Hey 19!
The First Call's Gary Van Sickle goes to great lengths to rank all of 2024's professional majors — yes, all 19 of them — using a unique theorem.
A golf season is remembered for its major championships and for those who won them.
For instance, 2019 and Tiger Woods at the Masters; 1986 and Jack Nicklaus at the Masters; or 2015, the year a young Jordan Spieth chased the Grand Slam to the 72nd hole of the Open Championship at the Old Course. (And then Zach Johnson ruined it by winning. Just kidding, Zach. It was a thriller.)
Each major is special. But one major stands alone this year and will almost certainly be the tournament you will remember about 2024.
That major is No. 1 in the rankings that follow. I ranked all 19 of the year’s professional major championships for you. (Nineteen, you say? Gadzooks, you exclaim.)
Yes, 19. Five on the PGA Tour — I finally switched sides and now count the Players Championship as a major (so congrats, Deane Beman, you wore me down); five each for the LPGA and PGA Tour Champions (sorry about this for you purists who don’t believe either tour has a major); two for the men’s and women’s Olympic events — only 60 players each, about half ranked outside the top 100, so not really a major but it only happens every fourth year; and two senior women’s majors.
I arrived at these rankings by measuring the drama, the historical significance, the quality of play, the level of public interest and exposure, and the overall memorability factor. After analyzing that data, I reached a conclusion based on a theorem I call “‘Cuz I Said So.”
Feel free to create your own rankings.
No. 19: Senior Women’s LPGA Championship
Site: Copper Rock, Hurricane, Utah.
Winner: Angela Stanford.
Analysis: A front-nine 29 during the second round sparked Stanford to a three-shot win over Cristie Kerr. Stanford, 46, successfully defended her title and finished at 10-under par for 54 holes, one of only five players who finished under par in the event held for players age 45 and older.
No. 18: Senior Women’s U.S. Open
Site: Fox Chapel Golf Club, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Winner: Leta Lindley.
Analysis: Lindley, who left the LPGA at age 40 12 years ago to spend more time with her two young children, hit all 18 greens in regulation in the final round, wiped out a five-shot deficit by the turn and posted a 7-under-par 64 to win by two shots over 54-hold leader Kaori Yamamoto.
No. 17: KPMG Women’s PGA Championship
Site: Sahalee Country Club, Sammamish, Washington.
Winner: Amy Yang.
Analysis: It was the first major title for Yang, 34, who took a five-shot lead to the final nine and eliminated any drama, even after three-putting Sahalee’s 16th and double bogeying the 17th hole to shoot a closing 72. Said Yang: “This has been the longest 18 holes I’ve ever played.”
No. 16: The Tradition
Site: Greystone Golf and Country Club, Birmingham, Alabama.
Winner: Doug Barron.
Analysis: Barron, fresh off a putting lesson from his old coach, used a hot putter to outduel Ernie Els and earn his first senior major title. Barron, 54, closed with a bogey-free 68 to win by two strokes over Stephen Ames, who shot a final-round 63. “I really got my putter going,” Barron said. “I felt like I could make an eight-footer again.”
No. 15: Senior Open Championship
Site: Carnoustie Golf Links, Carnoustie, Scotland.
Winner: K.J. Choi.
Analysis: Choi pulled away from the field with a 4-under 32 on the final nine in Scotland to win his first senior title since 2021. Richard Green was second, two strokes back. “Very historical for Korean player to win this,” Choi said. “My dream came true.”
No. 14: Kaulig Companies Championship
Site: Firestone Country Club (South Course), Akron, Ohio.
Winner: Ernie Els.
Analysis: In his 32nd tournament appearance at Firestone, Ernie Els got his first win at the course and his first senior major title. Els had a one-shot lead until the 16th hole, where he hit into the water going for the green in two and made bogey. He parred the last two holes, however, which was good enough for the win after Y.E. Yang bogeyed the 17th. “It was a nerve-wracking final couple of holes,” said Els, 54, who left for the Open Championship at Royal Troon after he won. “It’s a pity I have to fly tonight. It could have been a big bar tab this evening at Firestone.”
No. 13: Senior PGA Championship
Site: Harbor Shores Golf Club, Benton Harbor, Michigan.
Winner: Richard Bland.
