Looking at the potential winners of the 2024 golf majors

The quartet of major golf competitions has now passed for 2023. There were several upsets, including the undisputed world number one in Scottie Scheffler not managing to secure a single major.

Jon Rahm won the most prestigious prize of the Masters, and LIV golfer Brooks Koepka won an impressive third PGA Championship.

The vastly experienced Brian Harman finally nailed his first major victory at the Open Championship in what was a significant upset triumph. Fellow American Wyndham Clark also won his first-ever major, surprisingly getting the better of Rory McIlroy in the US Open.

This year golf’s biggest events crowned some champions that are not even in the top 10 world rankings. Impressive consistency overall may have resulted in admirable rankings for the top players, but winning a major is no simple feat.

Leading players like Scheffler dominated the European and PGA tours yet fell short in the major competitions. The highest-ranked players often make up the outright favorites for the biggest events on the golf calendar. However such events offer the most competitive contests on the green all year, and truly anything can happen.

With that in mind, who are the early favourites that can be cautiously primed for major success in 2024?

The Masters

The Masters will open up the first leg of the major competition schedule in 2024. Many view it as the most significant of the four events, and thus, the one players want to win most. Jon Rahm is the favorite to defend his crown next April across many sites that provide free bet offers for golf. bet365 for example offers the Spaniard at +750.

There is no greater advantage in golf than past success. If a player has won at an event before, then they have already overcome a huge mental hurdle, which is one less challenge they will have to face on the course.

Practice almost done ✅
Ready to get going this week – vamos! pic.twitter.com/EMDIz6jbQ7

— Jon Rahm Rodriguez (@JonRahmpga) April 5, 2023

Rahm will have huge confidence going into the 2024 Masters after winning the tournament by four strokes this year. This is especially true as a majority of the other title challengers have yet to win golf’s greatest prize.

PGA Championship

Scheffler is expected to finally add to his single major honor next year. His only success of that type so far came in the Masters of 2022 – which turned out to be somewhat of an anomaly, as he never managed higher than a top-10 finish before or after that edition of the event.

At the PGA Championship, however, Scheffler finished tied in second place this year, and his next step is surely to win the huge competition. He has been by far the leading golfer in the world in 2023 with an average world ranking points per event of 11.3.

The American must now secure further major success to cement his legacy within the game – achieving the biggest successes is much more important than consistency across the minor events.

Rahm is expected to defend his Masters title, but the subsequent PGA Championship could be where Scheffler climbs another step on the major success ladder.

The US Open

The US Open will provide the first major action of the summer of golf in 2024. The event held in June will be another contest in which Scheffler’s unparalleled quality at present show. He is offered as a slight favorite at +800, but he will expect to compete closely with McIlroy and Rahm, which should be a theme across all of the 2024 majors.

Scottie Scheffler has always said that he doesn’t care about what tour you play on, he just wants to win the Ryder Cup.

He knows having Brooks Koepka on the team makes the team better. Well said Scottie 👏🏻

pic.twitter.com/5PUQhd9r0E

— Tour Pro 🏌️‍♂️ (@OfficialTourPro) August 23, 2023

Scheffler will aim for double success as a minimum in 2024. However, golf at the major level is remarkably competitive. The American has seen multiple tournaments scuppered by slight off days in 2023, and he will know that his peak ability will be required if his domination is to spread to the major championships next year.

The Open

The early markets for the 2024 Open offer McIlroy as a marginal favorite to win his first major in a decade. He is offered at +800 with Rahm and Scheffler both trailing at +900.

The Northern Irishman has seen his chances of major success hampered by drops in form in recent times. Similarly to Scheffler he is consistent every year but has struggled to maintain his strongest levels when under considerable pressure at the most demanding venues.

Despite his lengthy spell without being a major champion, most golf enthusiasts would still consider McIlroy as an elite player, and a genuine contender for each and every major tournament. The Open could well be where McIlroy’s glory days finally make a return.

The early favorites for all of the majors next year are dominated by the current big three of Scheffler, Rahm, and McIlroy. Scheffler is predicted to enjoy the greatest year of his career with consecutive major triumphs – in between Rahm defending his Masters and McIlroy ending his 10-year barren spell of not winning a major.