Name Every Player To Have Won A Major With Z In Their Name?

Here's two of them!

(Image credit: Getty Images)

published 27 November 2024

The first golf major in the record books is the 1860 Open Championship, contested at Prestwick Golf Club in Ayrshire. There were just eight participants and Willie Park Snr of Musselburgh, East Lothian was the champion.

The US Open was first contested in 1895 and was won by England’s Horace Rawlins.

Arnaud Massy became the first non-British winner of a Major when he claimed the 1907 Open Championship at Royal Liverpool. John McDermott was the first US born golfer to win a Major when he triumphed in the 1911 US Open at the Chicago Golf Club.

The PGA Championship began life in 1916 and was won by Jim Barnes, an Englishman who had moved to the USA in 1906.

The most recent of the four men’s Majors was the Masters Tournament which was established in 1934 and was won in its first year by Horton Smith.

To this point in time, 470 men’s majors have been contested and no fewer than 233 different men have won major titles. Only 89 of those men have won multiple majors. Jack Nicklaus has won the most with 18, then Tiger Woods with 15 and Walter Hagen has 11.

Only 12 of the 233 men to have won a major have a z in their names – either first or last names. Some of those men are household names, one or two are a little less well known and there’s one that only a very few knowledgeable golfing historians will be able to identify. Have a go at our quiz below and see how many major winning golfers with a z in their name you can get.

If you enjoyed this quiz, why don't you try out one of the others below:

Can you name every major winner of this century?

Can you name every LIV Team?

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Fergus is Golf Monthly's resident expert on the history of the game and has written extensively on that subject. He has also worked with Golf Monthly to produce a podcast series. Called 18 Majors: The Golf History Show it offers new and in-depth perspectives on some of the most important moments in golf's long history. You can find all the details about it here.

He is a golf obsessive and 1-handicapper. Growing up in the North East of Scotland, golf runs through his veins and his passion for the sport was bolstered during his time at St Andrews university studying history. He went on to earn a post graduate diploma from the London School of Journalism. Fergus has worked for Golf Monthly since 2004 and has written two books on the game; "Great Golf Debates" together with Jezz Ellwood of Golf Monthly and the history section of "The Ultimate Golf Book" together with Neil Tappin , also of Golf Monthly.

Fergus once shanked a ball from just over Granny Clark's Wynd on the 18th of the Old Course that struck the St Andrews Golf Club and rebounded into the Valley of Sin, from where he saved par. Who says there's no golfing god?

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