Analysis: LIV Golf players are barred from competing in PGA Tour events, but Richard Bland, a LIV competitor, took advantage of a one-time Senior PGA exemption for DP World Tour winners from the last five years. Bland cashed in with some stellar play, closing with an 8-under 63. Bland made a six-foot eagle putt at the par-5 15th hole before storms stopped play for an hour. That gave Bland a one-shot lead over Gregg Chalmers and after the delay, the 51-year-old Bland parred in for victory in his senior major debut, winning by three over Richard Green. “I’m going to celebrate the hell out of this one,” Bland said.
No. 12: U.S. Women’s Open
Site: Lancaster Country Club, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Winner: Yuka Saso.
Analysis: It was a week that included Lexi Thompson’s surprise retirement plans, Nelly Korda’s 10 on a par-3 hole and the biggest first prize in women’s golf history — $2.4 million. However, the week’s biggest highlight came from former U.S. Open champ Saso. She bounced back from a four-putt double bogey at the sixth hole with four birdies on the back nine and a crucial par save at the 72nd hole. Saso rode a hot putter, making 422 feet worth of putts over four days.
No. 11: U.S. Senior Open
Site: Newport Country Club, Newport, Rhode Island.
Winner: Richard Bland.
Analysis: This was nearly the tournament that wouldn’t end as its conclusion was pushed to Monday due to rain and then Bland and Hiroyuki Fujita went four holes in a playoff. On the final extra hole, Bland’s bunker shot clanged off the flagstick and stopped within 4 inches of the cup. Fujita missed a 25-foot putt and Bland tapped in for his second senior major title of the year.
No. 10: Evian Championship
Site: Evian Resort Golf Club (Champions Course), Evian-les-Bains, France.
Winner: Ayaka Furue.
Analysis: Japan’s Furue pulled off one of the year’s best finishes when she birdied the 14th, 15th and 16th holes, and then eagled the 18th to shoot 65 and win by one stroke over Australia’s Stephanie Kyriacou. As she played the final hole, Furue was tied with Patty Tavatanakit, who had already finished, and Kyriacou. The Australian drove into the left rough, however, and Furue put her second shot on the green and made the eagle putt for the win. “Breathtaking, incredible,” Furue said. “I’m so speechless.”
No. 9: AIG Women’s British Open
Site: The Old Course, St. Andrews, Scotland.
Winner: Lydia Ko.
Analysis: Two weeks after winning the Olympic gold medal in Paris, Ko scored her first major title since 2016. (Apparently not everyone had the foresight to count the gold medal as a major. Whatever.) Ko birdied the final hole, held off fierce competitors such as Nelly Korda, Ruoning Yin and Jiyai Shin, then had to wait for Lilia Vu to miss a birdie try on the last green that would have forced a playoff. Conditions in St. Andrews were windy, rainy and tough all week. To get a gold medal and break an eight-year major-less streak a few weeks apart was remarkable. “I don’t think there’s a word in the dictionary that can explain what just happened,” Ko said.
No. 8: Chevron Championship
Site: The Woodlands Country Club, The Woodlands, Texas.
Winner: Nelly Korda.
Analysis: Korda endured a marathon Sunday in which she played 25 holes thanks to an earlier weather delay and a final round that took six hours. Korda put the victory on ice when she stuffed an iron shot close at the 71st hole. It was her second major title and she joined Nancy Lopez and Annika Sorenstam as the only LPGA players to win five straight tournaments. Korda afterward: “I can finally breathe.”
No. 7: 2024 Paris Olympics Women’s Golf
Site: Le Golf National (Albatros Course), Guyancourt, France.
Winner: Lydia Ko.
Analysis: There was a lot at stake for New Zealand’s Ko. The victory got her into the Hall of Fame (based on a points system) and the gold medal gave her a complete set after she won silver and bronze in the previous two Olympics. Ko made it look easy in the final round … until it wasn’t. When Hannah Green, Ruoning Yin, Miyu Yamashita, Rose Zhang and Nelly Korda all struggled, Ko broke free and opened a five-stroke advantage. A double bogey at the 14th took a chunk out of her lead, so did a birdie-birdie finish by little-known German Ester Henseleit. It got tense, but once Ko hit the final green in regulation, all she had to do was two putt from short range. “To have it end this way, it's honestly a dream come true,” Ko said.
No. 6: Open Championship
Site: Royal Troon Golf Club, Troon, Scotland.
Winner: Xander Schauffele.
Analysis: Seven different golfers had a chance at the claret jug the last day until Schauffele blew by them with four birdies in tough conditions on the back nine. Schauffele was 10 shots back at the start of the weekend and South Africa’s Thriston Lawrence had the lead with nine holes left. Then Schauffele made magical things happen. Justin Rose and Billy Horschel couldn’t close on Schauffele, who birdied 11, 12, 14 and 16. And thus Schauffele went from Best Player Without a Major to two-time major champ in a span of two months.
