Who holds the record for most major golf titles (18) ahead of Tiger Woods?

Jack Nicklaus holds the record for most major golf titles, with 18 victories, three ahead of Tiger Woods.

Nicklaus won his 18 major championships between 1962 and 1986. His total includes six Masters Tournament victories, five PGA Championships, four U.S. Opens and three Open Championships. That unusually broad success across all four major events helped establish him as the benchmark for championship golf.

Tiger Woods is second on the men's professional major-championship list with 15 titles. Woods came closest to Nicklaus's record during his dominant period around the turn of the century, winning 14 majors by 2008 and adding his 15th at the 2019 Masters. Woods's 15 include five Masters, four PGA Championships, three U.S. Opens and three Open Championships.

The record is sometimes confused with the total number of professional tournaments won, which is a different statistic. Nicklaus won 73 official PGA Tour events, while Woods and Sam Snead share the PGA Tour wins record with 82 each. Nicklaus remains the clear leader in men's major titles.