Two players have swept the major championships played in a single season since the LPGA was founded in 1950: Babe Zaharias won the U.S. Open, Titleholders and Western Open in 1950 when there were just three majors; and Sandra Haynie captured the U.S. Women's Open and LPGA Championship in 1974, one of the 10 seasons with just two majors.
Only two players have come close to winning four majors in a single season. In 1961, LPGA Tour Hall-of-Famer Mickey Wright captured titles at the LPGA Championship, U.S. Women's Open and Titleholders, but placed third behind Mary Lena Faulk in the Western Open. In 1986, Pat Bradley almost accomplished the Grand Slam when she won the Nabisco Dinah Shore, LPGA Championship and du Maurier Ltd. Classic; however, the 1986 Rolex Player of the Year fell short of her bid with a fifth-place finish at the U.S. Women's Open. In seasons with three majors contested, Kathy Whitworth took the 1967 LPGA Championship and Western Open, but failed in her U.S. Women's Open attempt.
For 2012, the LPGA's four major championships are the Kraft Nabisco Championship, the Wegmans Championship, the U.S. Women's Open, and the RICOH Women's British Open.
Career Grand Slam
Six LPGA Tour Hall of Famers (or Hall of Fame members-to-be) have accomplished the Career Grand Slam, which is winning each of the designated majors during their playing careers: Pat Bradley (1986), Juli Inkster (1999), Annika Sorenstam (2003), Louise Suggs (1957), Karrie Webb (2001) and Mickey Wright (1962).
Bradley is a three-time du Maurier Classic champion (1980, 1985-86) and has won each of the other three major championships once: U.S. Women's Open (1981); Nabisco Dinah Shore (1986); and the McDonald's LPGA Championship (1986).
Inkster won the 1984 du Maurier Classic and Nabisco Dinah Shore as a rookie, the Nabisco Dinah Shore again in 1989 and then completed the career Grand Slam in 1999 with victories at the U.S. Women's Open and the McDonald's LPGA Championship; she repeated as McDonald's LPGA Championship champion in 2000 for her sixth career major championship title.
Sorenstam won back-to-back U.S. Women's Open Championships in 1995 and 1996. It was five years before she won another major championship, the 2001 Nabisco Championship. She successfully defended her title at the 2002 Kraft Nabisco Championship. In 2003, she won two of the four majors; the McDonald's LPGA Championship presented by AIG and the Weetabix Women's British Open.
Suggs, an 11-time major championship winner, won the LPGA Championship in 1957, the U.S. Women's Open in 1949 and 1952, the Titleholders Championship four times (1946-amateur, 1954, 1956, 1959) and the Western Open four times (1946-47, 1949, 1953).
Webb won her first major at the 1999 du Maurier Classic and followed that up with a win at the Nabisco Championship in 2000. She won back-to-back U.S. Open titles in 2000 and 2001, and completed her Slam at the McDonald's LPGA Championship in 2001. She became the youngest woman to complete the slam. She also is the golfer to win a career slam in the shortest span from first major win to fourth major win. She won all the necessary titles in one year, 10 months, and 24 days. Webb was inducted to the LPGA Hall of Fame in 2005.
Wright, the winner of 13 majors, is a four-time LPGA Championship winner (1958, 1960-61, 1963), a four-time U.S. Women's Open champion (1958-59, 1961, 1964), a two-time Titleholders Championship winner (1961-62) and a three-time Western Open Titleist (1962-63, 1966).
The Titleholders Championship was a designated major from 1937-66 and 1972, and the Western Open was a major from 1937-67. Bradley, Inkster and Webb are the only three players in LPGA history to have accomplished the “modern-day” Grand Slam by winning the four major championships designated as majors from the 1980s to 2000: the Nabisco Championship, the McDonald's LPGA Championship Presented by AIG, U.S. Women's Open and the du Maurier Classic. Bradley accomplished that feat in 1986, while Inkster achieved the modern-day Grand Slam in 1999.
Beginning in 2001 and beyond, the Grand Slam includes the Kraft Nabisco Championship, the U.S. Women's Open, the LPGA Championship and the Women's British Open; however, there is a caveat to this rule. Because the Women's British Open replaced the du Maurier Classic as the LPGA's final major, any player who won the du Maurier Classic during its tenure as a major must win the Kraft Nabisco Championship, the U.S. Women's Open and the LPGA Championship to achieve the Career Grand Slam. In contrast, any player who already has won the Kraft Nabisco Championship, the U.S. Women's Open and the LPGA Championship, but did not win the du Maurier Classic during its tenure, must now win the Women's British Open to complete the Career Grand Slam.
Example 1. Amy Alcott has won the Nabisco Dinah Shore (1991, 1988, 1983), the U.S. Women's Open (1980), and the 1979 Peter Jackson Classic (renamed the du Maurier in 1984). Winning the Weetabix Women's British Open will not count towards her Career Grand Slam since she won the Peter Jackson/du Maurier Classic, which the Weetabix Women's British Open replaced; however, should Webb win both the Weetabix Women's British Open and the McDonald's LPGA Championship, she will have achieved the Super Career Grand Slam, which recognizes a player winning the now five majors available during her career.
Example 2. Patty Sheehan has won the LPGA Championship (1983-84, 1993), the U.S. Women's Open (1992, 1994) and the Nabisco Dinah Shore (1996). Although she did not win the du Maurier Classic during its major tenure, she can achieve Career Grand Slam by winning the Weetabix Women's British Open, which replaced the du Maurier as the LPGA's fourth major.
Example 3. Pat Bradley (1986) and Juli Inkster (1999) have accomplished the Career Grand Slam. If either of those two players wins the Weetabix Women's British Open, she will achieve the Super Career Grand Slam, which recognizes a player winning the now five majors available during her career.
Super Career Grand Slam
Karrie Webb is the only player to have achieved the Super Career Grand Slam. Webb accomplished this following her victory at the 2002 Weetabix Women's British Open. All players who won the du Maurier Classic title during its tenure as a major and are still competing today have the opportunity to win the Super Career Grand Slam, which recognizes a player winning the now five majors available during her career.
From 1979-2000, the LPGA Tour's four majors included the Nabisco Championship, the McDonald's LPGA Championship, the U.S. Women's Open and the du Maurier Classic. Beginning in 2001, the Weetabix Women's British Open replaces the du Maurier Classic as an LPGA Tour major. Therefore, if a player was on Tour in 1979 and is still competing today, she will have had a chance at five majors during her career: the Kraft Nabisco Championship, the McDonald's LPGA Championship, the U.S. Women's Open, du Maurier Classic and the Weetabix Women's British Open.
Grand Slam
(Winning all majors available in one season)
Babe Zaharias 1950 (three majors)
Sandra Haynie 1964 (two majors)
Career Grand Slam
(Winning all designated majors in player's career)
Louise Suggs 1957
Mickey Wright 1962
Pat Bradley 1986
Juli Inkster 1999
Karrie Webb 2001
Annika Sorenstam 2003
Super Career Grand Slam
Karrie Webb 2002
* Closing in on the Career Grand Slam
(Active players needing no more than two of the four major titles to complete the Career Grand Slam)
| Player |
Tournament(s) needed |
| Laura Davies |
Kraft Nabisco Championship |
| Cristie Kerr |
Kraft Nabisco Championship, RICOH Women's British Open |
| Meg Mallon |
Kraft Nabisco Championship |
| Lorena Ochoa |
Wegmans LPGA Championship, U.S. Women's Open |
| Se Ri Pak |
Kraft Nabisco Championship |
| Yani Tseng |
U.S. Women's Open |
