The four Majors, in the order they are currently played each year are:

US MASTERS
The Masters was the idea of the leading amateur golfer Robert Tyre "Bobby" Jones, and investment banker Clifford Roberts. It was first held between 22-25 March 1934 and won by Horton Smith, who won by one stroke from Craig Wood after sinking a 20-foot putt for a birdie at the 17th. An invitation-only event the Masters is traditionally the first Major of the year, currently held in April. It has the smallest field of all the four Majors.

The Masters is the only Major held over the same course each year, the August National in Georgia. The course was also the brainchild of Jones and Roberts, while Jones and Alistair MacKenzie were responsible for its design.

The Masters is notable for the famous green jacket presented to the winner each year. This idea came after Jones won the British Open at the Royal Liverpool club in 1930. After winning, he was presented with a red jacket like the one that all the club's captains wore. He adapted the same idea, but changed the jacket colour from red to green, and in 1949 the famous jacket was presented to the winner, Sam Snead, for the first time. All winners prior to 1949 were retrospectively awarded a Green Jacket.

PGA CHAMPIONSHIP
A few months after the formation of the Professional Golfers` Association of America (The PGA) in 1916, they staged their first first Championship. Held between 10-14 October that year at the Siwanoy Country Club, New York, England’s Jim Barnes beat Scotland’s Jock Hutchison 1-up in a 36-hole match-play final. The second PGA was not until 1919 due to War Years. In 1958 the PGA became a stroke-play event and the first winner under the changed format was Dow Finsterwald.

The  winner of the Championship receives the Wanamaker trophy, named after department store owner Rodman Wanamaker, one of the founders of the PGA. The current trophy is the second version after Walter Hagen allegedly “misplaced” the original after winning it for the third time in 1925. A replacement trophy was commissioned and is presented to the winner each year who, upon returning it to the PGA after 12 months, receives a replica.

US OPEN
The US Open is organised by the United States Golf Association (USGA). The first tournament was held over four rounds of the 9-hole Newport Country Club, Rhode Island, on a single day, 4 October 1895. The inaugural USPGA Amateur Championship was also held over the same course that same week.

The Open became the second Major after the British Open, and the inaugural winner was Englishman Horace Rawlins, who beat Scotland’s Willie Dunn by two strokes. Now dominated by US golfers, it was not until 1911 that the Open had its first American-born winner, 19-year-old John McDermott from Philadelphia.

The winner of each Championship receives the 18-inch-high silver trophy to retain for 12 months. He also receives a gold medal which, since 2012, has been called the “Jack Nicklaus Medal”. The current trophy is a replacement, because the original was destroyed in a fire in 1946.

BRITISH OPEN
In the 1850s Scotland’s Allan Robertson was regarded as Britain’s finest golfer. Upon his death in 1859 it was decided to hold a tournament to see who would take that title. On 17 October 1860, over three rounds of the 12-hole Prestwick golf course in Ayrshire, Scotland, eight professional golfers from around Britain (but mostly Scotland) gathered. The inaugural winner was Willie Park, Sr. who beat fellow Scot Old Tom Morris by two strokes.

Prestwick hosted the first 12 Championships and, like courses used for The Open was a coastal links course. Amateurs were allowed to take part from 1861.

Initially, the winner received a red Moroccan leather belt. After wining it three years in succession in 1870, Young Tom Morris was allowed to keep the Belt. As a result, there was no Championship in 1871 and upon its return the following year, the winner received a gold medal. The Golf Champion Trophy, known as the Claret Jug, was made by an Edinburgh company as a replacement for the Belt, and made its first appearance in 1873 and has been presented to all subsequent winners of the Open Championship. The current trophy is the second one, as the original has been on display at the R&A at St Andrews since 1928.