Golfers Who Won the Same Major 3 (or More) Times in a Row
It hasn't happened in any major since the mid-1950s, and the golfer who did it then was the first since the mid-1920s. Three of the six three-peats occurred in the 1800s. In other words, it's really, really hard to win the same major three times in a row. Bobby Jones never did it, neither did Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus or Tiger Woods.
4 Consecutive Wins in the Same Major
Two golfers have won the same major four times in a row:
Young Tom Morris, British Open, 1868-72
That's a five-year span, but the Open wasn't played in 1871. Why? Because when Morris won three in a row from 1868-70, he retired the then-trophy (a championship belt). It took tournament organizers a year to come up with a new trophy (the Claret Jug). But when the Open returned in 1872, Morris added a fourth consecutive win.
Walter Hagen, PGA Championship, 1924-27
Hagen's wins happened in the PGA Championship's match play era. From 1924 through 1927, Hagen's vanquished foes in the final match were, respectively, Jim Barnes, Wild Bill Mehlhorn, Leo Diegel and Joe Turnesa.
3 Consecutive Wins in the Same Major
Four golfers have won the same major three times in a row:
Jamie Anderson, British Open, 1877-79
Jamie Anderson and the following golfer on our list, Bob Ferguson, each won the Open three times in a row — and they did it back-to-back. After Anderson's three-peat, he didn't enter in 1880. He died in a poorhouse in the early 1900s.
Bob Ferguson, British Open, 1880-1882
Bob Ferguson took over from Anderson, and in 1881 Ferguson won by beating the runner-up Anderson by three strokes. Going for the four-peat in 1883, Ferguson lost in a playoff to Willie Fernie.
Willie Anderson, U.S. Open, 1903-05
The only golfer with three consecutive wins in the U.S. Open, Willie Anderson also won in 1901 — four wins in five years. That made him the first to win this major four times, and he still shares that record. Anderson was the dominant player in America during his heyday, also posting four wins in the Western Open. But he died in 1910 at age 31 from complications due to epilepsy.
Peter Thomson, British Open, 1954-56
The last golfer to win the same major three times or more consecutively was this Australian great. The year before his streak began, Thomson shared second place behind 1953 Open champion Ben Hogan. The year his streak ended, he was runner-up to Bobby Locke in the 1957 Open. Then Thomson won again at the 1958 Open. So from 1953-58, in six Opens, Thomson was runner-up twice and the champion four times. He added a fifth victory in the 1965 British Open.
Related articles:
- Golf's major winners over the age of 40
- Golfers who finished second at all four majors
- Golfers who won on the PGA Tour the week before winning a major
Photo credit: Peter Thomson by Mercury newspaper, via Wikimedia Commons
