The PGA Tour has events nearly every weekend, but there are some that matter a lot more than others. There are four annual major championships which are the most prestigious and watched of the year while also serving as touchstones for the season as a whole.
The Masters - The first major of the year since it was founded in 1934, the Masters has taken place on the second weekend of April at Augusta National Golf Course in Augusta, Georgia nearly every year without fail.
The winner gets to join the pantheon of Masters champions and get fitted for their own famed green jacket. Jack Nicklaus holds the record for most wins at the Masters with six, with Tiger Woods right behind him on five.
PGA - The second major of the season is the PGA Championship, which was founded in 1916 and is played at a variety of courses across the Eastern and Midwestern United States. It is now played on the weekend before Memorial Day weekend in May, but before 2019, it was played in late August as the final major of the year.
More than half of the PGA Championships have been played at a course in the East North Central or Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. Nicklaus has won a record five PGA Championships, with Woods once again right behind on four.
U.S. Open - Founded in 1895, the U.S. Open is the third major of the year, generally contested some time in June at a wide range of American golf courses all over the country which usually place a premium on difficult scoring and accurate driving.
Willie Anderson, Bobby Jones, Ben Hogan, and Jack Nicklaus are all tied for the most U.S. Open wins with four. The upcoming 123rd U.S. Open will take place at Los Angeles Country Club from June 15th to June 18th.
British Open - The fourth and final major of the PGA Tour calendar is the legendary British Open. Also called The Open Championship or simply, The Open, it was founded in 1860 in Fife, Scotland, and is the oldest golf tournament in the world, with the 151st edition taking place from July 20th to July 23rd at the Royal Liverpool Golf Club in Merseyside.
The Open is not played at the same course every year, but over a third of them have been played at either St. Andrews or Prestwick, both of which are in Scotland. Harry Vardon holds the record for the most wins at the British Open with six, all of which came before the start of the First World War.