Best Major Tournament

[Zeph]

There is something The Masters has that the others don't. Playing the same venue, all the hype. It gets a bit too stiff with the patrons and all that stuff, but I enjoy the production quality of it.

[Fourputt]

I like all except the PGA, and all for different reasons.  They are enough different from each other that it's hard to say which I like best.  Ultimately, I picked the US Open.  I just like the way that the players are tested by the courses and the setups.  I sometimes get tired of the griping by the players, but I don't view that as a negative for the tournament, only as a sign that these guy are too spoiled, they're too used to making routine birdies, and they can't deal with a course that is really set up to make them earn par.

The British loses some of it's major quality when the weather is too nice, and the quirky nature of the courses brings a higher degree of luck into the game.  I feel that luck is a necessary part of the game, but sometimes it plays too large a role in the tournament.  I both like it, and and drop it down a notch because of that quirkiness.

The Masters is definitely classy, an upscale tournament all the way.  I love the greens, and I love it because it always sort of signals the real start of the golfing season in Colorado.  The Men's club I was in always played its first competition a week or so before the Masters, so I was really ready for a good show on TV too.

All three are so closely ranked that setting one above is mostly just a coin flip, but I put the US Open at the head.

[ghalfaire]

I like them all and have trouble picking between the Masters, US Open, and the British Open.  But I picked the Masters because of the scenery.

[NJpatbee]

I chose the Masters because of the time of year, and the beauty of the course.  Augusta did hold on to some old bigotry longer than expected which in hindsight tranishes the club's image somewhat, but having been there the course is magnificent and the members and workers are great - even to Yankees.  It is my first choice of courses that I want to play but of course never will.

[jmurder]

It has always been the U.S. Open for me. It is the ultimate test of golf where par is usually the goal. I think Pinehurst was not a good choice last year. It let the player recover too easily from their mistakes. The Open championship is a close second. I love the strategy of Links golf and the battle with the elements plus the yellow leaderboard rocks.

[dfreuter415]

My rankings:

1) Masters - A tradition unlike an other

2) The Open Championship (British) - The oldest major championship

3) U.S. Open - A true test of championship golf

I only have three favorites.

1. The Masters - The first "Augusta National Invitational" Tournament began on March 22, 1934, and was won by Horton Smith. Initially the Augusta National Invitational field was composed of Bobby Jones' close associates. The present name was adopted in 1939. The Masters has the smallest field out of the major championships at 90–100 players. There is no qualifying for the Masters. It is an invitational event with players who meet published criteria. Past champions are always eligible, but since 2002 the Augusta National Golf Club has discouraged them from continuing to participate at an advanced age. From the Par 3 Competition, to the Masters Dinner of Champions, to the ceremonial opening tee shots, to the green jacket, the Masters truly is a tradition unlike any others.

2. The Open Championship - This is the oldest of the four major championships in professional golf. It is administered by the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews. The Open was first played on October 17, 1860 at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. The inaugural tournament was restricted to professionals and had a field of eight golfers who played three rounds of Prestwick's twelve-hole course in a single day. Willie Park, Sr. won with a score of 174, beating Old Tom Morris, by two strokes. The common factor in the venues for The Open is that they are always links courses. There are nine courses in the current rotation, five in Scotland and four in England. In recent times the Old Course at St Andrews, (considered by many to be the "home of golf" because the sport was first played on the Links at St Andrews in the early 1400's), has hosted the Open every five years. With golf becoming more of a global sport in recent years, to me,The Open Championship has surpassed the US Open in prestige.

3. The United States Open Championship - The US Open is staged by the United States Golf Association (USGA) in mid-June, with the final round being played on Father's Day. The first U.S. Open was played on October 4, 1895, on a nine-hole course at the Newport Country Club in Newport, Rhode Island. It was a 36-hole competition and was played in a single day. Ten professionals and one amateur entered. The winner was a 21-year-old Englishman named Horace Rawlins. The appeal of the tournament is largely because the US Open is staged at a variety of courses, set up in such a way that scoring is the most difficult of the year, with a premium on making par. It is a true test of championship golf.

As for the PGA Championship there is nothing exceptional that makes it stand out in relation to the top three majors. People have advocated replacing it as a major with the Players Championship. I disagree. I think the 4th major championship should be unique: a match play competition. Whether it be something like the WGC-Match Play Championship or the PGA Championship returning to match play, (from 1916-1957 it was match play, but we know that will never happen because of the almighty dollar), this to me would be a true 4th major championship.