1st of January, 2024. A new year begins where great golf stories will be written. Surely, exceptional things will happen that will forever remain in our memory and in the annals. While we wait for that, here today we are going to remember great moments that happened in the past in the Majors and that this year will celebrate a round anniversary. It’s time to get excited again…
Open Championship
– 40 years. It is the one that touches us most closely, as it not only became an iconic moment in the history of golf, but even in sport. It’s been four decades since the legendary “I put it in, I put it in” by Seve Ballesteros after winning the Open Championship at St Andrews. It was his second British and his fourth Major. He was only 27 years old.
– 160 years. From the third victory in the Open by Old Tom Morris.
– 150 years. From the last Open played by Young Tom Morris. His son. He finished second after Mungo Park. He would die a year later with four victories in the British (1868, 1869, 1870 and 1872).
– 130 years. From the first Open of JH Taylor, an English golfer who would total five victories. He won in the first edition held at Royal St George’s.
– 110 years. From the sixth and last Open of Harry Vardon. No one has managed to match that figure more than a century later. He won the last one in 1914 at Prestwick. By the way, Vardon was first or second in the Open for six consecutive years (1898 – 1903).
– 70 years. From the first Open of Peter Thomson. He won five.
– 50 years. From the third and last Open Championship of Gary Player.
Masters of Augusta
– 30 years. For obvious reasons, here we start this emotional review with the first victory of José María Olazábal in 1994.
– 90 years. From the first edition of the Masters in 1934. There the legend was born.
– 70 years. From the last Masters of Sam Snead. He won three.
– 60 years. From the last of the four Masters that Arnold Palmer won in his career.
– 40 years. Since Seve Ballesteros put the Green Jacket on Ben Crenshaw. In 2024 another Spaniard, Jon Rahm, will have that same honour with the new winner.
– 20 years. From the first Masters and first Major of Phil Mickelson. Twenty years since he managed to get rid of the runner-up label. He did it in a big way. Since then he has won six.
PGA Championship
– 60 years. From one of the most impressive anonymous victories in the history of the Majors. It was achieved by Bobby Nichols and not so much for his victory as for who he beat. In second position, three strokes behind, were tied Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus.
– 50 and 40 years. From the first and second victory of Lee Treviño in the PGA.
– 10 years. From the last PGA Championship and last Major (easily said) won by Rory McIlroy.
US Open Championship
– 110 years. From the first US Open of Walter Hagen. It was also his first Major. From there he would win no less than eleven.
– 100 years. From the second place of Bobby Jones after Cyril Walker. This anniversary serves us to remember a fabulous statistic of the legendary Atlanta lawyer in this Major. He finished first or second on eight occasions in the nine editions between 1922 and 1930.
– 60 years. From the only Major won by Ken Venturi. The popular American golfer became the first in history to win coming from the previous round. It was also the last time that 36 holes were played on the last and definitive day. Shortly after he was diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome in both wrists and he was never the same again.
PS: This is our selection and, obviously, it is neither absolute nor definitive. Surely all fans would have made their own selection of the most outstanding anniversaries in the history of the Majors.
