The Record In One Paragraph
Tiger Woods won 15 professional major championships between 1997 and 2019, the second most in the history of the game behind Jack Nicklaus on 18. The total is five Masters (1997, 2001, 2002, 2005 and 2019), four PGA Championships (1999, 2000, 2006 and 2007), three US Opens (2000, 2002 and 2008) and three Open Championships (2000, 2005 and 2006). He also won 82 PGA Tour events, tied with Sam Snead for the most ever, and completed the career Grand Slam at 24, the youngest to do so. More than the numbers, Woods changed what golf was: the athleticism, the prize money, the television audience and the global reach that every player who followed, including Rory McIlroy, has built a career on.
This guide walks through every one of the 15 majors, picks out the wins that defined the era (the 1997 Masters, the Tiger Slam of 2000 and 2001, the one-legged 2008 US Open and the 2019 comeback), explains how he reshaped the sport off the course, and places his record next to Nicklaus above him and McIlroy behind him.
The Headline Numbers
15
major championships (1997 to 2019)
18
Nicklaus majors, the record he chased
82
PGA Tour wins, tied all-time record
15
stroke margin, 2000 US Open (a major record)
11
years between his 14th and 15th major
The Breakdown By Championship
Woods is one of only five players to complete the career Grand Slam, and he did it more comprehensively than almost anyone: at least three wins in every major. The Masters is his richest hunting ground with five green jackets, one short of Nicklaus's record six.
| Major | Wins | Years |
|---|
| Masters | 5 | 1997, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2019 |
| PGA Championship | 4 | 1999, 2000, 2006, 2007 |
| US Open | 3 | 2000, 2002, 2008 |
| Open Championship | 3 | 2000, 2005, 2006 |
The four PGA Championships tie Woods with Nicklaus and Walter Hagen for the most in the stroke-play era. The three US Opens and three Opens are the gaps a younger Woods expected to close, and the reason the chase for Nicklaus stalled is that he never won either after 2008.
All 15 Majors, In Order
Every major Woods won, with the venue and the headline result. The highlighted rows are the four that most defined his career and the modern game.
| Year | Major | Venue | Result |
|---|
| 1997 | Masters | Augusta National | Won by 12, record 18-under 270, his first major at 21 |
| 1999 | PGA Championship | Medinah No. 3 | By one over a teenage Sergio Garcia |
| 2000 | US Open | Pebble Beach | Won by 15, the largest margin in major history |
| 2000 | Open Championship | St Andrews (Old Course) | By eight at 19 under, career Grand Slam complete at 24 |
| 2000 | PGA Championship | Valhalla | Three-hole playoff over Bob May, a third straight major |
| 2001 | Masters | Augusta National | Held all four majors at once, the Tiger Slam |
| 2002 | Masters | Augusta National | By three, back-to-back green jackets |
| 2002 | US Open | Bethpage Black | By three on the first public course to host the US Open |
| 2005 | Masters | Augusta National | Playoff over Chris DiMarco after the chip-in on 16 |
| 2005 | Open Championship | St Andrews (Old Course) | By five strokes |
| 2006 | Open Championship | Royal Liverpool | By two, weeks after his father's death |
| 2006 | PGA Championship | Medinah No. 3 | By five strokes |
| 2007 | PGA Championship | Southern Hills | By two at eight under |
| 2008 | US Open | Torrey Pines | 19-hole playoff over Rocco Mediate on a broken leg |
| 2019 | Masters | Augusta National | His 15th major, first in 11 years, the great comeback |
1997 Masters: The Arrival
Woods turned professional in August 1996 and won his first major eight months later. At the 1997 Masters he opened with a front nine of 40, then played the next 63 holes in 22 under par. He finished at 18 under, a tournament record, and won by 12 strokes, the largest margin in Masters history. He was 21, the youngest Masters champion, and the first major winner of Black and Asian heritage at a club that had admitted its first Black member only seven years earlier.
The performance was so far ahead of the field that Augusta National lengthened and toughened the course over the following years in a series of changes the press nicknamed "Tiger-proofing." It did not work for long. The 1997 Masters is the line most people draw between the old game and the modern one.
He played a different course to everyone else that week. The scoring record stood, the winning margin stood, and the sport spent the next decade trying to catch up.
