The Exclusive Club: Golf’s Career Grand Slam
Only five men in history have achieved golf’s career Grand Slam. Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods stand alone in this elite fraternity.
Rory McIlroy could join them Sunday. A Masters victory would complete his collection, adding to the 2011 U.S. Open, 2012 PGA Championship and 2014 Open Championship already in his trophy case.
The modern Grand Slam requires winning all four majors: the Masters Tournament, PGA Championship, U.S. Open and Open Championship. It’s a mountain few have climbed, despite many legends making it most of the way up.
Bobby Jones actually completed his own version of the Slam back in 1930, winning the U.S. Amateur, U.S. Open, British Amateur and British Open all in the same year. Writer O.B. Keeler famously called it the “impregnable quadrilateral” – quite the mouthful for an unprecedented achievement.
But the professional Grand Slam concept didn’t fully take shape until 1960. That’s when Arnold Palmer, fresh off wins at the Masters and U.S. Open, coined the phrase while traveling to The Open Championship with his friend and writer Bob Drum. Palmer ultimately won The Open twice in his career but never captured the PGA Championship to complete his own Slam.
Here’s when each member of golf’s most exclusive club first won each major:
- Gene Sarazen: 1922 U.S. Open, 1922 PGA Championship, 1932 Open Championship, 1935 Masters
- Ben Hogan: 1946 PGA Championship, 1948 U.S. Open, 1951 Masters, 1953 Open Championship
- Gary Player: 1959 Open Championship, 1961 Masters, 1962 PGA Championship, 1965 U.S. Open
- Jack Nicklaus: 1962 U.S. Open, 1963 Masters, 1963 PGA Championship, 1966 Open Championship
- Tiger Woods: 1997 Masters, 1999 PGA Championship, 2000 U.S. Open, 2000 Open Championship
Tiger also accomplished something entirely his own at the height of his powers. The “Tiger Slam” saw him hold all four major championships simultaneously – winning the 2000 U.S. Open, 2000 Open Championship, 2000 PGA Championship and 2001 Masters in succession. It wasn’t a calendar Slam, but it was unprecedented dominance that may never be matched.
Now McIlroy has his chance to make history at Augusta. Ten years after his last major victory, he could finally complete the set that’s eluded him for so long.
