Players who have won the career Grand Slam of all four professional majors, the order they won them and how many tries it took before getting the final leg:
U.S. Open: 1922
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Tiger Woods, of the United States, cradles the Claret Jug after winning the British Open Golf championship on the Old Course at St. Andrews, Scotland, Sunday, July 23, 2000. (AP Photo/Adam Butler, File)
FILE - In this July 9, 1966, file photo, Jack Nicklaus, of the United States, holds the Claret Jug trophy and gold medal after winning the British Open Golf Championship at Muirfield, Scotland. (AP Photo/File)
FILE - Gary Player is shown holding the huge silver cup which he won along with $26,000 and the new title of U.S. Open golf champion, June 21, 1965, at Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis, Mo. (AP Photo/File)
FILE - In this July 10, 1953, file photo, Ben Hogan holds his trophy after winning the British Open Golf Championship at Carnoustie, Scotland. (AP Photo/Dennis Lee Royle, File)
FILE - In this April 8, 1935, file photo, golfer Gene Sarazen, center, receives a check for $1,500 from sportswriter Grantland Rice, left, for winning the Augusta National Invitation Tournament in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/File)
FILE - Jack Nicklaus as he makes a birdie putt on the 16th hole, April 13, 1975 at Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo, file)
PGA Championship: 1922
British Open: 1932
Masters: 1935 (first attempt)
PGA Championship: 1946
U.S. Open: 1948
Masters: 1951
British Open: 1953 (first attempt)
British Open: 1959
Masters: 1961
PGA Championship: 1962
U.S. Open: 1965 (third attempt)
Previous attempts at completing the Grand Slam:
1963: Tie for 8th in 1963 at Brookline
1964: Tie for 23rd at Congressional
U.S. Open: 1962
Masters: 1963
PGA Championship: 1963
British Open: 1966 (third attempt)
Previous attempts at completing the Grand Slam:
1964: Runner-up at St. Andrews
1965: Tie for 12th at Royal Birkdale
Masters: 1997
PGA Championship: 1999
U.S. Open: 2000
British Open: 2000 (first attempt)
PLAYERS WITH THREE LEGS OF THE GRAND SLAM:
Masters: 2004
PGA Championship: 2005
British Open: 2013
U.S. Open: 10 attempts:
2014: Tie for 28th at Pinehurst No. 2
2015: Tie for 64th at Chambers Bay
2016: Missed the cut at Oakmont
2017: Did not play at Erin Hills
2018: Tie for 48th at Shinnecock Hills
2019:Tie for 52nd at Pebble Beach
2020: Missed the cut at Winged Foot
2021: Tie for 62nd at Torrey Pines
2022: Missed the cut at The Country Club
2023: Missed the cut at Los Angeles Country Club
2024: Missed the cut at Pinehurst No. 2
U.S. Open: 2011
PGA Championship: 2012
British Open: 2014
Masters: Ten attempts:
2015: 4th
2016: Tie for 10th
2017: Tie for 7th
2018: Tie for 5th
2019: Tie for 21st
2020: Tie for 33rd
2021: Missed the cut
2022: Runner-up
2023: Missed the cut
2024: Tie for 22nd
Masters: 2015
U.S. Open: 2015
British Open: 2017
PGA Championship: Eight attempts:
2017: Tied for 28th at Quail Hollow
2018: Tied for 12th at Bellerive
2019: Tied for 3rd at Bethpage Black
2020: Tied for 71st at Harding Park
2021: Tied for 30th at Kiawah Island
2022: Tied for 34th at Southern Hills
2023: Tied for 29th at Oak Hill
2024: Tied for 43rd at Valhalla
INACTIVE PLAYERS WITH THREE LEGS OF THE GRAND SLAM:
U.S. Open: 1914
PGA Championship: 1921
British Open: 1922
Masters: Four attempts (Hagen was 41 when the Masters began in 1934)
PGA Championship: 1916
U.S. Open: 1921
British Open: 1925
Masters: Never played.
U.S. Open: 1927
PGA Championship: 1930
British Open: 1931
Masters: Seven attempts (best finish was tie for 8th in 1937)
Masters: 1937
US Open: 1939
PGA Championship: 1940
British Open: One attempt (The Open was not held in the six years leading to his retirement from full-time golf)
PGA Championship: 1942
British Open: 1946
Masters: 1949
U.S. Open: 22 attempts (best finish was runner-up in 1953)
Masters: 1958
U.S. Open: 1960
British Open: 1961
PGA Championship: 34 attempts (best finish was runner-up in 1964, 1968 and 1970)
U.S. Open: 1968
British Open: 1971
PGA Championship: 1974
Masters: 16 attempts (best finish was tie for 10th in 1975 and 1985)
PGA Championship: 1969
Masters: 1976
U.S. Open: 1986
British Open: Nine attempts (best finish was tie for 12th in 1992)
British Open: 1975
Masters: 1977
U.S. Open: 1982
PGA Championship: 24 attempts (best finish was 5th in 1993).
x-Played before Arnold Palmer raised the notion of a modern Grand Slam in 1960.
AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
Tiger Woods, of the United States, cradles the Claret Jug after winning the British Open Golf championship on the Old Course at St. Andrews, Scotland, Sunday, July 23, 2000. (AP Photo/Adam Butler, File)
FILE - In this July 9, 1966, file photo, Jack Nicklaus, of the United States, holds the Claret Jug trophy and gold medal after winning the British Open Golf Championship at Muirfield, Scotland. (AP Photo/File)
FILE - Gary Player is shown holding the huge silver cup which he won along with $26,000 and the new title of U.S. Open golf champion, June 21, 1965, at Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis, Mo. (AP Photo/File)
FILE - In this July 10, 1953, file photo, Ben Hogan holds his trophy after winning the British Open Golf Championship at Carnoustie, Scotland. (AP Photo/Dennis Lee Royle, File)
FILE - In this April 8, 1935, file photo, golfer Gene Sarazen, center, receives a check for $1,500 from sportswriter Grantland Rice, left, for winning the Augusta National Invitation Tournament in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/File)
FILE - Jack Nicklaus as he makes a birdie putt on the 16th hole, April 13, 1975 at Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo, file)
RHO, Italy (AP) — No ice is colder and harder than speedskating ice. The precision it takes has meant that Olympic speedskaters have never competed for gold on a temporary indoor rink – until the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Games.
In the pursuit of maximum glide and minimum friction, Olympic officials brought on ice master Mark Messer, a veteran of six previous Olympic speedskating tracks and the ice technician in charge of the Olympic Oval in Calgary, Canada — one of the fastest tracks in the world with over 300 records.
Messer has been putting that experience to work one thin layer of ice at a time since the end of October at the new Speed Skating Stadium, built inside adjacent trade fair halls in the city of Rho just north of Milan.
“It’s one of the biggest challenges I’ve had in icemaking,’’ Messer said during an interview less than two weeks into the process.
If Goldilocks were a speedskater, hockey ice would be medium hard, for fast puck movement and sharp turns. Figure skating ice would be softer, allowing push off for jumps and so the ice doesn’t shatter on landing. Curling ice is the softest and warmest of all, for controlled sliding.
For speedskating ice to be just right, it must be hard, cold and clean. And very, very smooth.
“The blades are so sharp, that if there is some dirt, the blade will lose the edge,’’ Messer said, and the skater will lose speed.
Speedskater Enrico Fabris, who won two Olympic golds in Turin in 2006, has traded in his skates to be deputy sports manager at the speedskating venue in Rho. For him, perfect ice means the conditions are the same for all skaters — and then if it's fast ice, so much the better.
"It's more of a pleasure to skate on this ice,'' he said.
Messer’s first Olympics were in Calgary in 1988 — the first time speedskating was held indoors. “That gave us some advantages because we didn’t have to worry about the weather, wind blowing or rain,’’ he said. Now he is upping the challenge by becoming the first ice master to build a temporary rink for the Olympics.
Before Messer arrived in Italy, workers spent weeks setting up insulation to level the floor and then a network of pipes and rubber tubes that carry glycol — an antifreeze — that is brought down to minus 7 or minus 8 degrees Celsius (17.6 to 19.4 degrees Fahrenheit) to make the ice.
Water is run through a purification system — but it can’t be too pure, or the ice that forms will be too brittle. Just the right amount of impurities “holds the ice together,’’ Messer said.
The first layers of water are applied slowly, with a spray nozzle; after the ice reaches a few centimeters it is painted white — a full day’s work — and the stripes are added to make lanes.
“The first one takes about 45 minutes. And then as soon as it freezes, we go back and do it again, and again and again. So we do it hundreds of times,’’ Messer said.
As the ice gets thicker, and is more stable, workers apply subsequent layers of water with hoses. Messer attaches his hose to hockey sticks for easier spreading.
What must absolutely be avoided is dirt, dust or frost — all of which can cause friction for the skaters, slowing them down. The goal is that when the skaters push “they can go as far as possible with the least amount of effort,’’ Messer said.
The Zamboni ice resurfacing machine plays a key role in keeping the track clean, cutting off a layer and spraying water to make a new surface.
One challenge is gauging how quickly the water from the resurfacing machine freezes in the temporary rink.
Another is getting the ice to the right thickness so that the Zamboni, weighing in at six tons, doesn’t shift the insulation, rubber tubing or ice itself.
“When you drive that out, if there’s anything moving it will move. We don’t want that,’’ Messer said.
The rink got its first big test on Nov. 29-30 during a Junior World Cup event. In a permanent rink, test events are usually held a year before the Olympics, leaving more time for adjustments. “We have a very small window to learn,’’ Messer acknowledged.
Dutch speedskater Kayo Vos, who won the men’s neo-senior 1,000 meters, said the ice was a little soft — but Messer didn’t seem too concerned.
“We went very modest to start, now we can start to change the temperatures and try to make it faster and still maintain it as a safe ice,’’ he said.
Fine-tuning the air temperature and humidity and ice temperature must be done methodically — taking into account that there will be 6,000 spectators in the venue for each event. The next real test will be on Jan. 31, when the Olympians take to the ice for their first training session.
“Eighty percent of the work is done but the hardest part is the last 20 percent, where we have to try to find the values and the way of running the equipment so all the skaters get the same conditions and all the skaters get the best conditions,’’ Messer said.
AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
Serpentines are set on the ice of the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Workers clean the ice surface during a peed skating Junior World Cup and Olympic test event, in Rho, near Milan, Italy, Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
