Rating the Recent Majors

April 2009

Has the Masters lost its excitement? A panel of Golf Digest and Golf World writers and editors rated recent pro majors for the best event of each year, based on the competition, winner, venue and historic significance. The panelists picked the Masters in 11 of those years, eight U.S. Opens, four British Opens and one PGA Championship.

Based on the selections above for best majors in each year, our panel provided the following candidates for the best of the best. The choices, with the winner of each event: 1986 Masters (Jack Nicklaus) | 1991 PGA (John Daly) | 1996 Masters (Nick Faldo) | 1997 Masters (Tiger Woods) | 1999 U.S. Open (Payne Stewart) | 2000 U.S. Open (Tiger Woods) | 2004 Masters (Phil Mickelson) | 2008 U.S. Open (Tiger Woods)

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A look at each major since 1985, with the panel's top choice for the year highlighted in RED:

1985

<< BRITISH OPEN: Sandy Lyle becomes the first Scot to win the Open since 1931, beating Payne Stewart at Royal St. George's.
MASTERS: After rounds of 80-65, Curtis Strange finds water at the 13th and 15th on Sunday and loses to Bernhard Langer.
U.S. OPEN: Andy North wins by a shot over Dave Barr, Denis Watson and T.C. Chen, who has a double-chip 8 at Oakland Hills.
PGA: Hubert Green shoots a final-round 72 to beat defending champion Lee Trevino by two strokes at Cherry Hills.

1986

<< MASTERS: A 65 at age 46 gives Jack Nicklaus his sixth green jacket, by a stroke over Greg Norman and Tom Kite.
U.S. OPEN: At age 43, Raymond Floyd shoots a 66 at Shinnecock Hills, becoming the oldest winner of the Open at that time.
BRITISH OPEN: Greg Norman shoots a second-round 63 at Turnberry and earns his first major title, winning by five strokes.
PGA: Bob Tway holes out from a greenside bunker at the 72nd hole to beat Greg Norman by two strokes at Inverness.

• Dan Jenkins' 1986 Masters Report

1987

<< MASTERS: Larry Mize beats Greg Norman with a birdie chip from 140 feet in a playoff that includes Seve Ballesteros.
U.S. OPEN: Scott Simpson birdies 14, 15 and 16 to defeat Tom Watson by a stroke at the Olympic Club, playing at 6,714 yards, par 70.
BRITISH OPEN: Nick Faldo makes 18 pars in the final round at Muirfield and wins the first of his six major championships.
PGA: Larry Nelson beats Lanny Wadkins with a par on the first playoff hole in brutal heat at PGA National.

1988

<< U.S. OPEN: Curtis Strange's sand save at the 72nd hole gets him into a playoff that he wins over Nick Faldo at The Country Club.
MASTERS: Sandy Lyle wins by making a 10-footer for birdie at the 72nd hole after a 7-iron from a fairway bunker.
BRITISH OPEN: Seve Ballesteros' final-round 65 beats Nick Price by two strokes at Royal Lytham and St. Annes for his last major victory.
PGA: Jeff Sluman's final-round 65 overtakes Paul Azinger for a three-stroke victory at Oak Tree.

1989

<< MASTERS: Nick Faldo's 25-foot birdie putt at the second playoff hole wins it after Scott Hoch misses from two feet on the first.
U.S. OPEN: Curtis Strange becomes the first back-to-back Open champion since Ben Hogan, winning by a shot at Oak Hill.
BRITISH OPEN: Greg Norman has a final-round 64 at Royal Troon but loses to Mark Calcavecchia in a playoff that includes Wayne Grady.
PGA: Payne Stewart birdies four of the last five holes to win at Kemper Lakes; Mike Reid plays the last three in three over par.

1990

<< U.S. OPEN: Hale Irwin makes a 45-foot birdie putt on the 72nd hole and beats Mike Donald in a 19-hole playoff at Medinah.
MASTERS: Nick Faldo wins on the second playoff hole after Raymond Floyd hits his approach into the water at the 11th.
BRITISH OPEN: Nick Faldo's 18-under-par 270 total at St. Andrews beats Payne Stewart and Mark McNulty by five.
PGA: Wayne Grady's final-round 71 at Shoal Creek is enough to win by three strokes over Fred Couples, who bogeys 13, 14, 15 and 16.

1991

<< PGA: John Daly, the ninth alternate, stuns the golf world and beats Bruce Lietzke by three at Crooked Stick.
MASTERS: Ian Woosnam's six-foot par putt beats Jose Maria Olazabal by a shot. Tom Watson doubles the 72nd and is two back.
U.S. OPEN: Payne Stewart defeats Scott Simpson in a playoff at Hazeltine for the first of his two Open victories.
BRITISH OPEN: Ian Baker-Finch finishes 64-66 -- including a 29 on Sunday's outward nine -- to win by two at Royal Birkdale.