Major titles
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Professional Snooker, unlike profesional Golf or Tennis, does not operate an official system of 'Majors' or 'Grand Slam' events. The World Championship is by far the most significant snooker event of the calendar year, awarding the most prize money and ranking points, and the only other event with official superiority over the bulk of the ranking events is the United Kingdom Championship, which awards 1.5 times the ranking points of other ranking events. However, snooker has held an unofficial system which counts the World Championship, United Kingdom Championship, the Grand Prix and the Masters (the only of the four which is not a ranking event) as 'major' titles, as the four events which have traditionally had the highest prize money, highest profile sponsors, most TV coverage, and largest field of competitors. Winning the World Championship, the UK Championship and the Masters is also sometimes referred to as the 'Triple Crown' of Snooker. Due to changes in sponsorship, the exact names of the tournaments has varied slightly over time. The Masters until 2003 was entitled the Benson and Hedges Masters, and is currently entitled the Saga Insurance Masters after the tournaments current sponsor. The Grand Prix has gone through many formats, having been titled the Professional Players Tournament, Rothmans Grand Prix, Skoda Grand Prix, Grand Prix, LG Cup and the totesport Grand Prix.
A list of every snooker player having won 3 or more majors, counting the tournaments since their inception (or since the start of the knockout format in regards to the world championship) is given below. Stephen Hendry and Steve Davis dominate the records by far, Hendry with the most majors (22) with Davis next (18).
[edit] List of top winners of professional majors
| Name | Country | World Championship | UK Championship | Grand Prix | Masters | Total | Winning span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stephen Hendry |  Scotland |
7 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 22 | 1987-1999 |
| Steve Davis |  England |
6 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 18 | 1980-1997 |
| Ronnie O'Sullivan | England |
2 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 1993-2007 |
| Mark Williams |  Wales |
2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 9 | 1996-2003 |
| Ray Reardon | Wales |
6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 1970-1982 |
| John Higgins | Scotland |
1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 1994-2006 |
| Alex Higgins |  Northern Ireland |
2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 1972-1983 |
| Cliff Thorburn |  Canada |
1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 1980-1986 |
| John Spencer | Northern Ireland |
3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1969-1977 |
| Jimmy White | England |
0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 1984-1992 |
| Dennis Taylor | Northern Ireland |
1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1984-1987 |
| Paul Hunter | England |
0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 2001-2004 |
| Peter Ebdon | England |
1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1993-2006 |
| Terry Griffiths | Wales |
1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1979-1982 |
| Doug Mountjoy | Northern Ireland |
0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1977-1988 |
