Jack Nicklaus holds a record 18 major championships, a benchmark that remains untouched.

Yet despite winning the Masters Tournament a record six times, Nicklaus once made a striking distinction, calling the Masters not a championship when ranking golf’s majors.

When asked to rank the four majors, Jack Nicklaus said, “I have the U.S. Open as the No. 1 tournament.” Nicklaus has won the tournament on four occasions, tied for the most wins at the event.

Nicklaus placed The Open Championship second, adding that “for the rest of the world, the British Open is probably the No. 1 tournament.” 

He ranked the PGA Championship third, while the Masters ranked fourth.

“The Masters Tournament is not a championship. You can’t rank a tournament ahead of championships. I made my whole [professional] life toward winning the Masters and winning the first major championship [each year].” 

Despite his six victories at the event, it was still ranked the lowest. After the Masters Tournament, Nicklaus’ next-highest number of major victories came at the PGA Championship, which was interestingly his third choice.

What's Tiger Woods' major ranking?

“That’s one of the unique things about the British Open, and that’s why it’s my favorite major.”

Tiger Woods said The Open Championship is his favorite major while speaking in 2012 ahead of The Open at St Andrews, marking his return after missing the 2009 event due to injury.

Woods explained that changing weather conditions and the ability to use the ground to control shots distinguish the event from other majors.

“You can have so many different weather conditions. You just don’t know.”

Written by

Aditi Singh

Edited by

Siddharth Shirwadkar