Social Golf Concentrate - Majors (subEagle)

What the Majors mean to players	David Duval Two months after double-D lost to Mark O’Meara in the 1998 US Masters, while retelling the story, he leaned forward and took a deep breath. ‘I swear to God,’ he said, ‘just thinking about it again makes my stomach hurt all over.’ Duval learned on that day the difference between all the other golf tournaments and the four majors. THE PAIN. ‘Never, ever, have I felt like that at the end of a golf tournament,’ he said. ‘It was as if every bit of adrenaline and energy I had ever had just went out of me. Right then I understood what the majors are all about. Really and truly understood for the first time.’ David won the 2001 Open Championship for his one and only Major. Mark O'Meara After winning the US Masters when he sank the birdie on the 18^th green to deny David Duval a chance for a playoff, and after the public ceremony; talking to the print media, then the TV, and accepting all the congratulations of everyone, and wearing the green jacket; something occurred to him. He had no idea how much money he had for winning the tournament. ‘First time in my life,’ he said. ‘I won the golf tournament and six hours later, I did not have a clue how much the winner’s cheque was for.’ It did not matter. He played for History. Mark won the Open Championship the same year that he won the US Masters.
The First Major	The 1^st major was The Open Championship staged in 1860 at Prestwick, Scotland. It wasn’t really an open since it was open only to professionals.
The Grand Slam	There is considerable disagreement on exactly when the notion of golf’s current Grand Slam came into being. In 1953, when Ben Hogan became the first man to win the U.S. Masters, the U.S. Open and the Open Championship in the same year, he did not even play in the PGA Championship. In 1930, when Bobby Jones won his historic Grand Slam, the 4 events that made up the Slam were the U.S Open, the Open Championship, the U.S Amateur and the British Amateur. In today’s world, the majors are the U.S Masters, The U.S Open, The Open Championship and the PGA. Jack Nicklaus’s 18 victories in those four events is considered the watershed number in sports, any sports.

·	Willie Park won the 36-hole event beating Old Tom Morris
·	A year later when amateurs were allowed to compete, Old Tom won over Willie Park
·	In the 1^st 8 years of the Open, Old Tom Morris won it 4 times and Willie Park won it 3 times
·	In 1865, Andrew Strait beat Park
·	Park and Old Tom then won the next 2 before Young Tom Morris (son of Old Tom) won the next four