Golfing Lists

Seniors Golf

Majors

Seniors Home | Golfing Stats Home | Contents

The Senior PGA Championship is one of the present-day five Senior Majors, and can claim to be the oldest, having been inaugurated in 1937. However, Majors as such, were not created until after the launch of the Senior PGA Tour in 1980 when it recognised the PGA Championship and the US Senior Open as the first two Majors. Before the end of the 1980s there were four Majors, all played in the USA and in 2003, the Senior British Open became the fifth Major. Unlike most events on the US and European Seniors Tours, the Majors are played over four rounds of 18 holes (not three rounds).

The present-day five Senior Majors are:
Senior PGA Championship (1980) First held in 1937.
U.S. Senior Open (1980) First held in 1980.
Senior Players Championship (1983) First held in 1983.
The Tradition (1989) First held in 1989.
The Senior (British) Open Championship (2003) First held in 1987.

Years in brackets indicate the year each event became one of the Majors

The most wins in each of the five Majors has been:
Records are only for the period an event has been a Major (except the Senior British Open - see below).
Information correct up to and including 2025 | All golfers from the USA unless otherwise stated.

Senior PGA Championship

Wins	Golfer (Country)	Years
4	Hale Irwin	1996-98, 2004
3	Gary Player (South Africa)	1983, 1986, 1990
2	Arnold Palmer	1980, 1984
2	Lee Trevino	1992,1994
2	Jay Haas	2006, 2008
2	Tom Watson	2001,2011
2	Colin Montgomerie (Scotland)	2015-16

Sam Snead won the Championship six times between 1964-73 when it was not classed as a Major.

The first winner of the Senior PGA Championship on 2 December 1937 was Scotland's Jock Hutchison. The first winner of the PGA as a Major was Arnold Palmer on 7 December 1980.

US Senior Open

Wins	Golfer (Country)	Years
3	Miller Barber	1982, 1984-85
2	Gary Player (South Africa)	1987-88
2	Jack Nicklaus	1991, 1993
2	Hale Irwin	1998, 2000
2	Allen Doyle	2005-06
2	Kenny Perry	2013, 2017
2	Bernhard Langer (Germany)	2010, 2023
2	Pádraig Harrington (Ireland)	2022, 2025

The first winner of the US Senior Open on 29 June 1980 was Roberto de Vicenzo (Argentina).

Senior Players Championship

Wins	Golfer (Country)	Years
3	Bernhard Langer (Germany)	2014-16
2	Arnold Palmer	1984-85
2	Dave Stockton	1992, 1994
2	Ray Floyd	1996, 2000
2	Jerry Kelly	2020, 2022
2	Steve Stricker	2021, 2023

The first winner of the Senior Players Championship (Then called the Senior Tournament Players Championship) on 12 June 1983 was Miller Barber.

The Tradition

Wins	Golfer (Country)	Years
4	Jack Nicklaus	1990-91, 1995-96
3	Steve Stricker	2019, 2022-23
2	Gil Morgan	1997-98
2	Fred Funk	2008, 2010
2	Tom Lehman	2011-12
2	Bernhard Langer (Germany)	2016-17

The first winner of the Tradition on 16 April 1989 was Don Bies.

The Senior (British) Open Championship

Wins	Golfer (Country)	Years
4	Bernhard Langer (Germany)	2010, 2014, 2017, 2019
3	Gary Player (South Africa)	1988, 1990, 1997
3	Tom Watson	2003, 2005, 2007
2	Bob Charles (New Zealand)	1898, 1993
2	Brian Barnes (Scotland)	1995-96
2	Christy O’Connor, Jr (Ireland)	1999-2000
2	Loren Roberts	2006, 2009

The first winner of the Open as a Major on 27 July 2003 was Tom Watson. However, all winners from its launch in 1987 were retroactively credited as winning a Major in 2018. The first winner on 26 Juy 1987 was Neil Coles (England). It was known as the Seniors' British Open at the time.

Most Career Majors

LEGEND: PGA (Senior PGA Championship), USO (U.S. Senior Open), SPC (Senior Players Championship) TDN (The Tradition), SBO (Senior British Open Championship.

Wins	Golfer (Country)	First Win	Last Win	PGA	USO	SPC	TDN	SBO
12	Bernhard Langer (Germany)	2010	2023	1	2	3	2	4
9	Gary Player (South Africa) *	1986	1997	3	2	1	0	3
8	Jack Nicklaus	1990	1996	1	2	1	4	0
7	Hale Irwin	1996	2004	4	2	1	0	0
7	Steve Stricker	2019	2023	1	1	2	3	0
6	Tom Watson	2001	2011	2	0	0	1	3
5	Miller Barber	1981#	1985	1	3	1	0	0
5	Arnold Palmer	1980†	1985	2	1	2	0	0

* Gary Player won 3 Senior (British) Open Championships prior to it becoming one of the Majors in 2003, but were retroactively added to the list of Major wins in 2018.
# Indicates 1982 tournament but played in December 1981
† Indicates 1981 tournament but played in December 1980

Most Majors in One Year

Total	Golfer (Country)	Year	Majors Won
3	Gary Player (South Africa)	1988	PGA Championship, US Open,British Open
3	Jack Nicklaus	1991	Tradition, PGA Championship, US Open
3	Steve Stricker	2013	Tradition, PGA Championship, Senior Players
3	Bernhard Langer (Germany)	2017	Tradition, PGA Championship, British Open

Lowest 4-Round Totals in a Major

Total	Golfer (Country)	Year/Major
261	Jack Nicklaus	1990 Senior Players Championship
261	Kenny Perry	2013 Senior Players Championship
261	Steve Stricker	2019 US Senior Open
263	Tom Watson	2003 Senior British Open
263	Carl Mason (England) *	2003 Senior British Open
264	Bruce Summerhays †	2003 Senior British Open
264	Marco Dawson	2015 Senior British Open
264	Kenny Perry	2017 US Senior Open
264	Pádraig Harrington (Ireland)	2025 Senior British Open

* Runner-up † Finished third
The lowest 4-round totals in the other Majors are :
Senior PGA Championship: 265 Rocco Mediate 2016, Paul Broadhurst (England) 2018.
The Tradition: 265 Doug Tewell 2001, Steve Stricker 2023.

Biggest Winning Margins in a Major

Margin	Golfer (Country)	Year/Major
13	Bernard Langer (Germany)	2014 Senior British Open
12	Hale Irwin	1997 Senior PGA Championship
11	Arnold Palmer	1985 Senior Players Championship
9	Jim Thope	2001 The Tradition
7	Bob Charles (New Zealand)	1989 Senior British Open
7	Hale Irwin	1999 Senior Players Championship
7	Bob Tewell	2000 Senior PGA Championship

The biggest winning margin in the US Senior Open is 6, achieved by three golfers: Gary Player (South Africa) 1987, Fred Funk 2009, Steve Stricker 2019.

Sam Snead won the Senior PGA Championship by 15 strokes in 1973, prior to the event becoming a Major.

Seniors Home | Golfing Stats Home | Contents