Brothers Who Won Major Championships in Golf
Have there been any pairs of brothers in golf history who both won major championships? Yes, there have been several. But they are all in the distant past: The most-recent brothers to join the following list did so in 1960.
The Parks
Willie Park Sr. and Mungo Park. The Park family (which also included another major champion, Willie's son Willie Park Jr.) battled the Morris family for supremacy in the earliest days of professional golf. Willie was the winner over the very first Open Championship in 1860. And he won three more British Opens (1863, 1866, 1875). When Mungo won the 1874 Open, the Park brothers became the first siblings to both win majors.
The Auchterlonies
Willie Auchterlonie and Laurie Auchterlonie. Willie was the younger of the brothers, but he claimed a major trophy first — the 1893 Open Championship, when he was 21 years old. Laurie was among the wave of Scottish golf pros moving to America in the late 1800s/early 1900s. He won the eighth U.S. Open played, in 1902, and was the first golfer to break 80 in all four rounds of a U.S. Open.
The Herds
Fred Herd and Sandy Herd. Sandy was the older, better-known and more accomplished of the Herd brothers, but Fred first notched victory in a major. Fred won the 1898 U.S. Open. Sandy had been runner-up in the British Open twice before winning it in 1902, and he was runner-up twice more after that (including in 1920 at age 52). Sandy was the first golfer to win a major using the Haskell ball (which replaced the gutta-percha ball), and he is credited with popularizing the waggle.
The Smiths
Willie Smith and Alex Smith. Willie won the 1899 U.S. Open by 11 strokes, a margin-of-victory record not broken until Tiger Woods won the 2000 U.S. Open by 15. (Willie also won the very first Western Open in 1899, beating Laurie Auchterlonie in a playoff). Willie finished runner-up in two other U.S. Opens. One of those was the 1906 U.S. Open, which Alex Smith won. Alex had finished second himself in three U.S. Opens already by that point. Then he also won the 1910 U.S. Open in a 3-man playoff that included another Smith brother, Macdonald Smith. Macdonald eventually won more than his two brothers combined, but never won a major.
The Heberts
Lionel Hebert and Jay Hebert. The Heberts are the last pair of brothers to both win majors. Lionel won the 1957 PGA Championship, which was the last one to use a match-play format. He beat Dow Finsterwald, 2 and 1, in the title match. Three years later, Jay added his name to the PGA Championship roster of champions, winning that major (which switched to stroke play in 1958) in 1960.And that's it. Five pairs of major-championship brothers, and none since the Heberts joined the list in 1960. Have any brothers come close since then? Not particularly. Lanny Wadkins won the 1977 PGA Championship and brother Bobby finished as high as fourth (in 1987) in a major. But there are multiple pairs of brothers playing professional tours now, and it won't be a surprise if this list grows in the future.
Related articles:
