Summer of Sports: It's Major - Golf's Biggest Stage

BY DC CUEVA

> @DC408dxtr / @DC408dxnow

As two sports step aside, this week sees the world's top golfers converge for the first time on the Pacific Northwest for golf's 2nd major championship of the year, the U.S. Open. Out for the four tournaments that mean the most in the game, this is the most rigorous test of its kind. This is part of a journey that takes golf fans from that great Spring tradition of Augusta in April and all the way to August to determine the best players in golf when the spotlight is shone the brightest on their sport.

   Being someone who watches a good amount of the Golf Channel and weekend PGA TOUR coverage on the networks, as well as my bro in law being an occasional golfer, I've gained a great appreciation for golf over time. And much like every other event in the sports world, I look forward to the time when it becomes the big sport during a particular weekend and where there's more attention paid to the game than in a given week on Tour.

In American sports, the number "16" is a significant one: the Summer and Winter Olympics both take place over 16 full days of competition, a fortnight spanning three weekends. It takes 16 wins for a team to win the NBA championship or hoist the Stanley Cup. There's 16 games in an NFL regular season, and we give the Regional Semifinal round of NCAA March Madness the nickname Sweet 16. The knockout stage of the FIFA World Cup and most other continental soccer tournaments begins with 16 teams, and each of the four Grand Slam events in tennis take place over two weeks.

   For golf, 16 is the total number of days (barring extra days due to weather and/or a playoff if necessary) that the year's four major championships are played, taking place from April to August. Along with the PGA Tour's flagship event - THE PLAYERS, the fall match play team competitions, World Golf Championships and events on other tours, it's The Masters, The U.S. Open, The Open Championship in Great Britain and the PGA Championship that are the tournaments that matter, both to the golfers and to the public. They are the most-prestigious annual tournaments in the sport and bring the casual sports fan & TV viewer to join the game's avid followers to the events that mean the most in a sport rich in tradition and history.

It all starts in early April with The Masters Tournament, an invitational founded by one of the sport's greats and only man to complete a calendar year Grand Slam, Bobby Jones, and hosted every year at the Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia. Two months later comes the U.S. Open, conducted by the United States Golf Association, which takes place on the weekend ending with the 3rd Sunday in June, on Father's Day. Nearly a month later in mid-July is The Open Championship, organized by The R&A and played on a links course at one of ten various locations in the United Kingdom, the sport's birthplace. Finally in mid-August, it's the PGA Championship, hosted by the Professional Golfers' Association of America and open only to pros. And in the case of both the U.S. Open & PGA, various U.S. courses host those tournaments in rotation.

   Originally when amateur golf was more commonplace, the majors consisted of both Opens and the U.S. Amateur and British Amateur Championship. When The Masters began in 1934, professional golf began to rise and led to eventually the four majors as is. By 1960, some players even considered the Western Open (now BMW Championship) and the now-defunct North and South Open (held at Pinehurst #2, later home to three U.S. Opens) as majors in the U.S., and the British PGA Match Play for overseas players. Even with both the women's game and the seniors tour having five majors in a year, players still feel that they're not ready to add another major to the four already established, owing to the long-standing traditions that The Masters, both Opens and the PGA have established over time.

Whatever the case may be, it's at these majors that the world's elite golfers come together to compete with a championship on the line, a life that could be changed when one emerges victorious and for a great player to become a legend. There's a common feeling, both among players and the public, that the reputations of golf's greatest players can hinge on the number and variety of major victories they accomplish, not on the total number of victories in regular tour events or the amount of money made. And with Tiger Woods' emergence on the scene in 1997 in Augusta, the period of dominance he would initiate afterwards and the rapid mainstream interest in the sport growing, this very fact has also become more important than ever.

   From a money standpoint, the top prize purses aren't perhaps as large as in some other events, where THE PLAYERS, WGC events, Tour money titles and others offer more prize money than in a major. But from the view of the player, winning a major is much more important than the money and winning any of the four boosts a player's career far beyond that of any other event. For a popular player like Tiger, Phil Mickelson, Rory McIlroy and others, it adds more to their legend and resume. But for someone who wasn't looked at as a favorite before the tournament and eventually wins, winning a major gives his career a significant boost and prestige that he beat the best and can attract new sponsors, large bonuses and more leverage. A major win also gives golfers exemptions to their home tour and not have to worry about re-qualifying for a tour card, along with playing in other major championships for a specified period in both.
   When there's tens of thousands watching on course and an international television audience watching at home, the major championships and golf's biggest events provide intense drama, great excitement, moments of heartbreak and jubilation, and the best competition among the best players players in the game that are timeless and special.

THE MASTERS

First, April saw the world's top golfers gather at the famed Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, GA for the year's first major championship. The Masters may be the youngest of the four contested by the pros every year, but the tournament is full of history and tradition, and takes on the status of being golf's most prestigious event. It's also unique among the foursome: it's the only one that is played on the same course every year, has a smaller field than those found at the other majors due to it being an invitational tournament, and is the only one hosted by a golf club, not an organization with status in governing the sport in some way. It's that drive down Magnolia Lane entering the property that those who follow golf know that they are in for something special.

   The Masters has been played since 1934, when Bobby Jones brought together some of his friends (including its first winner, Horton Smith) for the Augusta National Invitational Tournament at the course he and later club chairman Clifford Roberts designed, built on land found near the Georgia/South Carolina border. A year later saw the "Shot Heard 'Round the World" when Gene Sarazen holed out his 2nd shot from the fairway on the par-5 15th for double eagle, ultimately going on to win in a playoff. The event first leapt into television in 1956 when CBS began the longest broadcast relationship between a U.S. network and a sports event...one that still exists 60 years later, as broadcaster Jim Nantz calls it, "a tradition unlike any other."

   It came at a perfect time as The Big Three of Arnold Palmer, Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus would don the Green Jacket 12 times during the '60s and '70s. Palmer and Arnie's Army prevailed for the first time in 1958, then two years later became the first to make a tie-breaking birdie on the 72nd hole to win, beating future U.S. Open champ & CBS analyst Ken Venturi for the second of his four titles. The Golden Bear won his first Masters in 1963, then broke scoring records in his 2nd conquest two years later, then became the first to defend his title in '66. After another win in '72, Nicklaus' 16th hole birdie was the difference in an epic back-nine Sunday battle between him, Tom Weiskopf and Johnny Miller in 1975, one of the most exciting Masters ever. And for Player, he became the first non-American to win in 1961, then won again in '74 and then his 3rd in '78 at age 42.

   But his 1978 surprise win wouldn't be the last of the Big Three's Masters wins. Nicklaus defied time and the odds to win his sixth Green Jacket in 1986, as a late back-nine charge saw Jack become the oldest Masters winner ever at age 46. During the '80s and '90s, international players dominated Augusta, led by Seve Ballesteros - first European to win in '80 & '83, two time champions Bernhard Langer & Jose Maria Olazabal, and three-time champ Nick Faldo. There's also Greg Norman, who had the greatest misfortune of any golfer at Augusta: coming up short of catching Nicklaus in '86, losing a playoff to hometown hero Larry Mize a year later, and dramatically fading out in 1996 after shooting an opening 63 and later squandering a late 6-stroke final round lead to Faldo.
   The recent years of The Masters began with the first of Tiger Woods' four victories when he won in record fashion in 1997 at age 21, his Tiger Slam in 2001, going back to back a year later and his dramatic 16th hole chip-in that propelled him in 2005. Phil Mickelson ended years of major heartache when his 72nd hole birdie to edge out Ernie Els gave him his first major and first of three green jackets. Fellow left-hander Bubba Watson won two Masters in three years, while Charl Schwartzel in 2011 birdied the last four holes to take the title. Two years later in a playoff, Adam Scott later became the first Australian to win at the course an Australian helped design, and of course this year Jordan Spieth smashed many records to becoming the 2nd-youngest champion.

   Because it's an invitational, the status of getting into The Masters is as exclusive as any in golf. Like all the majors, it gives entry to all golfers ranked in the Top 50 of the Official World Golf Rankings, but it doesn't have pre-qualifying tournaments for players to earn their way in. Former champions have lifetime playing privileges at Augusta (as well as spots in both the Champions Dinners and their own locker room), and automatic invitations are given to most of the previous season's PGA TOUR winners (sans those who win "alternate" events opposite higher-profile tournaments).

   Tradition is the word that comes to mind when golf fans think of The Masters. There's the Tuesday Champions Dinner with the defending champion & former champions, the Wednesday Par-3 Contest on the par-3 course, and past champions hitting the honorary tee shot on Thursday morning to begin tournament play. With Bobby Jones being a fundamental part of its legacy, amateurs are treated like champions at Augusta with the U.S. AM champion teeing it up with the defending champ, and joining other fellow amateurs (including Asian and Latin American AM winners) in the clubhouse Crow's Nest.
   But the tradition every golfer dreams of being part of is being given the Green Jacket when it's all done: both in Butler Cabin for the worldwide television audience and in a ceremony for the patrons and media. Since 1949, the champion has been given that sacred article of clothing and, by tradition, being presented by the winner of the previous year's Masters. The coat is the same as those the ANGC members use while on club grounds and is loaned out to the winner for one year. While not as widely known as the Jacket, there's also a Masters Trophy with the Augusta clubhouse and names of previous winners, a winner's gold medal, a Silver Cup to the low amateur and pieces of crystal given for significant feats.
   And of course, there's the course itself. Augusta National has been modified over the years: greens being reshaped, bunkers and trees built, and so on. Still, this former plant nursery has become a course that every golf and sports fan knows once springtime arrives and the CBS theme, "Augusta," begins playing at the beginning of broadcasts. The signature feature of the course is Amen Corner - the stretch at the 11th, 12th and 13th where, as many feel, the tournament doesn't truly begin until there and the preceding 10th hole on Sunday, and where so many great moments have occurred over the years. It's the aura of the whole course that grabs the attention of golf and sports fans alike, and makes The Masters the most prestigious golf tournament in the world.

THE U.S. OPEN

Then in mid-June, the run of major championship golf reaches its apex with three of them in the course of three months, beginning today with the U.S. Open. It's the 2nd oldest of the four majors, oldest of the three U.S.-based majors, have first been played in 1895 in Newport, RI. British players dominated the Open's early years before John McDermott became the first native-born American to win in 1911. Two years later at The Country Club outside of Boston (later site of the famous '99 Ryder Cup) came the turning point: unheralded amateur Francis Ouimet, who lived across the street, upset top Brits Harry Vardon & Ted Ray in a playoff, which set into motion golf's rise in popularity in America.

   Since then, the U.S. Open has provided its share of memorable moments: Ben Hogan's Miracle at Merion in 1950, Arnold Palmer's 7-shot comeback in 1960, Ken Venturi fighting off fatigue and dehydration to win in '64, Johnny Miller's final round-winning record 63 in '73, Tom Watson's famous chip-in at Pebble in '82 to beat Jack Nicklaus, Payne Stewart's 72nd hole birdie to win in '99 months before being killed in a plane crash, Phil Mickelson squandering a would-be first Open title on the 72nd hole in 2006 (among 7 runner-up finishes), and Rory McIlroy's record breakthrough major win five years later at Congressional in D.C.

   If there's one word that can describe the U.S. Open, it's "difficulty." Over those four days in June, executive director Mike Davis & his team at the United States Golf Association do everything in their power to identify the best golfer, making for some of the most compelling drama in golf. They set up courses notoriously in a way that scoring is usually sparse and made very difficult, making driving the ball accurately a must. These features include lengthing the course, tightening fairways to encourage players to drive the ball accurately, making the rough thicker and taller to knee length to punish those who don't, and undulating greens make even more challenging by demanding pin positions, making them difficult for those to judge & maneuver putts. With all of that in mind, the winning score when it's all done is rarely much under par, and par is considered everyone's friend in this major as the tight leaderboard is almost always around even par.

   The broad reach of the United States has meant that the USGA, more than their counterparts of other majors, better recognizes that it should go all around the country. And some of America's greatest courses have enjoyed the pleasure of hosting the national championship of American golf. The venue that's hosted the event more often has been Oakmont Country Club near Pittsburgh, having hosted eight of them starting in 1927, and where the 2016 renewal will be hosted, its unprecedented 9th U.S. Open. Bautusrol Golf Club in New Jersey has hosted it 7 times; Oakland Hills Country Club near Detroit 6 times; and tied for 5 are NY's Winged Foot Golf Club, Merion Golf Club in Philadelphia, the Olympic Club in San Francisco and the picturesque Pebble Beach Golf Links. And by the time Erin Hills in Wisconsin welcomes the world's best in 2017, nineteen states will have hosted this event.

