The Seven Best Years for Golf Majors From 1970 to Today

Morning Read's John Hawkins ranks the best vintages of golf's four majors, beginning with 1972 when Jack Nicklaus (twice), Lee Trevino and Gary Player each won.

Even a seasoned sports junkie would have trouble recalling a more memorable stretch of football than what the NFL playoffs have delivered over the last two weekends. Six huge games, all hanging in the balance down to the wire, four of which were won by the visiting team, two of which went into overtime….

We’re seeing a lot more of Peyton and Eli now than we ever saw while they were playing.

It was during one of those commercial breaks that a beautiful vision appeared out of nowhere — kind of like Halle Berry in a gambling ad. What if pro golf produced such a captivating stretch of competitive drama? Would the chemists finally defeat COVID-19 on a last-second field goal? Would people dance in the streets? Would Tony Romo finally shut up?

No, no and no. It would, however, join these seven candidates on the short list of golf’s best major-championship years since 1970.

1972

We start with the heart of the lineup as the game journeyed into the final third of the 20th century. You won’t find a better representation of superstardom in any era: Jack Nicklaus won the Masters and U.S. Open before Lee Trevino killed Jack’s Grand Slam bid at the British Open and Gary Player claimed the PGA Championship. If we’d gone back another 10 years, 1960 might have unseated this one, but the chronological line has to be drawn somewhere. Besides, the ‘60s was probably the weakest decade of the bunch in terms of start-to-finish appeal.

1980

Seve Ballesteros and his caddie at Augusta National in 1980 / USA Today file photo

Another big season for Nicklaus, who bumped his career-major total to 17 with victories at the U.S. Open and PGA, but it was Seve Ballesteros’ triumph at the Masters that earned ’80 a spot on the list. Not only did it make Seve the first European ever to wear the green jacket, it triggered a staggering period of dominance by the Euros: 10 Masters titles by six different players from 1983-99. Three months later, Tom Watson would end a three-year major by beating Trevino by four at the British, good for his third claret jug. In a year marked by generational transition, the old dogs proved they had plenty of fight left in them.

1986

Nicklaus’ final conquest at age 46 was only the best golf tournament ever played, but there was much more to this collection of majors than a remarkable Masters. Raymond Floyd’s U.S. Open triumph was a fascinating, back-and-forth battle among a half-dozen of the game’s biggest stars. Greg Norman established himself as a big-game presence for many years to come with a runaway victory at the British, only to fall apart on the final nine a month later and lose the PGA to Bob Tway, whose hole-out from a greenside bunker at the 18th provided a fitting end to a year that had a whole lot of everything.

1999

Payne Stewart, shown at the 1993 Masters, won the 1999 U.S. Open / The Augusta Chronicle via USA Today Network

Without question, this was one of the craziest and most eventful years in golf history, which began innocently enough when Olazabal edged Norman in a hard-fought Masters. Payne Stewart’s unforgettable U.S. Open duel against Phil Mickelson ended in stunning fashion — Stewart holed an 18-footer at the buzzer — the signature stroke in a career that ended tragically when Stewart died in a plane crash that October. Then there was Jean Van de Velde, whose monumental collapse on the 72nd hole made him a loser for the ages at the most diabolical British Open of the modern era; Paul Lawrie would emerge as the champion in a playoff at 6-over par.

Who new we were just getting started? Tiger Woods finally provided a follow-up to his historic performance at the 1997 Masters by holding off Sergio Garcia, then a rookie, at the PGA. Not for nothing, the United States staged an unprecedented rally from four points after two days to beat Europe in a wild Ryder Cup, which would have been a much nicer way to end the decade than Stewart’s death 29 days later. If the 20th century ended on a dismal note, the 21st would start with perhaps the loudest bang ever heard in golf. The unmistakable roar of dominance.

2000

Tiger Woods and Vijay Singh at the Masters :: Eileen Blass/USA Today

He won the U.S. and British Opens by a combined 23 shots, breaking scoring records at both tournaments. He subdued a pesky dreamer named Bob May in one of the most outrageous playoffs ever seen to defend his title at the PGA. If the legend of Tiger Woods actually preceded him, it was validated beyond imagination in his fourth full season as a pro, when he laid three-quarters of the groundwork en route to claiming the Grand Slam named after him the following spring. No man has ever altered the game’s competitive landscape with such force or conviction. No man since Bobby Jones (1930) had won four consecutive major titles, and unless you fire up that imagination to its highest level, it won’t happen again.

2017

Long after many figured the window had closed on Garcia’s opportunity win a major, his dramatic triumph in a playoff over Justin Rose at the Masters was a feelgood story with fangs, but the window on the past closed the moment Sergio slipped his arms into the green jacket. Brooks Koepka began his shopping spree of the Big Ones at the U.S. Open, the first of his four major titles in 23 months. Jordan Spieth prevailed like a cornered superhero to win the British, his third major crown in 25 months. And Justin Thomas capped a breakout season by emerging from a tightly bunched, star-studded leaderboard to capture the PGA. The future had spoken in a voice made distinct by its volume.

2021

Phil Mickelson wins the 2021 PGA Championship / David Yeazell-USA Today Sports

A year that will likely look even better over time. The centerpiece, of course, will always be Mickelson’s unfathomable victory at the PGA, making him the oldest player ever to win a major, and from there, the theme reverts to that past-and-future thing. Hideki Matsuyama became Japan’s first major champion at the Masters, earning every inch of it due to sloppy play down the stretch. Jon Rahm’s birdie-birdie finish at the U.S. Open left no doubt as to his enormous potential, as was the case with Collin Morikawa, the first guy ever to grab a pair of major titles in his first appearance at the event.

Tomorrow is in very good hands, but yesterday should never be forgotten. Golf’s four major championships are the game’s ultimate measure. Always have been, always will be.