What Does Wire To Wire Mean In Golf?

One phrase that you may have heard when watching golf on TV before is ‘wire to wire’.

This article explains in detail what ‘wire to wire’ means in golf. If you’re eager to find out more about the sport then read on!

Definition Of Wire-To-Wire

Wire-to-wire is a term used in many sports, including golf and horse racing. It means to lead from the start of a competition or tournament all the way through to its finish. In other words, it’s when you hold onto first place right up until the end!

The term originated in horse racing where the start and finish lines would have a wire so horse that led from start to finish went wire-to-wire.

In golf, this usually happens when one golfer dominates their opponents and has such an impressive level of skill that week that they can’t be overtaken no matter how hard everyone else tries.

Because there can be as many as 156 players in a professional tournament it’s pretty rare to see many wire-to-wire winners in golf. Especially if you don’t include golfers who were tied for the lead at the end of any round.

Of course, because not every player starts at the same time you have to use the positions at the end of every round. 

Wire-To-Wire Major Champions

There are only 4 major championships per year so the chances of a wire-to-wire victory are reduced straight away. Despite this, one of the four majors has been won wire-to-wire on quite a few occasions. Over four rounds of the toughest championships in golf, it’s a surprise to me that it has happened as often as it has.

Let’s run through major championship history to see which of the greats of the game have managed to hold the lead from start to finish in one of the tournaments.

The Masters Tournament

Year	Player	Ties or No Ties	Scores	Margin of Victory
1941	Craig Wood	No Ties	66-71-71-72=280	3
1960	Arnold Palmer	No Ties	67-73-72-70=282	1
1972	Jack Nicklaus	No Ties	68-71-73-74=286	3
1976	Raymond Floyd	No Ties	65-66-70-70=271	8
2015	Jordan Spieth	No Ties	64-66-70-70=270	4
2020	Dustin Johnson	Ties	65-70-65-68=268	5

The Masters’ committee doesn’t consider wire-to-wire victories where the player was tied at any time but I think that’s a little unfair so I have included Dustin Johnson’s win in 2020 since he crossed the finish line with the record-low score of 268.

US Open

Year	Player	Ties or No Ties	Score	Margin of Victory
1903	Willie Anderson	Ties	73-76-76-82=307	Playoff
1906	Alex Smith	Ties	73-74-73-75=295	7
1914	Walter Hagen	No Ties	68-74-75-73=290	1
1916	Charles Evans Jr. (Chick Evans) (amateur)	Ties	70-69-74-73=286	2
1921	Jim Barnes	No Ties	69-75-73-72=289	9
1953	Ben Hogan	No Ties	67-72-73-71=283	6
1958	Tommy Bolt	Ties	71-71-69-72=283	4
1970	Tony Jacklin	No Ties	71-70-70-70=281	7
1972	Jack Nicklaus	Ties	71-73-72-74=290	3
1977	Hubert Green	Ties	69-67-72-70=278	1
1980	Jack Nicklaus	Ties	63-71-70-68=272	2
1991	Payne Stewart	Ties	67-70-73-72=282	Playoff
2000	Tiger Woods	No Ties	65-69-71-67=272	15
2001	Retief Goosen	Ties	66-70-69-71=276	Playoff
2002	Tiger Woods	No Ties	67-68-70-72=277	3
2011	Rory McIlroy	No Ties	65-66-68-69=268	8
2014	Martin Kaymer	No Ties	65-65-72-69=271	8

The victory of Chick Evans in 1916 is noteworthy for two other reasons. Firstly is one of the few amateur golfers to win a major championship and secondly, he did so with only seven golf clubs in his bag!

PGA Championship

The US PGA championship only changed from matchplay to strokeplay in 1958 so there have been fewer opportunities for a dominant golfer to lead after each of the four rounds of play. Tiger Woods managed to win two majors with wire-to-wire victories in his miraculous 2000 season of course he went on to win the Masters in 2001 to complete the Tiger Slam.