   The U.S. Open is the epitome of an event that is open to anyone: any pro and any amateur with a Handicap not exceeding 1.4 can compete. The easiest way for a player to get into the field is being fully exempt, whether being a previous recent major champion, a player in the OWGR Top 60, finishing in the Open top 10 the previous year or being in the final of the last U.S. Amateur. Those not fully qualified go into Qualifying, starting at the Local stage at over 100 courses across America. Those who emerge from those then join many leading players for the 2nd stage of the Sectional, played over 36 holes in one day in several sites in both the U.S. and two overseas with spots in the 156-player field on the line...think of it as golf's own version of March Madness as it's played all on the same day.

   What else makes the U.S. Open unique? It's the last remaining golf tournament that retains a full 18-hole playoff round the following day (on Monday) should it be tied after 72 holes. It was something that was once standard for other tournaments before the introduction of the standard sudden-death playoff in most events (including The Masters) and aggregate hole playoffs for others. It's only after there's a tie after 90 holes have been played that the playoff does go into sudden death. Of course, this was how the champion was determined in perhaps the most-memorable major tournament in recent times, the 2008 U.S. Open. That year at Torrey Pines in San Diego, Tiger Woods, playing on one knee, beat underdog Rocco Mediate for his 14th, and currently most recent, major title; all spurred by a dramatic back-nine on Saturday and a clutch 72nd hole birdie on Sunday to tie Mediate. This joined his record 15-shot win in 2000 at Pebble in smashing many scoring records in the process, and a 2nd win in the first Open held at a public course, Bethpage State Park in New York.

   But something that adds a special sense of feeling to this championship is the day that it traditionally ends on, provided that there are no weather delays and it's concluded in regulation with no playoff necessary. Since 1965 when the U.S. Open expanded to the 4-day, Thursday-Sunday format from 3 days including 36 holes on Saturday (largely the result of what happened to Venturi the previous year), the final round has fallen on Father's Day. This has added poignancy to some of the winners' speeches when they're awarded the U.S. Open trophy and Jack Nicklaus winners medal, and provides for emotional scenes of the players hugging him and family members on the 3rd Sunday in June. It's dads everywhere enjoying a unique tradition of watching the world's best golfers battling it out for America's national championship that makes the U.S. Open something special.

THE OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

It is the oldest of the four majors, the only one played outside the United States, and considered by many the ultimate tournament in golf. The Open Championship, or British Open as those outside the U.K. prefer it, is the game when it's played in its simplest & purest form: old traditional links courses in the country that invented the sport. The venues are as prestigious as any in Europe, and they're hosted in rotation between courses in the game's homeland of Scotland, Northwest England, South East England, and if plans are realized, a possible return to Northern Ireland, home to defending champion Rory McIlroy and fellow major winners Graeme McDowell and Darren Clarke.

   The courses are as natural as you can get: they're not located in large metro areas but rather in small seaside villages, and no park-style courses with pristine fairways or greens laid out like pool tables. Links courses are looked at as coastal and relatively flat with fairways being cut through done grass, rough in large bushes, and deep bunkers, though it's not made as tough as the U.S. Open. And more than in any other major, the famed British weather with variable conditions plays an important part in the tournament, with wind and rain often messing with the players' best-laid plans.

   The Open first took place in 1860 in Scotland, when only eight pros played three rounds on a 12-hole course in one day. Amateurs joined the field the following year, and ten years later the original organizers and hosts of the first Open, Prestwick Golf Club, joined with The Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews to organize the event. By the 1890's, the event was doubled in length from 36 to the standard 72 holes, expanded the tournament's reach outside of Scotland into England, and introduced a 36-hole cut. Early winners were Scottish club professionals, but amateurs have made an impact too. It was in 1930 that Bobby Jones won his 3rd Open during his historic Grand Slam, and was one of six Americans to win in between World War's including the great Walter Hagen.

