2026 Golf Majors in Review: The Best Golf Won Nothing

Sam Burns and Scottie Scheffler needed 1,108 shots each to play the four majors of 2026. Nobody who made all four cuts needed fewer. Neither of them won one.

The 2026 golf majors went to Rory McIlroy, Aaron Rai, Wyndham Clark and Ryan Fox. Only the first of those would have been on many lists in April. Rai was ranked 44th in the world. Clark had missed the cut at the PGA Championship a month before he won at Shinnecock. Fox had never finished inside the top ten in a major. That is not a complaint. It is the shape of the year, and it says something about how majors are won that a season of form lines tends to hide.

The Year in One Number

Add up all 16 rounds for every player who saw four weekends. Augusta plays to par 72 and the other three played to par 70, so the combined par is 1,128. Only 14 players made all four cuts. Here are the best seven.

Seven shots separate the top two from everyone else. Over 16 rounds of major golf that is a canyon.

Now look at the champions away from their week. Between them, McIlroy, Rai, Clark and Fox played the other 12 majors. They produced one top-ten finish, McIlroy's tie for seventh at Aronimink, and four missed cuts. Clark missed two of them. Fox missed the cut at Augusta and Rai missed it at Birkdale.

So the year had two kinds of golfer in it. The ones who won a major, and the ones who played the majors best. For once, there was no overlap.

Augusta: One Shot From the Start

The pattern was set in April. McIlroy opened 67-65 and led by six at halfway, a Masters record. Scheffler was 12 behind going into the weekend.

Then Scheffler did what he does. He shot 65 and 68 without a bogey, the first bogey-free weekend at Augusta since 1942, and finished at 11 under. McIlroy stumbled on Saturday, steadied himself around Amen Corner on Sunday and won by one. It was his second green jacket in a row and his sixth major. Our Masters 2026 recap has the full story.

Burns started Sunday one shot off the lead, closed with 73 and tied for seventh at 9 under. Few noticed. It was the first of three majors in which he had a real chance on the final day.

Aronimink: The Week That Did Not Fit

The PGA Championship is where the aggregate was really decided, and it was decided by what did not happen. Twenty-two players started Sunday within four shots of the lead. Aaron Rai, ranked 44th in the world and making his 13th major start, was 1 over for his round through eight holes. He then played his last ten holes in 6 under, holed a 40-foot eagle putt at the 9th and a putt of nearly 70 feet at the 17th, and won by three.

It was the year's only comfortable margin, and it came from the least expected winner. Scheffler, the defending champion, shared the first-round lead with a 67 and finished tied 14th at 2 under. Burns was tied 26th at level par.

That week is the one blemish on both men's lines. Neither of them is anywhere near the top of the aggregate without the other three. Our PGA Championship 2026 recap covers Rai's back nine shot by shot.

Shinnecock: A Six-Shot Lead and a Lipped Putt

Wyndham Clark led the U.S. Open after every round and took a six-shot cushion into Sunday. Burns started seven back.

Burns birdied four of his first eight holes and briefly tied Clark at 4 under. Clark went out in 38, then held on with a birdie at the 16th, gave one back at the 17th and two-putted the last. Burns, a shot behind on the 72nd green, hit a 17-foot birdie putt exactly the way he meant to. It lipped out.

"I would say last year at Oakmont I felt more like I lost the golf tournament," Burns said afterwards, remembering the 2025 U.S. Open he led after 54 holes. "I certainly don't feel that way today."

Scheffler was tied fourth at level par, four back, on his 30th birthday. Our U.S. Open 2026 recap has the full leaderboard.

Birkdale: The Fastest Climb in Major History

Burns very nearly did not go to The Open. His daughter Belle was born on July 3, and he decided late to make the trip. He opened with 73, then shot a 62 on Friday that tied the lowest round in major championship history, and a 65 on Saturday for a two-shot lead at 10 under.

