happen?
It’s a clear long shot. However, golf overall would certainly benefit from that taking place.
