The golf world has descended on Augusta National this week for a tradition unlike any other: the annual playing of The Masters tournament. And with Rory McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau engaged in a final-round showdown for the ages, this has been among the most memorable editions in recent memory.
But The Masters marks what is only the beginning of golf's major championship schedule, one of four tournaments that comprise the sport's grand slam. Augusta always comes first, the sight of the azaleas marking the unofficial beginning of spring — and the start of the heart of the golf calendar. Here's everything you need to know about how that calendar shapes up in 2025, and the three biggest tournaments that aren't The Masters.
What are the four major championships in golf?
The Masters
2025 date: April 10-13
2025 location: Augusta National Golf Club, Augusta, Georgia
Outside of the COVID-postponed 2020 edition, The Masters has become an institution on the second weekend of April. The tournament is independently operated by Augusta National Golf Club, but its history and pageantry has still turned it into arguably the most important event on golf's calendar each year. It also has the smallest field of any of golf's four majors, focusing on past champions as well as winners on the PGA Tour and in other major championships.
PGA Championship
2025 date: May 15–18
2025 location: Quail Hollow Club, Charlotte, North Carolina
Next up on the calendar is the PGA Championship, organized each year by the PGA of America. Initially held in mid-August, it was moved to the weekend before Memorial Day back in 2019, where it's remained since. The only one of golf's majors that's restricted exclusively to professionals, it guarantees winners an invitation to the other three majors and The Players Championship for the next five years as well as membership on the PGA Tour.
This year's edition will be held at Quail Hollow, which previously hosted the tournament back in 2017.
U.S. Open
2025 date: June 12-15
2025 location: Oakmont Country Club, Plum, Pennsylvania
The Masters may be golf's most coveted championship, but the U.S. Open might present its single toughest test. The tournament rotates through a variety of locations, with the USGA consistently prioritizing making scoring conditions as difficult as possible — if you can't hit the fairway consistently off the tee, good luck.
The 2025 U.S. Open will be held at Oakmont Country Club, one of the most storied courses in the country. Opened back in 1903, this will be its 10th time hosting golf's national championship, and it's proven notoriously unforgiving.
Open Championship
2025 date: July 17-20
2025 location: Royal Portrush Golf Club, Portrush, Northern Ireland
The Open Championship stands apart from the rest thanks to its commitment to links golf, and its stature as the oldest tournament in the world. It's been held every year since 1860, originally at Prestwick in Scotland and now rotating among a variety of links courses around the U.K.
Links golf is its own beast, played along the coasts and embracing the natural topography of the surrounding land. Success on a links course doesn't have all that much to do with success on other courses. This year's edition will be held at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland, which first hosted the Open in 1951.