The 1997 Masters, Augusta National
2000 And 2001: The Tiger Slam
The stretch that defines Woods is the four majors he held at once across 2000 and 2001. It began at the 2000 US Open at Pebble Beach, where he finished at 12 under while no one else broke par and won by 15 strokes, still the largest winning margin in any major. A month later at St Andrews he won the Open by eight at 19 under and completed the career Grand Slam at 24, younger than any player before him. In August he survived a fierce duel with Bob May to win the PGA at Valhalla in a three-hole playoff, a third consecutive major.
The following April he won the 2001 Masters to hold all four professional majors simultaneously, a feat no one else has managed in the modern era. Because the wins spanned two seasons it is not a calendar-year Grand Slam, so it took the name the Tiger Slam. The 2000 season alone, three majors and nine PGA Tour wins, is widely regarded as the best single year any golfer has produced.
2008 US Open: One Leg At Torrey Pines
Woods arrived at Torrey Pines in June 2008 with a double stress fracture of his left tibia and a torn anterior cruciate ligament in the same knee. He had been advised to rest. He played anyway, in obvious pain, grimacing through tee shots for four days. On the 72nd hole he holed a long, curling birdie putt to force a playoff with Rocco Mediate, the two of them then halving a full 18-hole playoff before Woods won at the first sudden-death hole, the 91st of the week.
It was his 14th major. Days later he had reconstructive knee surgery and missed the rest of the season. At the time it looked like a pause. It turned out to be the top of the mountain: the chase for Nicklaus's 18 stopped at 14 for more than a decade.
Ninety-one holes on a leg that should have been in a cast. The 2008 US Open is the win that doctors said should not have happened, and the last major before the long silence.
The 2008 US Open, Torrey Pines
2019 Masters: The Comeback
Between 2008 and 2019 Woods had four back surgeries, a spinal fusion in 2017, a public fall from grace and, at his lowest, a world ranking outside the top 1,000. Most of the golf world had quietly written off the idea of a 15th major. Then came the 2019 Masters. Woods stayed in contention all week, took the lead for the first time on the back nine on Sunday when the leaders ahead of him faltered at the par-3 12th, and closed with a 70 to win by one.
It was his fifth green jacket, 22 years after his first, and his first major in 11 years. The scenes at the 18th green, Woods roaring and embracing his son Charlie behind the green much as he had embraced his own father in 1997, are among the most replayed in golf. It moved him to 15 majors and, briefly, made the chase for 18 feel alive again.
How He Changed Golf
Woods' major record is only half the story. The other half is what he did to the sport around him, on four fronts that outlasted his own peak.
MONEYPrize Funds And Sponsorship
Total PGA Tour prize money roughly quadrupled across his prime as television deals and title sponsors chased the audience he brought. Players two generations younger are wealthy because galleries, broadcasters and sponsors first arrived to watch Tiger.
FITNESSThe Athlete Golfer
Woods trained like a professional athlete at a time when many tour players did not. He made speed, strength and conditioning central to elite golf, and the gym-built, fast-swinging modern player, McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau among them, is a direct descendant of that shift.
REACHA Global, Broader Audience
As a mixed-race champion who dominated a historically exclusive sport, Woods drew in viewers and juniors who had never followed golf. Television ratings rose and fell with whether he was in contention, a "Tiger effect" measurable for two decades.
STANDARDA New Bar For Winning
He normalised the idea that one player could expect to win, not merely contend. His 82 PGA Tour wins, 142 consecutive cuts made and 683 weeks at world number one reset what a great career was measured against.
Where He Ranks: Chasing Nicklaus
The defining context for Woods' 15 is the number above it. Jack Nicklaus won 18 professional majors between 1962 and 1986, and from his teens Woods spoke openly about that figure as the target. For a decade it looked inevitable: he reached 14 by age 32, four ahead of where Nicklaus had been at the same age. Then injuries and time intervened.
| Player | Majors | Span |
|---|
| Jack Nicklaus | 18 | 1962 to 1986 |
| Tiger Woods | 15 | 1997 to 2019 |
| Walter Hagen | 11 | 1914 to 1929 |
| Gary Player | 9 | 1959 to 1978 |
| Ben Hogan | 9 | 1946 to 1953 |
| Rory McIlroy | 6 | 2011 to 2026 |
Whether anyone catches Nicklaus is the long debate. Scottie Scheffler and McIlroy are the modern players most often mentioned, but both have ground to make up. Woods' 15 remains the bar the current generation is measured against, and the closest anyone has come to 18 in 40 years.
