US Masters 
/ Dan Fitch / 24 March 2011 / Leave a Comment 
Can Tiger make it 15 at the Masters?
Dan Fitch takes a look at the golfers who made winning majors into a habit.
There are those golfers who win tour titles and those that win major titles. To land either the Masters, US Open, Open or PGA Championship takes not just talent, but the ability to not buckle under major pressure.
Some players are able to raise their game on one or maybe two occasions to land a major title, but then there are the rare breed of player for whom winning majors is a natural and regular occurrence. Here are the five players who have won more major golf championships than any other.
Ben Hogan's nine major titles were won within seven extremely productive years. He won the PGA in 1946 and again in 1948, along with the US Open. Then came a life-threatening car accident in 1949 from which Hogan was fortunate to emerge alive, but left him a fractured pelvis, collar bone, left ankle, a chipped rib and blood clots.
Just 59 days after the accident he left hospital and would win his second US Open in 1950. He would win his third in 1951, along with his first Masters title, but it was the year of 1953 which was to prove to be Hogan's golden period. Aged 40, Hogan won the first three majors of the year, in a feat that was known as the 'Hogan Slam'.
The Black Night's nine major titles were won between 1959 and 1978. Unlike the other players on this list, none of the South African's victories were achieved on home soil.
Player fist won The Open in 1959, which he would win again in 1968 and 1974. In 1961 he won the Masters and would later triumph at Augusta in both 1974 and 1978. 1962 saw Player win his first of two PGA Championships and in 1965 he would complete a career grand slam by winning the US Open.
Walter Hagen is the only player to make this list to not complete a career grand slam. The Masters was the only major title that Hagen failed to get his hands on, with the tournament only being created towards the end of his playing career. He won the other majors on 11 occasions between 1914 and 1929, which included a joint-record of five PGA Championships.
Hagen's first major came in 1914 when he won the US Open, which he would win again in 1919. The first of Hagen's five PGA titles came in 1921 and a year later he would become the first American-born winner of The Open, which he would win another three times.
Of all the players on the list, Tiger Woods is the only one still competing and who stands a great chance of adding to his majors tally. Tiger's 14 titles we won in 12 electrifying years between 1997 and 2008. Woods' first major championship victory was a show of intent, as he became the youngest Masters winner in 1997, with a record score of 18 under par and a record winning margin of 12 strokes.
Tiger won the PGA Championship in 1999, before winning 12 more major titles between 2000 and 2008. In doing so Woods became the youngest player to complete a career grand slam and only the second golfer to have won all four majors, three times or more.
The much publicised personal problems that derailed Woods' career have prevented him winning further titles, but no one would bet against him making it 15 championships at the Masters, where he starts as the [8.2] favourite.
The ultimate 'King of the Majors' is Jack Nicklaus, with an incredible 18 titles won between 1962 and 1986. In 1962 he won his first, when he captured the US Open title and a year later in 1963, Nicklaus would win the first of a record six Masters championships.
By the mid-sixties The Golden Bear had completed the career slam of major championships, as he picked up his first PGA title in 1963 and won the Open in 1966. There then followed a prolific period between 1970 and 1980, in which Nicklaus would win ten major championships and become the first player to complete double and then triple career slams of the major championships.
It would be six years until Nicklaus would win his final major. Having been written off and considered over the hill at the age of 46, he claimed the 1986 Masters title to cement his legacy as the greatest golfer of all time.
Mickelson may have scuppered his bet last year but Steve's playing the percentages again this time around......
An Augusta ace is perfectly possible, but patience will be rewarded......
Before making your Masters bets consider these five punting principles from our golf betting expert Paul Krishnamurty...
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