PGA Grand Slam of Golf (Winners, Records)
First played: 1979
Last played: 2014
It's the "or alternates" part of the intro above that mostly led to the Grand Slam of Golf's demise. In early 2016, the PGA of America announced the permanent end of the Grand Slam. One thing that hastened its demise was the PGA Tour's switch to a wraparound schedule, creating scheduling conflicts. The much bigger reason was the PGA, by the end, was simply having trouble getting the year's major championship winners to commit to playing the event.
It did carry some prestige at one time, however. The idea was to bring the four major winners together to go head-to-head. Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player were among the four who competed in the first.
Tiger Woods won it seven times, Greg Norman three times. Woods and Phil Mickelson share the tournament scoring record of 127 for 36 holes. The 18-hole record is 59, set by Mickelson in 2004.
The Grand Slam of Golf was originally just 18 holes of stroke play; it eventually expanded to 36 holes. And there were two years when it used a match-play format.
If one golfer won two or more majors, opening one (or more) of the four spots, the PGA invited a non-major winner to fill the open slot. The PGA did the same thing when, as increasingly happened in later years, not all of the major winners agreed to play.
List of Winners of the PGA Grand Slam of Golf
These are the yearly winners. In parentheses are the major championships the golfers won to get into the PGA Grand Slam of Golf. A (a) after a golfer's name denotes that golfer did not win a major and got into the event as an alternate.
2014 — Martin Kaymer (U.S. Open), 136
2013 — Adam Scott (Masters), 134
2012 — Padraig Harrington (a), 133
2011 — Keegan Bradley (PGA Championship), 138
2010 — Ernie Els (a), 137
2009 — Lucas Glover (U.S. Open), 131
2008 — Jim Furyk (a), 136
2007 — Angel Cabrera (U.S. Open), 136
2006 — Tiger Woods (British Open, PGA Championship), 136
2005 — Tiger Woods (Masters, British Open), 131
2004 — Phil Mickelson (Masters), 127
2003 — Jim Furyk (U.S. Open), 135
2002 — Tiger Woods (Masters, U.S. Open), 127
2001 — Tiger Woods (Masters), 132
2000 — Tiger Woods (U.S. Open, British Open, PGA Championship), 139
1999 — Tiger Woods (PGA Championship) def. Davis Love III, 3 and 2
1998 — Tiger Woods (a) def. Vijay Singh, 2-up
1997 — Ernie Els (U.S. Open), 133
1996 — Tom Lehman (British Open), 134
1995 — Ben Crenshaw (Masters), 140
1994 — Greg Norman (a), 136
1993 — Greg Norman (British Open), 145
1992 — Nick Price (PGA Championship), 137
1991 — Ian Woosnam (Masters), 135
Note: Prior to 1991, the four golfers played only one, 18-hole round.
1990 — Andy North (a), 70
1989 — Curtis Strange (U.S. Open), 73
1988 — Larry Nelson (PGA Championship), 69
1987 — Not played
1986 — Greg Norman (British Open), 70
1985 — Not played
1984 — Not played
1983 — Not played
1982 — Bill Rogers (British Open), 71
1981 — Lee Trevino (a), 68
1980 — Lanny Wadkins (a), 71
1979 — (tie) Gary Player (Masters) and Andy North (U.S. Open), 73
Golf courses: The Grand Slam of Golf started off rotating to different courses each year. Eventually, the PGA began choosing sites that hosted for multiple years in a row. Those included Kemper Lakes Golf Club (1986-90), PGA West Nicklaus Resort Course (1992-93), Poipu Bay Golf Course (1994-2006) in Hawaii, Mid Ocean Club (2007-08) in Bermuda, and Port Royal Golf Course (2009-2014) in Bermuda.