Ryan Fox was tied 52nd on Friday night at level par. He shot 62 on Saturday, the third player that week to match the record, and was two behind Burns going into Sunday. Fox reached the 12th tee at 7 under, still two back. He birdied 13, 14 and 16, dropped a shot at 15, then holed a 12-footer on the 18th to win by one from Cameron Young, who had closed with 64. The R&A called it the largest 36-hole comeback by position in men's major history. It was also Fox's first top-ten finish in a major.

Burns closed with a 72 and finished third, two back. Scheffler was tied fourth at 7 under. The R&A's numbers had him 105th in strokes gained putting that week, which is about as close to an explanation as golf ever gives. Our guide to The Open Championship covers Fox's win and Birkdale's history.

What the Year Actually Says

Start with Scheffler, because the talk about his "down year" in the majors is mostly noise. He finished 2, T14, T4, T4, three top-five finishes in four starts. What he lacked was the one week where the putter ran hot, and at Birkdale it ran cold at exactly the wrong time. Nobody who finishes 20 under for the majors is in decline.

Burns is the more interesting case. He has won five times on the PGA Tour, the last in March 2023. In 13 months he has led the U.S. Open after 54 holes, missed a playoff at the next one by a lipped 17-footer, and led The Open after 54 holes. He matched the best player in the world shot for shot across 16 rounds of major golf. He has nothing to show for it but cheques.

The champions deserve their trophies. Rai played the best ten holes of the year. Clark survived a Sunday that would have broken most leaders. Fox came from 52nd. McIlroy won at Augusta again. Majors are four-day events, and the four best four-day performances won.

But if you want to know who will be standing near the top on Sunday at Augusta next April, the champions' list is the wrong place to look. Look at the aggregate. Scheffler is there, as he has been for three years. Burns is there beside him, and on this evidence he is the likeliest first-time major winner of 2027.

For how the four championships differ and how each one is won, see our guide to golf's major championships.

Sources

• PGA Tour (AP): Rory McIlroy goes back-to-back at the Masters: McIlroy 276, one-shot margin over Scheffler, Scheffler 12 back after 36 holes, first bogey-free Augusta weekend since 1942
• PGA Championship: Aaron Rai wins the 2026 PGA Championship at Aronimink: world ranking 44th, 13th major start, eagle at 9, 70-foot birdie at 17, three-shot margin over Rahm and Smalley, Scheffler T14
• PGA Tour: Sam Burns' rally comes up short at Shinnecock Hills: Clark's six-shot lead, Burns from seven back, the lipped 17-footer, Oakmont quote, five Tour wins and none since March 2023
• PGA Tour (AP): Sam Burns takes 54-hole lead at Royal Birkdale: Burns' 62 and 65, two-shot 54-hole lead, late decision to play, 2025 U.S. Open 54-hole lead, Fox's 62
• The Open: Ryan Fox crowned Champion Golfer of the Year: Fox's closing birdies and 12-foot putt on 18, T52 after 36 holes, largest 36-hole comeback by position, first major top ten, Scheffler 105th in strokes gained putting
• PGA Tour: Scottie Scheffler results: Scheffler's four 2026 major finishes and round scores
• PGA Tour: Sam Burns results: Burns' four 2026 major finishes and round scores
• PGA Tour: Rory McIlroy results: McIlroy's 2026 major finishes, including T32 and T40
• PGA Tour: Wyndham Clark results: Clark's 64-69-70-73 at Shinnecock and missed cuts at the PGA and The Open
• PGA Tour: Cameron Young results: Young's 2026 major finishes
• ESPN: PGA Championship 2026 leaderboard: Rai's rounds of 70-69-67-65 for 271 (the pgachampionship.com report prints 274, a typo on a par-70 course)
• ESPN: The Open 2026 leaderboard: final totals at Birkdale and missed cuts for Rai and Clark; ESPN's 2026 Masters, PGA Championship and U.S. Open leaderboards were used for the aggregate table and the 14 players who made all four cuts

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