The four men’s Majors return to the iconic layouts of Augusta National, Southern Hills, Brookline and the Old Course at St Andrews, while the women make a first visit to Congressional and Muirfield.
Men’s Majors
The Masters
Augusta National Golf Club, Augusta, Georgia
2022 date: 7-10 April
Defending champion: Hideki Matsuyama
Notable for: The Masters is always the most anticipated Major of the year, not just because it is played at Augusta National Golf Club, but now golf fans have had to wait for eight months since the last Major championship. There are always plenty of sub-plots at the year’s first Major and it rarely fails to deliver. Can Rory McIlroy win and, in so doing, complete his Grand Slam? Will Jordan Spieth don another Green Jacket or thrill us all as he blows it? Will a relative unknown make a Sunday charge? Will Tiger Woods play?
The PGA Championship
Southern Hills Country Club, Tulsa
2022 date: 19-22 May
Defending champion: Phil Mickelson
Notable for: This is the venue where Retief Goosen won his first US Open, in 2001. The Goose should have finished things off in regulation play, but he missed a three-foot putt for the win and had to return the next day to play against Mark Brooks in an 18-hole playoff. Fortunately, Goosen prevailed, shooting 70 to Brooks’ 72. It’s also where Nick Price won the last of his three Majors, the 1994 PGA Championship, and where Woods won his 13th Major title, the 2007 PGA.
Future venues: 2023 Oak Hill Country Club, New York; 2024 Valhalla Country Club, Kentucky; 2025 Quail Hollow Club, North Carolina
US Open
The Country Club, Brookline
2022 date: 16-19 June
Defending champion: Jon Rahm
Notable for: Brookline is the venue for The Greatest Game Ever Played, the book that captures the remarkable story of how unknown 20-year-old local amateur Francis Ouimet defeated the world’s greatest golfers to win the 1913 US Open. It was also the host venue for the controversial 1999 Ryder Cup, where Justin Leonard sank an improbable 45-foot putt to cap an extraordinary comeback for the US team. In the chaos that followed Leonard’s putt, US players stormed on to the green to celebrate, with some stepping on the line of the putt left for Jose Maria Olazabal to keep the match alive.
Future venues: 2023 Los Angeles Country Club, California; 2024 Pinehurst Resort, North Carolina; 2025 Oakmont Country Club, Pennsylvania
The Open Championship
The Old Course at St Andrews
2022 date: 14-17 July
Defending champion: Collin Morikawa
Notable for: The oldest and most prestigious championship of all returns to its spiritual home ready to provide a stern links test to golfers who are fed a steady diet of parkland layouts. It is here where the likes of John Henry Taylor, James Braid, Bobby Jones, Sam Snead, Peter Thomson, Bobby Locke, Jack Nicklaus, Seve Ballesteros, Nick Faldo, Tiger Woods and Louis Oosthuizen have lifted the Claret Jug.
Future venues: 2023 Royal Liverpool Golf Club, England; 2024 Royal Troon Golf Club, Scotland; 2025 Royal Portrush, Northern Ireland.
Women’s Majors
Chevron Championship (formerly ANA Inspiration)
Mission Hills Country Club, California
2022 date: 31 March – 3 April
Defending champion: Patty Tavatanakit
The first Major of the year kicks off, as usual, at Mission Hills Country Club, California. With a new name and a handy prize fund of $5 million, the winner is expected to celebrate the victory by jumping into Poppie’s Pond that surrounds the 18th green.
Interesting fact: South Africa’s Sally Little won this event – named the Nabisco Dinah Shore Invitational at the time – in 1982, just a year before it was granted Major status.
US Women’s Open
Pine Needles, North Carolina
2022 date: 2-5 June
Defending champion: Yuka Saso
The US Women’s Open traces its roots back to 1946, when Patty Berg claimed the inaugural title – her sixth of 15 Major championships. While the other Majors have chopped and changed over time, the US Women’s Open is the only one to have been recognised as a Major championship since the LPGA Tour was founded in 1950.
Interesting fact: There is no age limit for qualifying for the US Women’s Open, and the youngest competitors have been 11-year-old Lucy Li in 2014 and 12-year-old Lexi Thompson in 2007.
Future venues: 2023 Pebble Beach, California; 2024 Lancaster Country Club, Pennsylvania; 2025 Erin Hills, Wisconsin
KPMG Women’s PGA
Congressional Country Club, Maryland
2022 date: 23-26 June
Defending champion: Nelly Korda
This will be the first time a women’s Major championship has been hosted at Congressional Country Club, which has hosted three US Opens (one of which was won by Ernie Els), a PGA Championship and a US Senior Open.
Interesting fact: South African Sally Little won the Women’s PGA in 1980, for her first Major. She shot rounds of 69, 70, 73 and 73 to win by three shots and take home a first-prize cheque of $22,500.
Future venues: 2023 Baltusrol Golf Club, New Jersey; 2025 PGA Frisco, Texas; 2027 Congressional Country Club, Maryland.
Evian Championship
Evian Resort, France
2022 date: 21-24 July
Defending champion: Minjee Lee
The youngest of the Majors, the Evian Championship is another to be played at the same venue year after year, in Evian-les-Bains, France.
Interesting fact: The Evian is the only Major that Inbee Park has not yet won. Unfortunately for the Korean, she won the event in 2010, a year before it was granted official Major status.
AIG Women’s Open
Muirfield, Scotland
2022 date: 4-7 August
Defending champion: Anna Nordqvist
In what is a bold step into the 21st century, Muirfield, which up until 2017 was still a male-only outpost, is now hosting a women’s Major championship.
Interesting fact: The last time Muirfield hosted a Major championship was back in 2013, when Phil Mickelson won his only Open Championship.
Future venues: 2023 Walton Heath Golf Club, England; 2024 St Andrews, Scotland; 2025 Royal Porthcawl, Wales.
Senior Tour
Regions Tradition
Greystone Golf & Country Club, Alabama
12-15 May
Defending champion: Alex Cejka
Senior PGA Championship
The Golf Club at Harbor Shores, Michigan
26-29 May
Defending champion: Alex Cejka
US Senior Open
Saucon Valley Country Club, Pennsylvania
23-26 June
Defending champion: Jim Furyk
Senior Players Championship
Firestone Country Club, Ohio
7-10 July
Defending champion: Steve Stricker
Senior Open Championship
Gleneagles, Scotland
21-24 July
Defending champion: Stephen Dodd
– This article first appeared in the March 2022 issue of Compleat Golfer magazine. Subscribe here!
