What Makes A Major, A Major?
Is it moments, tradition, or money?
Issue No. 30, April 23, 2025
It’s major week again. This time on the LPGA Tour as ladies head to the Houston area for the Chevron Championship.
Welcome to the From the Drop Zone newsletter, where we are wondering what makes a major championship, a major championship.
I know there are a lot of newsletters out there, and I’m thankful this one found its way into your inbox. Let’s hang out, pour a cocktail, and talk some golf.
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Fore, please…
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Golf’s majors are the tournaments where legends are made, history is written, and careers are defined.
This week the LPGA Tour visits The Club at Carlton Woods outside of Houston in The Woodlands, Texas. (Side note: the course being played is the Jack Nicklaus Signature Course and, man, if that combination of words in that order doesn’t make me want a) barf, and b) not play there…)
The Chevron is the successor to the Dinah Shore (Colgate-Dinah Shore / Nabisco Dinah Shore / Nabisco Invitational / ANA Inspiration / isn’t corporate sponsorship great for taking over tournament names everywhere). The tournament, founded in 1972 by (you guessed it) entertainer Dinah Shore and (of course) Colgate chairman David Foster, the tournament was designated as a major in 1983. Played at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, California, it was the first major of the LPGA season and played at the same course each year.
This has similarities to the Masters: same course, first major. There was also some tradition as well with the winner jumping into “Poppie’s Pond,” at first a natural pond fronting the 18th green, but later more of a swimming pool. Amy Alcott, after her second win at the tournament in 1988, established the tradition of jumping into the pond.
Because of the tradition, the same course, and celebrity founder of the tournament, and the list of winners being some of the best players of their generation, it sure felt the Dinah Shore was a major championship. And, of course, it was a major championship, the LPGA Tour said it was.
Those feelings all changed when, in 2023, the tournament gained a new corporate sponsor and moved the tournament away from its longstanding and only home at Mission Hills. Of course, the tournament now known as the Chevron Championship is still a major; the LPGA Tour says it is. But it certainly feels a little different.
But what exactly makes a tournament a "major"?
In both men's and women's professional golf, the majors are the most prestigious tournaments of the season. Winning a major is the pinnacle of a golfer’s career—it's what every pro dreams of, trains for, and measures their success against.
In the modern men’s game, the four majors are the Masters, the PGA Championship, the U.S. Open and the British Open. But even those have changed over the years. In the early 1900s, when the amateur game was more revered and the professional game wasn’t as established as it is today, the U.S. Amateur and the British Amateur were of high importance. Even though the term “major” wasn’t really defined in that era, those two in addition to the U.S. Open and Open Championship were the ones Bobby Jones won in 1930 to complete his Grand Slam.
There is no single global governing body that defines what a golf major should be. Instead, majors are defined by a combination of factors: tradition and history; strength of field; global recognition; media coverage; course quality; and historic impact.
None of the currently recognized men’s majors are sponsored by, organized by, or managed by the professional tours. The Masters is organized by Augusta National Golf Club, the PGA Championship by the PGA of America, the U.S. Open by the United States Golf Association and the Open Championship by the R&A. Is it their independence from the professional tours what makes them a major?
If that’s the case, the five women’s majors may need to be whittled down to the three. The KPMG Women’s PGA Championship is run by the PGA of America, the U.S. Women’s Open by the USGA and the AIG Women’s Open by the R&A, but the Chevron and the Evian (the fifth major) are sanctioned by the LPGA Tour. That differs from the men’s majors which are all fully independent.
Does purse size define a major? The largest purses on the LPGA Tour are all majors. The Chevron’s purse is $7.9 million, the U.S. Women’s Open’s is $12 million, the KMGA Women’s PGA’s is $10.4 million, the Women’s Open’s is $9.5 million, and the Evian’ is $8 million.
The Evian Championship was originally a Ladies European Tour-sanctioned event and became an LPGA Tour co-sanctioned tournament in 2000. Then, in 2013, the LPGA decided the championship was a major championship and the purse increased with that declaration. So, can a corporate sponsor or professional tour decide a tournament is a major just by pumping more money into the purse?
Can a major championship, with long standing tradition, such as the Dinah Shore being played at the same course for 40 years, just abandon those roots and still be a major? Sure, other major championships play at different courses each year, but that is part of their identity. What if the Masters moved from Augusta National? Would the Masters still be the Masters? Would it still be a major? (Yes, I know that will never happen because, you know, Augusta National owns the Masters.)
In 2022 when Chevron became the title sponsor, and the tournament was relocated to The Club at Carlton Woods in Texas, the tournament still held major status on the LPGA calendar. The tournament moved away from its roots, with many fans and players feeling the soul of the event was left in California and that the new venue hasn’t yet built its own major legacy.
(But they are trying to retain some of the tradition and legacy: the leap into Poppie’s Pond has been replicated with a dock and leap into a pond next to the 18th green as well … just hope the alligators don’t get you.)
So, is the Chevron Championship really a major?
The LPGA designates it as one of the five majors. So, technically: yes. This whole newsletter could have been just one word.
The winner gets a major title, ranking points, and prize money accordingly. But in golf, perception often carries as much weight as designation.
While the Chevron Championship is a major on paper, it’s fair to say that it’s still earning its status in the eyes of many players and fans. The tournament needs time—time to build new traditions, challenge the world’s best, and earn its place.
In golf, tradition matters. But the landscape of professional golf is rapidly evolving.
The Evian Championship gradually found its footing after being named a major in 2013. The Chevron Championship’s new chapter may eventually be accepted and celebrated. And as a new generation of players come through the LPGA Tour, those players will know it as a major; it’s all they will ever have known it as.
Whether any tournament ultimately earns the same reverence as the (original) Dinah Shore or U.S. Women’s Open will depend on how it grows in its new environment.
At the end of every golf tournament, a trophy is lifted and for majors, it doesn’t matter where that is, but how the moments that define it resonate over time.
Major championships have time and moments.
That’s what makes a major a major.
(And a lot of money and investment, a big winner’s check, and good PR doesn’t hurt, either.)