   Sam Snead joined the winner's list in 1946, then in his only Open appearance, Ben Hogan completed his career grand slam with his 3rd straight major win in 1953 at Carnoustie. After Gary Player's triumph in 1959, Arnold Palmer won two times in the early '60s, and due to both improvement in Trans-Atlantic travel and TV's worldwide reach persuaded top Americans to make the Open part of their schedule. While Jack Nicklaus was triumphant three times, he also had 7 runner-up and 16 Top-5 finishes, both records. This included his famous Duel in the Sun with his great rival late in his career, Tom Watson in 1977 at Turnberry where it came down to the last hole and Watson emerged victorious. Thirty-two years later, also there, a 59 year-old Watson came very close to emulating Nicklaus' '86 Masters feat in a 6th title, when leading after 71 holes he wasn't able to hold on and lost in a playoff.

   The great Seve Ballesteros won three times in the '80s, followed by the first Scot to win in many years in Sandy Lyle, and Nick Faldo won also during a time of Europan dominance. Not until John Daly surviving Costantino Rocca in a '95 playoff that Americans would again dominate the Open, led by Tiger Woods competing the career slam in 2000 and winning his 3rd Open in '06 after the loss of his father. And recently, The Open has been the scene of unpredictable major wins, including previously unknown golfers stealing the spotlight and dramatic finishes. Paul Lawrie was the beneficiary of Jean van de Velde's epic 72nd hole meltdown in 1999, then two Americans breaking through in back to back years in Ben Curtis and Todd Hamilton. In 2012, 54-hole leader Adam Scott succumbed down the stretch and lost to a surging Ernie Els, and a year later Phil Mickelson also came back from far in the pack to shoot a final round 66 and win.

   With defending champion & World #1 Rory McIlroy leading the way, this year's Open will return to what's considered the "home of golf" - The Old Course at St Andrews. The course is steeped in history as the site where players played back in the 1400's and where in the mid-1700's a group of men formed what would be the precursor to The R&A, the sport's governing body for outside the U.S., and for which its headquarters are in the clubhouse overlooking the first tee. This will be the 29th time that an Open will be played at The Old Course, more than any other, and is currently played there every five years. This was where Bobby Jones completed his 1930 Grand Slam at the British Amateur, where Jack bid farewell on the course's iconic 700 year-old Swilcan Bridge ten years ago, and home to the iconic Road Hole on 17. No wonder why Golf Digest ranks it as the greatest overseas golf course.

   As in the U.S. Open, The Open Championship has a broad exempt player status list of recent major & amateur champions, former Open winners and all leading players from the world rankings, and holds qualifying events held both in the U.K. and overseas. The man who emerges victorious from the final 156-man field in mid-July will be bestowed money and fame, but most importantly with three honors: a champion's gold medal, being introduced at the closing ceremony as "the Champion Golfer of the Year," and being presented with the Golf Champion Trophy, best commonly known as The Claret Jug; for which his name will have been etched on the trophy forever when he receives it. With it being part of The Open logo, the Jug represents the game's universal symbol of excellence for being the player who wins the most-storied event in golf.

PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

Finally in August, there's the season's final major and, branded until recently as "Glory's Last Shot" - the PGA Championship. It's organized by the PGA of America, originators of the professional game and its original umbrella organization until the PGA TOUR's 1968 breakaway. In having the largest prize purse at $10 million, it's the most lucrative of the four majors, and while it might still be considered 4th in terms of prestige and status, it nonetheless attracts as greater attention as golf's other big events as it represents the last chance players have at winning a Major title until Augusta the following April.
   The first PGA Championship was played eight months after the organization's inception in October 1916. In the first half of its life, it employed the sport's original format, match play. It was also the major with the most erratic schedule, being played anywhere for some time from May to June. And its status as a match play event with a pre-MP stroke play stage (still the format for the U.S. Amateur) back then meant that some players had to play over 200 holes over a full week. By 1958, the format was changed to stroke play and the standard 72-hole, Thursday-Sunday format. In the '60s, the PGA was at the back end of a major back-to-back with The Open Championship which made it impossible for players to compete in both. Eventually, the tournament would settle in its natural spot of August later that decade, giving golf its four majors in four out of five months from April to August.

