Two of golf’s heavyweights, Jon Rahm and Brooks Koepka, added to their growing haul of majors in 2023 with impressive showings at The Masters and PGA Championship respectively.
Less predictable was the victory of Wyndham Clark at the US Open. He only won his maiden PGA Tour title a matter of weeks prior, while the triumph of Brian Harman at the Open Championship – a player with two wins in his previous 345 appearances – was so surprising that Harman himself must have been left scratching his head in wonder.
As attention begins to turn to the 2023/24 season, many will be wondering whether more major maidens will have their day in the brightest spotlight in 2024.
The Masters
One of the reasons that Augusta National has stood the test of time is that it’s a classical golf course that tests every single aspect of a player’s game.
Only the strongest of all-round players can slip into the famous green jacket, with the sports betting UK odds for the 2024 Masters reading like a who’s who of the sport – Scottie Scheffler (13/2), defending champion Rahm (7/1) and Rory McIlroy chief among them.
As for the maidens, two players seemingly well primed for glory are Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele – a duo who routinely rank well for archaic but important stats like Total Driving, Greens in Regulation and Scoring Average. They are the types who do everything well from tee to green and with flat sticks in hand; the fact that both already have top-tens to their name at Augusta also swings the needle in their direction.
US Open
Pinehurst No. 2, that classic North Carolina layout that has hosted countless majors and a Ryder Cup before, returns to the rotation in 2024.
There will be plenty in the US Open field who weren’t even professional golfers the last time that Pinehurst hosted the event in 2014 – the scene of Martin Kaymer’s second major title.
A long Par 72 track at around 7,588 yards, Pinehurst No. 2 tends to reward long, straight hitters – the 2014 top five also contained the likes of Rickie Fowler, Dustin Johnson, Jason Day and Koepka.
A maiden major still eludes Fowler, so what better way to cap his recent career renaissance than with victory at a happy hunting ground? Given his incredible length off the tee, Cameron Young is another player who might enter the discussion.
PGA Championship
Valhalla Golf Club in Kentucky will take the honour of hosting the PGA Championship next May.
The Jack Nicklaus design was also last seen on the major circuit in 2014, when Rory McIlroy saw off the charge of Phil Mickelson to win what was, at the time of writing, the Irishman’s last major win.
Those two ballistic hitters aside, there was a more open feel to the PGA Championship 2014 leaderboard, with shorter, more precise types like Henrik Stenson, Jim Furyk and Steve Stricker also in the top ten.
A number of European players performed well at Valhalla too, with Bernd Wiesberger one shot off the lead at the 54-hole stage, so maidens like Viktor Hovland and Tyrrell Hatton will surely come into contention.
Open Championship
Links golf throws up a particular set of conditions that are rarely found anywhere else in golf – some tend to thrive when the weather takes a turn.
Maybe the sun will shine on Royal Troon at the 2024 Open Championship, but even if it does the tournament will still take some winning – only 17 players finished under par at the 2016 edition at this venue.
Tommy Fleetwood was just one player who showed his Links golf prowess at Hoylake in the summer, while the presence of Stenson, Mickelson and Patrick Reed at the top of the 2016 leaderboard suggests short-game mastery is required at Royal Troon – Tony Finau and Max Homa are two other maidens who might just enjoy such a test.
Will it be first-time winners or repeat offenders at the majors in 2024?
