The career grand slam in golf might be the ultimate sign of greatness in the sport. The modern career grand slam is achieved when a player has won The Masters, the US Open, The Open Championship and the PGA Championship in their career.
Obviously, simply winning four major titles in a career is a sign of greatness in itself. However, to win each of the four major championships requires a different test and skill set, especially with every event outside of The Masters changing venues every year. It's the true testament to being a complete player for a long, sustained portion of your career.
Rory McIlroy came into The Masters yet again chasing the career grand slam, and had the chance to put his name among a list of truly the greatest players in the history of professional golf.
Which players have won the career grand slam in golf?
Six golfers have completed the career grand slam in golf: Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy with his triumphant win at the 2025 Masters Tournament. That's the who's who among the history of the sport that have completed this illustrious feat. Let's take a look at how they all did it as well with their victories in each of the four modern major championships.
Player | The Masters Wins | US Open Wins | Open Championship Wins | PGA Championship Wins |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Gene Sarazen | 1935 | 1922, 1932 | 1932 | 1922, 1923, 1933 |
Ben Hogan | 1951, 1953 | 1948, 1950, 1951, 1953 | 1953 | 1946, 1948 |
Gary Player | 1961, 1974, 1978 | 1965 | 1959, 1968, 1974 | 1962, 1972 |
Jack Nicklaus | 1963, 1965, 1966, 1972, 1975, 1986 | 1962, 1967, 1972, 1980 | 1966, 1970, 1978 | 1963, 1971, 1973, 1975, 1980 |
Tiger Woods | 1997, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2019 | 2000, 2002, 2008 | 2000, 2005, 2006 | 1999, 2000, 2006, 2007 |
Rory McIlroy | 2025 | 2011 | 2012 | 2012, 2014 |
Sarazen was the first player to complete the modern career grand slam, doing so with his win at The Masters in 1935. However, only two players have done it in the even more modern era of golf since 1966, which would be Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods. Fittingly, those two stand a cut above the rest of the sport's history with 18 and 15 major championship victories, respectively.
It's worth noting that Bobby Jones also completed the career grand slam at the time in his career, but that was a much different era in golf when it came to major championships. In Jones's heyday, the U.S. Amateur and the British Amateur were considered majors alongside the US Open and Open Championship. He completed the career grand slam and actually held all four of the then-major titles in 1930 at the same time.
The 'Tiger Slam' and its place in career grand slam history
While Bobby Jones held the amateur titles and the original grand slam, Tiger Woods is the only player in the modern era to hold all four major championship titles at the same time. He completed the endeavor after winning the U.S. Open, Open Championship and PGA Championship in 2000 and then capturing the his second Masters win to begin the 2001 major championship season.
Dubbed the "Tiger Slam" since Woods didn't win all four major championships in the same year but did complete the career grand slam in four consecutive majors (he'd actually already accomplished the feat with his 2000 Open Championship win), which is something that Nicklaus and no other golfer in the modern era can say they've done.
And people wonder how great Tiger was — that tells you everything you need to know.
Which current golfers are close to the career grand slam?
Jordan Spieth and Phil Mickelson are the three current golfers still competing in major championships that are one win away from the career grand slam. Spieth is still searching for a PGA Championship in his career to complete it and a US Open win has eluded Mickelson in his career.
They aren't alone, to be sure, as many of the game's all-time greats also fell one major short of the career grand slam. Arnold Palmer, Byron Nelson, Raymond Floyd, Lee Trevino, Tom Watson and several others all came up one leg shy of putting their name on the coveted list.
Women's career grand slam gets a bit too complicated
Technically, there are seven women's players who have completed the career grand slam. However, the ever-changing nature of major designations in women's golf really convolutes that fact. There have been numerous changes over the years that have ultimately made it hard to consider what the "real" grand slam is and otherwise.
Having said that, the seven players throughout different eras to complete the women's grand slam are Karrie Webb, Mickey Wright, Louise Suggs, Juli Inkster, Pat Bradley, Annika Sorenstam and Inbee Park.