Tiger And Rory
No active player carries Woods' influence more visibly than Rory McIlroy, who was a child in Holywood, Northern Ireland during the Tiger Slam and grew up modelling his game on the man who was rewriting the sport.
- The inspiration: McIlroy has often said that Woods was the reason he and most of his peers trained, practised and dreamed the way they did. The athletic, fast-swinging template McIlroy built his career on is the one Woods established.
- The slams compared: Woods completed the career Grand Slam at 24, the fastest ever. McIlroy completed his at the 2025 Masters, 11 years after his fourth major, an agonising wait that makes the achievements hard to rank against each other but both historic.
- The numbers: Woods sits on 15 majors, McIlroy on six after a second green jacket in 2026. Both are well behind Nicklaus, and both have spoken about 18 as the mountain the sport is still climbing.
For McIlroy's own place in this story see Rory McIlroy 2026 Season and the swing that produced his majors in Rory's Swing. For the venue of Woods' record 2000 US Open and McIlroy's own near-miss there see Pebble Beach Golf Links, and for the home of the 2000 and 2005 Opens see St Andrews Old Course.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many major championships has Tiger Woods won?
Fifteen, the second most in golf history behind Jack Nicklaus on 18. Woods won them across 22 years, from the 1997 Masters at age 21 to the 2019 Masters at age 43: five Masters, four PGA Championships, three US Opens and three Open Championships. He also has 82 PGA Tour wins, tied with Sam Snead for the most ever.
What is the breakdown of Tiger Woods' majors by championship?
Five Masters (1997, 2001, 2002, 2005 and 2019), four PGA Championships (1999, 2000, 2006 and 2007), three US Opens (2000, 2002 and 2008) and three Open Championships (2000, 2005 and 2006). The five green jackets are one behind Nicklaus's record six; the four PGAs tie Nicklaus and Walter Hagen for the most in the stroke-play era.
Who has won more major championships than Tiger Woods?
Only Jack Nicklaus, with 18 between 1962 and 1986. Woods is second on 15, ahead of Walter Hagen on 11 and Ben Hogan, Gary Player and Tom Watson in the eight-to-nine range. The 11-year gap between Woods' 14th major in 2008 and his 15th in 2019 is why Nicklaus's record still stands.
What was Tiger Woods' first major championship?
The 1997 Masters. Woods was 21, in his first full professional year. After an opening nine of 40 he played the next 63 holes in 22 under, finished at a record 18 under and won by 12, the largest margin in Masters history. He was the youngest Masters champion and the first major winner of Black and Asian heritage.
What was the Tiger Slam?
Woods holding all four professional majors at the same time. He won the 2000 US Open, the 2000 Open and the 2000 PGA, then added the 2001 Masters. Because it spanned two seasons it is not a calendar-year Grand Slam, but no other modern player has held all four at once. The run included the 15-stroke Pebble Beach win and the eight-stroke St Andrews win.
What was Tiger Woods' biggest winning margin in a major?
Fifteen strokes, at the 2000 US Open at Pebble Beach, where he finished 12 under while no one else broke par. It is the largest winning margin in the history of any major and came in the same season he won the Open by eight and the PGA in a playoff.
When did Tiger Woods complete the career Grand Slam?
At the 2000 Open Championship at St Andrews, aged 24, the youngest player to win all four different majors, two years younger than Nicklaus had been. He has since won at least three of every major except, narrowly, none more than three of the US Open and the Open.
What made the 2008 US Open win so remarkable?
Woods won at Torrey Pines on a double stress fracture of his left tibia and a torn knee ligament. He played in clear pain, holed a long putt on the 72nd hole to force a playoff, then beat Rocco Mediate over a full 18-hole playoff that went to a 19th sudden-death hole. It was his 14th major; he had reconstructive surgery days later.
Why was the 2019 Masters so significant?
It was Woods' 15th major and first in 11 years, after four back surgeries including a 2017 spinal fusion and a ranking that had dropped outside the top 1,000. He shot a final-round 70 to win by one, completing one of the great comebacks in sport and a fifth green jacket 22 years after his first.
How does Tiger Woods' record compare with Rory McIlroy's?
Woods has 15 majors to McIlroy's six. McIlroy completed his own career Grand Slam at the 2025 Masters, 11 years after his fourth major, and won a second green jacket in 2026. Woods completed his slam far faster, at 24. McIlroy is among the players who grew up watching Woods and credits him with the modern game's athleticism, money and reach. Both sit behind Nicklaus's 18.
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