No. 5: Masters
Site: Augusta National Golf Club, Augusta, Georgia.
Winner: Scottie Scheffler.
Analysis: When Scheffler went for the 13th green hole in two in the final round and knocked it on the green, he two-putted for birdie and a three-shot lead. We’d seen enough of Scheffler’s early season surge to know it was going to take something unexpected to beat him — like his wife Meredith calling to tell him she was going into labor with their first child. Scheffler had said he’d leave if it came to that. Well, she didn’t call and Ludvig Aberg and Max Homa gamely chased but both committed one big mistake too many as Scheffler won the green jacket for the second time in three years.
No. 4: 2024 Paris Olympics Men’s Golf
Site: Le Golf National (Albatros Course), Guyancourt, France.
Winner: Scottie Scheffler.
Analysis: It was only the most exciting Olympic golf finale ever — with apologies to that 1900 epic in which American Charles Sands won by a shot over Scotland’s Walter Rutherford, who also competed in Olympic tennis that year. Scheffler, the No. 1 player in the world, was six shots behind early on the back nine. Then he birdied five of six holes and posted a sizzling 62 while leader Jon Rahm absolutely derailed. England’s Tommy Fleetwood took the silver, one shot back. The exclamation point came when Scheffler, on the awards podium, couldn’t hold back the tears as his country’s national anthem was played.
No. 3: The Players Championship
Site: TPC Sawgrass, Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.
Winner: Scottie Scheffler.
Analysis: When Scheffler holed a wedge shot for eagle at the par-4 fourth hole in the final round, the roar that followed was straight out of Augusta. Suddenly, Scheffler was on the board and in the hunt. Or as Xander Schauffele said later, “Just another week.” Scheffler, fresh off a five-shot romp at Bay Hill, played bogey-free golf over the last 31 holes and shot a closing 64 to surge past Schauffele, Wyndham Clark and Brian Harman, the top contenders. Clark’s tying birdie try at 18 dipped as it rolled around the cup before spinning out … not that anyone but Clark remembers now. Scheffler became the first player to win this event back-to-back and this one was nearly as good as the opener at this course. That year Jerry Pate used an orange ball and threw the tour commissioner (Deane Beman) and the course designer (Pete Dye) into the lake, then followed them in with a show-off racing dive. If you didn’t think The Players was a major before, this one should make you reconsider.
No. 2: U.S. Open
Site: Pinehurst Resort and Country Club (Course No. 2), Pinehurst, North Carolina.
Winner: Bryson DeChambeau.
Analysis: It was “the shot of my life,” Bryson DeChambeau said of his 55-yard bunker shot to four feet on the Open’s final hole. It was also the Shot of the Year. He made the ensuing putt for the win just minutes after Rory McIlroy, who was tied for the lead, made bogey there by missing a dicey four-foot breaker from above the cup. There was exultation and pathos on the same spot. It was a reminder that before he left for LIV Golf, DeChambeau was “The Man” on the PGA Tour. He sold tickets, he moved the needle. We think of that image of him raising his arms when he launched a ridiculous drive across the lake nearly onto the green at Bay Hill’s par-5 fifth hole. He is the one player who left for LIV that the PGA Tour misses. This had two big names at the end, one great shot and one big finish.
No. 1: PGA Championship
Site: Valhalla Golf Club, Louisville, Kentucky.
Winner: Xander Schauffele.
Analysis: This will always be the “Scottie Scheffler Got Charged With a Felony For Driving His Car Past a Traffic Cop PGA.” There is no avoiding that. It is the orange-clad elephant in the room. However, the thrilling finish makes it maybe the best PGA Championship since the Bob May-Tiger Woods shootout. Bryson DeChambeau shot a closing 64 and his final birdie putt to tie for the lead barely toppled in. Then Viktor Hovland had a birdie putt narrowly miss on the 72nd green. Finally, Schauffele made the winning birdie on a dramatic putt that curled halfway around the cup before lazily dropping in for his first major title. Really, the only thing missing was club pro Michael Block, who disappeared after a second-hole quadruple bogey the first day. This was a great PGA because of the finish. The Scheffler Episode, in which he was charged but miraculously made it back to the course in time to tee off Friday and shoot a 66, made it crazy good. There’s never been a major quite like this one.
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Thx for reading. Appreciate it!!
Great Major-Season review... you continue to be one of the best voices in golf media...