This post is an opinion-piece written by our Trackman-certified Touring Professional Freddie Lawrence.
The major championship golf season is in full swing right now and, for me, this is the most exciting time of year for both playing and spectating golf.
Within the men’s game, since the PGA Championship changed calendar position from August to May in 2019, golf’s four major championships now fit neatly within a 4-month stretch.
Alongside the PGA Championship, we have the Masters in April, the US Open in June, and the Open Championship in July, which serves as the culmination of the major season.
Across this magical 4-month spell of high-octane golf, we see champions crowned and pretenders to the throne cast aside. More often that not, the victor emerges from a pressure-filled cauldron; a cauldron that swirls precise and demanding skill examinations together with raucous fan noise, creating a thick soup of combustible, electrical atmosphere.
You can almost guarantee that every major will be won and lost by players with shaking hands throughout the final gripping stages.
You need look no further than Nelly Korda (pictured below), who recently won the women’s US Open at Riveira Country Club by one stroke after making a 3-foot putt on the final green that squeaked around the hole and fell in from the back edge. What must she have been feeling? And she’s the number 1 ranked women’s golfer with three major championships already to her name!
This is why I find ‘major season’ incredibly exciting to be a part of; it’s thrilling because of the high stakes involved. I love watching the best players in the world compete for a title that means so much to them that it makes them shake with nervousness and anticipation.
Of course, the high stakes generated for the world’s best players are not simply due to the biggest one-week prize purses in the game. Should a golfer achieve major success, an indelible place in the history books of golf and sport is also on offer.
Jack Nicklaus has 18 major titles. Tiger Woods has 15. Annika Sorenstam has 10. Rory McIlroy has 6 (and counting!). Major championships are the barometer for measuring golfing greatness across generations.
As a result, the major championships exude a mystical aura, with some, perhaps, feeling more mystical than others.
The Masters, for example, is held every year on the exclusive property at Augusta National. It’s an invitational event, where only those players who have achieved exceptional feats may compete.
Even to attend as a spectator is a hallowed experience (an experience which I have not had the pleasure of…yet!) given the strict members-only club policies enforced throughout the rest of the year.
The Open Championship balances the scales. Entry is open to all professionals (and amateurs with a scratch handicap and below), as the purpose of this major, since its first inception in 1860, was to determine who the ‘Champion Golfer of the Year’ was. Allow everyone to compete, then there can be no question that the best golfer is identified every year. Quite straightforward really.
I myself will be attempting to qualify for the Open Championship once more this year, via the Regional/Final Qualifying route. And that is the magic of the Open; as I write this piece, I remain ‘just’ three good rounds away from competing at the Open, and then a further four away from winning it! The prospect of etching my name into sporting history is always tantalisingly close and within my control.
For these reasons above, I find the major championship season spellbinding. But it’s not just me. The notion of competing at major championships and winning them has inspired golfers to play the game for over a century. Every year, the majors offer renewed inspiration, motivation, and provide a canvas for fresh dreams to materialise for every generation of golfer.
Long may it continue because, for me, major season is an annual source of joy and excitement. It makes me feel alive. I hope you feel the same way.
To take a closer look at Aronomink (2026 PGA), Birkdale(2026 Open), and to test yourself on a multitude of other major championship venues, book one of our Trackman simulators at the Centre of Golf Excellence today!
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