The winner of this week's Masters Tournament will forever be remembered as a major championship winner, and his place in the game's history will be secure.

When he's introduced on the first tee of every tournament he plays for the rest of his life, it will be his claim to fame - especially if it's the only major he's won.

If you're Larry Mize (Stats | Bio) , who falls in that "one major victory" category, you know the announcer's words by heart:

"Winner of four PGA Tour events, including the 1987 Masters Tournament, now on the tee, Larry Mize (Stats | Bio) ."

Major championships are the gauge by which pro golfers are judged. Jack Nicklaus (Stats | Bio) is considered the greatest golfer of all time - not because he won 73 PGA Tour titles, but because he won 18 professional major championships, seven more than Walter Hagen, who's second on the all-time list.

"I think it's the ultimate," reigning Masters champion Mike Weir (Stats | Bio) said. "It's what people remember. People don't remember some of the other tournaments you may have won. Majors stick out in people's minds. It's nice to have one. Hopefully, I'll have some more."

"I think to be No. 1 in the world is one thing, but to win a major, that's what we all strive for," said Ernie Els (Stats | Bio) , a three-time major champion. "All four of them are equally important. You go ask the guys, Ben Curtis (Stats | Bio) , Tiger, what is the most important, I think they all will tell you, winning a major championship."

Where the first major falls in a career determines how a player is viewed by history.

"It puts a cap on your career, no doubt about it," said Tiger Woods (Stats | Bio) , who has won eight majors, including three Masters. "Or it can be a springboard into your career. For me, it was a springboard because I won a major my first full year on Tour. I won the 1997 Masters. For a great professional, let's say like Mark O'Meara (Stats | Bio) , who won at age 41, it put a great cap on his career."

O'Meara won both his majors - the Masters and the British Open - in 1998 at age 41.

There is a small group of players who sit at the head of the majors table. Nicklaus, Woods, Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan and Gary Player (Stats | Bio) are the only players to win all four majors in their career.

Winning a major can make a career, especially if it comes in dramatic fashion. Mize is the perfect example.

Most fans wouldn't know the Augusta native if he hadn't made a 140-foot chip-in to win the 1987 Masters on the second hole of sudden death.

Ditto for Bob Tway (Stats | Bio) , whose lone major title came in the 1986 PGA Championship, where he holed a bunker shot on the 72nd hole to win. He has won seven other times in his career, but the win at Inverness is the one people remember.

Then there's the Cinderella story of then-unknown John Daly (Stats | Bio) , who played the 1991 PGA Championship as the ninth alternate and made it his first victory.

Daly went on to win another major, the 1995 British Open, which brings up a hotly argued question. What is more important in a career - two major championship titles but an erratic career like Daly's (three other Tour wins), or the 22 PGA Tour wins that Phil Mickelson (Stats | Bio) has, but no majors?

Daly has said he wouldn't give up his two majors for any number of regular Tour victories. Mickelson said the best way to go is to have numerous Tour victories and at least one major.

"They're of great importance," Mickelson said, "but consistency week in and week out is important too. There are guys that have won two majors that haven't followed it up in their career. And there's guys that haven't won any majors that have won a lot of tournaments. That doesn't look great, either, so there's got to be a good balance."

So if the 33-year-old Mickelson ends his career without a major - he's 0-for-46 - will he still be considered a great player?

"That's a tough question," Mize said. "I think there are a lot of great players who never won a major. Look at Bruce Crampton; he never won a major. I guess it's up to the individual. For me, I think you can have a great career out here and not win a major. I think majors are big things, and if you do win one, it's a tremendous win for your career. We're all trying to win, and ultimately, we're all trying to win a major."

"That certainly is the icing on the cake for a player to have won a major championship," O'Meara said.

If Mickelson wasn't such a world-class player, and if he hadn't come so close to winning majors already (he has eight top-three finishes), his quest wouldn't draw so much attention.

"It depends on the level you get to," Padraig Harrington (Stats | Bio) said. "If you get to a level where you're in contention in majors, it all is judged on majors. If you're a good pro and you've won a number of tournaments, that's a good career, and a very respectable career. Everybody has different standards. And once you get in the standard of majors, yes, everything is judged by it."

Reach David Westin at (706) 724-0851 or david.westin@augustachronicle.com.