Year	Player	Ties or No Ties	Scores	Margin of Victory
1964	Bobby Nichols	No Ties	64-71-69-67=271	3
1969	Raymond Floyd	Ties	69-66-67-74=276	1
1971	Jack Nicklaus	No Ties	70-69-66-69=274	7
1982	Raymond Floyd	No Ties	63-69-68-72=272	3
1983	Hal Sutton	No Ties	65-66-72-71=274	1
2000	Tiger Woods	Ties	66-67-70-67=270	Playoff
2019	Brooks Koepka	No Ties	63-65-70-74=272	2

The Open Championship

The oldest major golf tournament which started in 1860 has seen its fair share of players leading from the first round to the last.

Year	Player	Ties or No Ties	Scores	Margin of Victory
1899	Harry Vardon	Ties	76-76-81-77=310	5
1900	J.H. Taylor	Ties	79-77-78-75=309	8
1903	Harry Vardon	Ties	73-77-72-78=300	6
1912	Ted Ray	No Ties	71-73-76-75=295	4
1927	Bobby Jones (amateur)	No Ties	68-72-73-72=285	6
1932	Gene Sarazen	No Ties	70-69-70-74=283	5
1934	Henry Cotton	No Ties	67-65-72-79=283	5
1971	Lee Trevino	Ties	69-70-69-70=278	1
1973	Tom Weiskopf	No Ties	68-67-71-70=276	3
1974	Gary Player	Ties	69-68-75-70=282	4
2005	Tiger Woods	No Ties	66-67-71-70=274	5
2014	Rory McIlroy	No Ties	66-66-68-71=271	2
2017	Jordan Spieth	Ties	65-69-65-69=268	3

Players With Multiple Wire-to-Wire Triumphs

In majors, the only players to date (April 2023) to have multiple wire-to-wire wins are:

Jack Nicklaus – 4

Tiger Woods – 4

Raymond Floyd – 3

Rory McIlroy – 2

Jordan Spieth – 2

Harry Vardon – 2

Women’s Major Championships That Have Been Won Wire-to-Wire

The women’s majors have much shorter histories than the men’s but even so, they have still managed to produce some champions that have led from the beginning to the end.

Chevron Championship

None of these winners were tied at the end of any round.

1986	Pat Bradley
1987	Betsy King
1989	Juli Inkster
1991	Amy Alcott
1998	Pat Hurst
2000	Karrie Webb
2021	Patty Tavatanakit

US Women’s Open

1954	Babe Zaharias
1955	Fay Crocker (no ties)
1958	Mickey Wright (no ties)
1963	Mary Mills
1967	Catherine Lacoste
1968	Susie Berning (no ties)
1970	Donna Caponi
1971	JoAnne Carner

KPMG Women’s PGA Championship

1955	Beverly Hanson
1958	Mickey Wright (no ties)
1962	Judy Kimball
1967	Kathy Whitworth
1968	Sandra Post
1982	Jan Stephenson
1985	Nancy Lopez (no ties)
1992	Betsy King
1998	Se Ri Pak (no ties)
2010	Christie Kerr
2011	Yani Tseng (no ties)
2019	Hannah Green (no ties)
2022	Ingee Chun (no ties)

Women’s Open Championship

2005	Jeong Jang (no ties)
2007	Lorena Ochoa (no ties)

Evian Championship

No wire-to-wire champions so far.

Female Players With Multiple Wire-to-Wire Triumphs

Betsy King – 2

Mickey Wright – 2

What Does Wire To Wire Mean In Golf: Summary

In summary, a wire-to-wire win is an impressive feat that has been accomplished by some of the greatest golfers in history. It takes exceptional skill and focus to win a tournament in such a fashion and probably a little bit of luck too, which makes it all the more impressive when someone manages to do so.

Whether you hope to achieve your own wire-to-wire victory or just appreciate the spectacle of others doing so, understanding what wire-to-wire means in golf is essential for any fan of the sport.

Go here if you want more golf terminology explained.