Terminology, improved playing equipment, and better landscaping of courses hallmarked the progress of the sport of golf in the 20th Century. Great golfers such as the Morrises, Robert Ferguson, the Parkes, John T. Taylor, and Harry Vardon (who played in the first 40 years of the British Open) helped push the sport into the 20th Century and form a new era of a more modern game.
In 1930, the term Grand Slam was used for the first time to describe golf heroics. Sweet-swinging Bobby Jones won four tournaments that year — the U.S. Open, the British Open, the U.S. Amateur, and the British Amateur. He was the linkster of the era.
When Jones retired from competitive play at the age of 28 — he never turned professional — the term Grand Slam was also retired.
It was not until 1960, when Arnold Palmer was the U.S. Open and the Masters champion, as well as placed the one-stroke runner-up to Kel Nagle in that year’s British Open at St. Andrews course in Scotland, that the term Grand Slam was revived. Since then, Grand Slam is the term used for a golfer’s victory in the Masters, the U.S. Open, the British Open, and the PGA (Professional Golfers Association) Championship.)
No golfer has ever accomplished this single season Grand Slam. A career Grand Slam refers to a golfer’s achievement in winning all four of the major tournaments at some time in his entire career.
Jones was the architect of the Masters tournament, founding the event and its site in 1934. It is annually played at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia, USA, and has become the kick-off event to the season’s four majors.
Including the amateur championships, Jones triumphed against professionals in 13 prestigious tournaments. He is number three all-time in such wins behind only the Golden Bear — Jack Nicklaus’ 20 wins — and Tiger Woods’ 17 victories. Nicklaus won two Amateurs and Woods garnered three amateur championships. (Note*: On the early 2019 tour, Tiger Woods accomplishment an unprecedented career reversal to win the Masters, giving him a total of 18 major wins counting amateur championships.)
Horton Smith won the first Masters against Craig Wood, scoring 284, in 1934.
Jones and Walter Hagen were the most significant golfers of the 1920s. Hagen is fourth on the all-time list of majors won with 11, which includes no Amateur tournament titles. Combined, Jones and Hagen won six U.S. Open championships, which made that tournament the showcase of the United States Golf Association through its early years.
The first American to win the U.S. Open was John McDermott. He accomplished the feat in 1911 at Chicago Golf Club, then followed up in 1912 with a second straight win at Country Club of Buffalo, New York.
From a player’s standpoint, the PGA will always be dominated by Hagen’s four straight titles in the tournament from 1924 through 1927.
The first PGA was played in 1916. Jim Barnes claimed victory over Jock Hutchison at Siwanoy Country Club in Bronxville, New York.
The U.S. Open began in 1895. Its first 20th Century winner was Vardon in 1900, who won over Taylor at Chicago Golf Club, Wheaton, Illinois. The British Open winner that year was Taylor. He won the title over Vardon at St. Andrews.
In the beginning of the British Open, not many American golfers traveled overseas after World War II to play in the tournament. Sam Snead in 1946 and Ben Hogan in 1953 were notable entrants. They were two of America’s best golfers of their era.
When the very charismatic Palmer followed Snead and Hogan’s participation by entering the 1960 British Open, the tournament received the “American boost” that catapulted it into a popular event in the big four cycle.
These early golfers helped forge the way in their sport’s history. Most of them can be found in the Top Twenty of golfing greats.
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Champions In Sport 