Tiger Woods’ Career Grand Slams

Tiger Woods has completed the career Grand Slam—winning all four major championships—three separate times across his career. He is the only golfer in history to have won each of the four majors at least three times, giving him three distinct Grand Slams. His 15 major titles include five Masters, four PGA Championships, three U.S. Opens, and three Open Championships. For a complete breakdown of how each Grand Slam set was built—with margins, courses, and timeline—read on.

What Exactly Counts as a Career Grand Slam?

A career Grand Slam means winning each of the four majors—The Masters, U.S. Open, The Open Championship, and PGA Championship—at least once at any point in a player’s career. Woods completed his first at age 24 in June 2000, the youngest ever. Unlike a calendar-year Grand Slam (all four in one year), a career Grand Slam has no time limit. Woods went on to build two more complete sets, a feat no other male golfer has matched. Ben Hogan, Gary Player, and Jack Nicklaus each have one career Grand Slam; Woods has three.

Evidence anchor: Hogan’s career Grand Slam took 13 years (1946–1953) and required only one win per major. Woods’ first Grand Slam took four years (1997–2000) and involved winning three majors by double-digit strokes.

The Three Career Grand Slam Sets

Each Grand Slam represents a cycle where Woods already held three of the four majors and then added the missing one. Here’s how the sets break down, with specific tournament evidence.

First Grand Slam – Completed June 2000 (U.S. Open at Pebble Beach)

• Held before: 1997 Masters (won by 12 strokes), 1999 PGA Championship (Medinah), 2000 Open Championship (St. Andrews, won by 8 strokes).
• Final piece: 2000 U.S. Open. Woods won by 15 strokes, the largest margin in U.S. Open history. He led after every round and finished at 12-under, the only player under par for the tournament.

Second Grand Slam – Completed August 2006 (PGA Championship at Medinah)

• Held before: 2001 Masters (the fourth leg of the “Tiger Slam”), 2002 U.S. Open (Bethpage Black, won by 3 strokes), 2005 Open Championship (St. Andrews, won by 5 strokes).
• Final piece: 2006 PGA Championship. Woods shot a final-round 68 to win by 5 strokes over Shaun Micheel. It was his fourth PGA title and completed his second career Grand Slam at age 30.

Third Grand Slam – Completed April 2019 (Masters at Augusta National)

• Held before: 2008 U.S. Open (Torrey Pines, won in a playoff on a broken leg), 2006 Open Championship (Royal Liverpool), 2007 PGA Championship (Southern Hills).
• Final piece: 2019 Masters. Woods shot a final-round 70 to win by 1 stroke over Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, and Xander Schauffele. It was his first major in 11 years and first after spinal fusion surgery in 2017.

Evidence anchor: The 2019 Masters win completed a Grand Slam set that had been 11 years in the making. Woods’ 15-stroke win at Pebble Beach and 12-stroke win at Augusta in 1997 remain two of the largest major margins of the modern era.

Key Records and the “Tiger Slam” Distinction

• Youngest career Grand Slam: Woods at 24, beating Nicklaus’ record (26).
• Three majors in a single season (2000 and 2005): No other golfer has done it more than once.
• The “Tiger Slam” (2000 U.S. Open through 2001 Masters): Woods held all four major titles simultaneously, though not in a single calendar year. This is separate from the career Grand Slam, which only requires each major once, not concurrently. Many fans confuse the two: the “Tiger Slam” is a streak, the career Grand Slam is a checklist. Woods is the only player to hold all four at once and the only one to complete three career Grand Slams.

Evidence anchor: The 2000–2001 “Tiger Slam” included a 15-stroke win, an 8-stroke win, and a 2-stroke win at the 2001 Masters. No other golfer has ever held the four majors at the same time.

What This Means for Woods’ Legacy (Decision Implication)

For fans comparing greatness, three career Grand Slams show sustained elite performance across two distinct eras. His first came during his early-20s physical peak; his third came at 43 after multiple back surgeries and a seven-year major drought. That spread demonstrates versatility across course types—from Augusta’s speed and precision to U.S. Open rough, Open links, and PGA layouts—that a single Grand Slam cannot capture. When evaluating players, the number of completed Grand Slams is a more durable metric than total major wins, because it proves mastery of all four championship formats. Woods’ three sets span three decades (1990s, 2000s, 2010s), a range no other golfer has approached.

How to Verify the Numbers

You can confirm Woods’ three Grand Slams by checking official PGA Tour or major championship records. The simplest verification: list his wins per major—Masters (5), U.S. Open (3), Open Championship (3), PGA Championship (4)—and then map each chronological set. For the first Grand Slam, the fourth title was the 2000 U.S. Open; for the second, the 2006 PGA; for the third, the 2019 Masters. Official major websites (Masters.com, usopen.com, theopen.com, pgachampionship.com) maintain win tables with years and scores. No other golfer appears with three wins in each major.

A Common Misconception (Mismatch/Trade-Off)

A frequent mistake is assuming a career Grand Slam must include a calendar-year Grand Slam or the “Tiger Slam” style of holding all four at once. Neither is required. Hogan, Player, Nicklaus, and Woods all have career Grand Slams, but only Woods has held all four simultaneously, and no one in the modern era has won all four in a single calendar year. The trade-off: focusing on the calendar-year standard obscures how difficult it is to win each major just once across a career—let alone three times. Woods’ three sets underscore that his dominance spanned multiple decades and course conditions, not a single hot streak.

Woods’ career Grand Slams stand as a unique benchmark in golf history. His record of winning each major three or more times is unmatched—and because no other active golfer has even one career Grand Slam, it will likely remain unchallenged for many years.