   Of course, as the name implies, this championship is only to professionals, and the only way an amateur could qualify is if they win one of the other majors. And a distinctive characteristic is that it invites the strongest field of the four majors because of the PGA inviting all of the top 100 players in the OWGR to the season's last major. Unlike the Masters, all winners from the previous PGA Tour season (including alternate events) receive invitations, along with all recent major winners, the Senior PGA Champion and low 15 & ties from the previous year's event. Like the other majors, the PGA of America reserves places in the standard 156-man field for a group of those not as well known as the top Tour pros. In this case, 20 spots are made available to the top finishers of the PGA Club Professional Championship in June and for which the top club pro, an important section of the organization's 20,000 members, is honored at the trophy presentation.
    Though it began 99 years ago, the history of the PGA Championship harkens back to the early '20s. One of the game's greats and a founding father of the PGA of America, Walter Hagen, won the title five times, including being the only man in the 20th century to win the same major four years in a row (1924-27), including a 22-match winning streak in its original match play format. One of the handful who beat Hagen during his run was another great, Gene Sarezen, who also had success in being its first 2-time winner, and was a presence at the event up until 1972 at age 70. Byron Nelson's legendary 1945 season with 11 straight tournament wins included a PGA Championship as his 9th win in that runs, one of 3 PGA titles. Legends Ben Hogan and Sam Snead also won in the '40s and '50s in the latter stages of the tournament's match play era.

   After the stroke play change, greats like Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Raymond Floyd and Lee Travino added their names to history. The PGA was also where the first sudden-death playoff in a major took place, won by Ryder Cup stalwart Lanny Watkins in 1977 at Pebble, and where Bob Tway jumped for joy after his bunker chip-in beat Greg Norman in 1986. The 1991 PGA at Crooked Stick in Indiana was the event's turning point, where as the 9th alternate, relative unknown John Daly stunned the golf world with his great driving taking the golf world by storm, and became the most-unlikely major champion in the modern era.

   Ever since the most-stunning major win since Jack's at the '86 Masters, the PGA Championship has had a resurgence as golf's interest has increased. Tiger Woods has won four PGA titles, including fending off Sergio Garcia (and his dramatic approach shot against a tree) in 1999 and surviving Bob May in a memorable playoff a year later at Valhalla in Louisville. And while Tiger, Phil, Rory and Martin Kaymer have won in recent years, as well as Vijay Singh in 2004 as part of becoming the first to win $10 million in total prize money in a season, there's also been the occasional surprise winner too. Rich Beem staved off Tiger Woods in 2002, Shaun Micheel's 72nd hole approach to win a year later, and Y.E. Yang giving Tiger his first loss after holding a 54-hole lead in '09.

   Along with this, the PGA has followed the U.S. Open's lead of playing its major on the same courses, though it's not made as tougher as the USGA does and lets the hot & humid summer weather take precedent. The man who survives the heat and championship golf's deepest field to emerge with the year's last major title receives the biggest trophy among golf's biggest events. Standing 28 in. high and weighing 27 lbs. The Wanamaker Trophy is named for Rodman Wanamaker, a department store mogul whose idea was to create a golf organization that, along with the USGA and The R&A, helps to grow the game, looking out for the interests of the many golf professionals across America, and is the largest sports organization of its kind. This August, defending champion Rory McIlroy leads the best into Whistling Straits in Wisconsin for the year's last major.

THE OTHERS

Then, there are the others which are not classified as Major Championships, but are events that still grab the attention of the avid golf fan and often sports fans as well.

- THE RYDER CUP: It may not be a major, but it probably ranks as the closest that comes to it in terms of worldwide interest, and it has a different format than the majors. The Ryder Cup is a team match play event pitting golfers from the United States against players from Europe. Launched in 1927 by European businessman Samuel Ryder, it originally was the U.S. vs. Great Britain. After American domination, in 1979 G.B. & I expanded to include European players and since then, the event has taken on greater meaning, featuring the game's original match play format and national pride on the level of the Olympics. Interest in the event among Americans was sparse until 1991 when the U.S. won on home soil in South Carolina, and after their comeback win in 1999 in Boston the event was taken to a new level in the kind of intensity and great competition that spurs the emotions of those who play and watch. Europe has dominated since then in winning every match since 2002 (including emulating the USA's comeback in Chicago in 2012), and the next chapter in golf's greatest rivalry will be written next year when it's held near Minneapolis.

- THE PLAYERS: Often called the unofficial "fifth major," THE PLAYERS is the PGA TOUR's flagship event, which was introduced in 1974 as it was looking for their own big event. After being held in numerous courses, it really took into shape in 1982 when it took up residence at the Stadium Course at TPC at Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL, home of the Tour. On land bought for only $1 located near Jacksonville, the course is the magna de cum of course architect Pete Dye, and was the first of its kind with raised mounds of grass creating a unique stadium concept. It's known the world over for its signature Island Green, the par-3 137-yard 17th hole, all part of a very demanding course which was fully renovated in 2007 to include a Mediterranean Revival-style clubhouse as it moved from March to May & Mother's Day. THE PLAYERS has golf's largest tournament purse of $10 million, has all the makings of a major in both the depth of its field and winner receiving all kinds of honors. Rickie Fowler took this year's event in a stirring 4-hole playoff, adding his name to the likes of Tiger, Phil, Sergio Garcia and others winning the Waterford Crystal trophy.
- WORLD GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPS: Introduced in 1999 by the International Federation of PGA Tours, the World Golf Championships stands below only the majors and The Players in prestige in the golf world, designed to bring more of the world's golfers together with the same prize money as in those events. The four events are the WGC-Match Play Championship, WGC-Cadillac Championship at Doral, FL, WGC-Bridgestone Invitational in Akron, OH, and the WGC-HSBC Champions in China. All these events are official money and sanctioned events on the PGA TOUR and European Tour, as well as the Asian Tour, Japan Tour, South Africa's Sunshine Tour and PGA Tour of Australasia. In addition to attracting the elite players from the U.S. and European tours, there's also those from Asia, Africa, Europe, South America and Oceania who get a chance to compete on the same stage as well as golf continues to broaden its reach around the world.
- BMW EUROPEAN PGA CHAMPIONSHIP: The equivalent of THE PLAYERS event of the European Tour is the BMW European PGA Championship. It's played shortly after the PGA Tour's flagship event at the Euro Tour's headquarters, Wentworth Club in Surrey, England on its West Course. Until the rebranding of the Order of Merit money standings to the Race to Dubai and the Dubai World Championship taking over with its $10 million purse, the BMW PGA had the largest prize pool of any event put on by the European Tour. Some of Europe's best players, including Rory McIlroy, Colin Montgomerie, Luke Donald, Bernhard Langer, Seve Ballesteros and Nick Faldo have all won this event, along with Arnold Palmer back in 1967 and '80s Ryder Cup captain Tony Jacklin.

- PRESIDENT'S CUP: The success of the Ryder Cup and bringing match play to the fore helped spur numerous team events all around the golf world. This includes the President's Cup, which began in 1994 and brings together golfers from the United States against an International Team representing the rest of the world with the exception of Europe. Held in alternate years with the Ryder Cup, it has the same format of four-ball best ball and foursome alternate shot matches and concluding with 12 head-to-head singles matches. Unlike recently in their battles with Europe, it's the Americans who dominate this event having won all but two competitions; but the President's Cup has a more relatively relaxed and friendly atmosphere than the intensity of the Ryder Cup.

It isn't just the men's majors that have all the attention...there are also major championships for the other sections of the golf world that they can call their own.

- For the Women, their Major run begins in California with the ANA Inspiration (formerly Kraft Nabisco Championship hosted by Dinah Shore). Then comes the Women's PGA Championship (played last weekend, formerly LPGA Championship), U.S. Women's Open, Women's British Open and the Ladies' European Tour's flagship event, The Evian Championship. Also, teams of women's golfers from the United States and Europe play the Solheim Cup.
- For the Over-50 players who play on the Champions Tour and European Legends Tour, like the ladies there are five Senior major championships: the Senior PGA Championship, The Tradition, Senior Players Championship, the U.S. Senior Open, and the Senior British Open.

- And for the Amateurs, there's the U.S. Amateur, The British Amateur Championship, the Walker Cup and Curtis Cup, the NCAA Golf Championships and the U.S. Women's Amateur. And there's also numerous other USGA events from four-ball team play to career mid-amateurs.

The rise in golf's popularity since Tiger Woods' emergence has made the game more mainstream and popular than ever. Long been a favorite activity for the affluent businessman due of its upscale appeal, many of the world's top Fortune 500 companies have invested in the game in sponsoring events and top golfers. The launch of Golf Channel twenty years ago means there's more golf on TV than ever before, with each of the major U.S. broadcasters now having a slice of the pie in airing tournaments. This includes newcomers FOX as it televises the U.S. Open for the first time this week, taking over from NBC who just last week announced a pact with The R&A to televise The Open Championship starting in 2017.
   And after seeing three top players in their twenties in Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth and Rickie Fowler winning the four most-recent big events in the 2014 Open and PGA and this year's Masters and Players, increased viewership and interest comes at a great time for the sport. Next year, golf will return to the Olympic Games when Rio hosts the first golf competition at the world's greatest sports event since 1904, and The PGA of America will celebrate it's 100th anniversary as well. The appeal of seeing the world's best golfers compete for a chance to win Olympic gold in front of a worldwide television audience will be unlike anything the game has ever seen.

As the world's best gather at Chambers Bay in Tacoma, WA, the links style course designed by a great in course architecture, Robert Trent Jones, Jr., ,will play host to the latest chapter in a book that spans over 150 years. It's of the sport of golf when the world's best gather, a worldwide audience watching, and the elegance and beauty of great courses coming together with compelling competition and drama, with history and fame awaiting the man who emerges victorious. In this great sports world of ours, there's nothing quite like golf's biggest stages of the majors.

As always, be sure to follow my DC Social Network this summer as I will be staying busy both here on DCBLOG and across my social media platforms. And as my next MTV show live tweets aren't until early July, all the focus is on the Summer of Sports.

- First, follow my dedicated live tweet hub, DCNOW at Twitter @DC408DxNow. That's where starting today as this is being posted on Thursday, June 18th, I'll be providing tweets of the U.S. Open, with both early round action on Thursday & Friday when time permits, and of course the weekend action from Chambers Bay. It's also where you can follow the knockout stages of the FIFA Women's World Cup when it begins this weekend just across the border in Canada, and many more events coming up over the summer, which includes the just-concluded NBA Finals & Stanley Cup.

- DCBLOG is complementing the Summer of Sports live tweets with extensive and unique blog coverage of all things sports right here. Check out my previous posts on soccer's Premier League and UEFA Champions League and the UFC, plus other soccer posts to be presented here during the WWC & CONCACAF Gold Cup. Next week, tennis' most prestigious event, Wimbledon, begins in London and that's be the subject here of our next SOS post, along with the World Series of Poker, horse racing in the aftermath of American Pharoah's Triple Crown and more.
- And if you're an MTV fan, after the WWC my MTV live tweets resume with new seasons of Catfish, Teen Mom and America's Best Dance Crew, plus the VMA's. It'll all lead up to a new cycle of my other passion of the MTV Trifecta with Season 3 of Are You The One?, which recently wrapped up filming in Hawaii, and season 27 of The Challenge, which started taping last week overseas. You can expect wall-to-wall coverage of both shows right here on DCBLOG once the buzz for the reality dating sensation's newest season begins later in the summer.

- Also this week, my fellow sports/MTV fan, webcast host, recent college grad and birthday boy Andrew Kirk will do a special Big Time Reality TV webcast on his YouTube channel where he'll offering his thoughts on the recent Trifecta cycle, answering questions submitted by yours truly. This was originally planned for a DC FORUM post; our planned blog chat now be delayed once again, until our AYTO3 preview. Of course, the both of us, along with friends Brian Cohen, Ali Lasher and Reality Radio will be covering the Trifecta both on our respective blogs and on their webcasts.

- And as always, don't forget to follow my primary Twitter handle @DC408Dxtr, my Instagram account also at the same handle, and at Tumblr at dc408dxtr.tumblr.com.

Thanks for checking out this look at golf's major championships, all part of the Summer of Sports and on the eve of the U.S. Open. Again, join me on DCNOW for all the action and reaction from Tacoma, WA starting tomorrow, and back here on the blog as well. Until then, thanks for reading, have fun, see you then and talk to you at the clubhouse.

- I AM DC

Acknowledgements: Wikipedia - Men's Major Golf Championships, The Masters, U.S. Open (golf), The Open Championship and PGA Championship; Eyewitness Companions: Golf