Major season is officially over. Only another eight months until the next one. (Sigh.)
This was such a weird major season. Completely unpredictable. Maybe the weirdest one since 2003 when we had four first-time winners?
Rory McIlroy defended his title at the Masters—and then all hell broke loose. We got a total wildcard with Aaron Rai at the PGA. Wyndham Clark came out of nowhere to win the U.S. Open. And it was all wrapped up with Ryan Fox showing grit down the stretch to win the Open Championship over a charging Cam Young.
Some tremendous performances but it all seemed so random.
Even going player by player, everything seemed upside down. Scottie Scheffler couldn’t get one across the finish line despite being the most consistent player. Several star players behind him were absent from contention. It felt like a lost year from many stars. Even guys who were playing well didn’t necessarily back that up when it mattered most.
The majors have never mattered more. I know we say that every year but it’s getting more pronounced as the boatloads of money pouring into the pro game are underscoring how there are only four events that truly contribute to a player’s legacy—everything else is an entertainment product.
That’s why these major seasons are so important. I will have season grades in a few weeks when the FedEx Cup wraps up but there is only so much that can be done after the Open Championship. The majors play such an outsized role in a player’s season.
Going through every notable player I can think of, here is how the top guys fared this season in the majors. I’ve included everyone who entered Birkdale in the top 15 of Data Golf (and a handful of other ones just for fun).
A reminder, these grades are relative to expectations. Two players with the same results don’t necessarily earn the same grade.
Ryan Fox (A+)
Masters (MC)
PGA Championship (T35)
U.S. Open (T23)
Open Championship (WIN)
Heading into Sunday, Fox’s best major finish was T16 at the 2019 Open Championship. He only had two top-20 major finishes in 28 appearances coming into The Open! The 39-year-old from New Zealand wasn’t even having a particularly good season, ranking No. 54 in Data Golf. And yet he showed some serious mental fortitude down the stretch at Birkdale for his first-ever major championship.
Aaron Rai (A+)
Masters (48)
PGA Championship (WIN)
U.S. Open (T11)
Open Championship (MC)
You can just about copy and paste what I wrote for Fox. Rai had never finished better than T19 in a dozen major starts until grabbing hold of the PGA Championship late on Sunday. Rai and Fox have two of the most unlikely major wins this century.
Rory McIlroy (A)
Masters (WIN)
PGA Championship (T7)
U.S. Open (T32)
Open Championship (T40)
Rory got his sixth major victory and went back-to-back at the Masters—anything else was just gravy. There are only 11 golfers ahead of McIlroy on the all-time major wins list: Jack Nicklaus (18), Tiger Woods (15), Walter Hagen (11), Ben Hogan (9), Gary Player (9), Tom Watson (8), Harry Vardon (7), Bobby Jones (7), Gene Sarazen (7), Sam Snead (7) and Arnold Palmer (7).
Wyndham Clark (A)
Masters (T21)
PGA Championship (MC)
U.S. Open (WIN)
Open Championship (MC)
Clark is a microwave man with streaky golf but he caught fire this summer when it mattered most. His victory at Shinnecock was fully earned as the crowd turned decidedly against him on the weekend. For what it’s worth, he handled the PR portion of that victory very well. Still not a fan, though.
Cameron Young (A-)
Masters (T3)
PGA Championship (T26)
U.S. Open (T43)
Open Championship (2)
Young had a breakthrough year but just couldn’t quite get across the finish line at the Masters and Open Championship. However, I think we can say Young is a bonafide top-three player in the world and will undoubtedly end up with at least one major victory when all is said and done. I don’t think that’s true for a few other major-less guys on this list.
Sam Burns (A-)
Masters (T7)
PGA Championship (T26)
U.S. Open (2)
Open Championship (3)
He didn’t win one but Burns completely changed his reputation in 2026. Previously known for struggling in majors, Burns has established he can rise to the occasion. He was a couple of bounces away from winning two majors this year.
Justin Rose (B+)
Masters (T3)
PGA Championship (T10)
U.S. Open (T11)
Open Championship (MC)
Rose is still very competitive despite the fact he is about to turn 46 years old next week (he gets an age boost for his grade). Incredible given that no other player in his age range is playing at that level. I would give one of my kidneys to see him get a second major but Father Time is undefeated.
Xander Schauffele (B)
Masters (T9)
PGA Championship (T7)
U.S. Open (T11)
Open Championship (T18)
No real complaints for Xander. His ceiling is very high in majors but he was stuck on the second page of the leaderboard. With his two major victories in 2024, Schauffele gets a pass for now.
Ludvig Aberg (B)
Masters (T21)
PGA Championship (T4)
U.S. Open (T17)
Open Championship (T9)
Pretty much in line with what you would expect from Aberg. The next step is to see him really want the ball when it comes to getting in contention on Sunday—and I’m not just talking about the majors. He needs to win more.
Russell Henley (B)
Masters (T3)
PGA Championship (MC)
U.S. Open (T65)
Open Championship (T9)
Henley’s T3 at the Masters is the best major result of his career so that’s a positive. And he got involved at The Open, too. The analytics darling has nibbled at major contention the past few years but hasn’t seriously threatened the finish line.
Chris Gotterup (B)
Masters (T24)
PGA Championship (T10)
U.S. Open (T43)
Open Championship (T18)
I’m going easy on Gotterup here. It’s early in his career and he’s building up to contending in a major, as evidenced by his five Tour victories. The foundation is in place for 2027 and the expectations will be higher.
Scottie Scheffler (B-)
Masters (2)
PGA Championship (T14)
U.S. Open (T4)
Open Championship (T4)
This is a tough grade. Scottie factored into every major but his measuring stick is against greatness. Ultimately, this was a lost year of sorts for Scheffler. It’s a reminder of how hard it is to win majors.
Patrick Reed (B-)
Masters (T12)
PGA Championship (T10)
U.S. Open (MC)
Open Championship (T46)
Reed was a little underwhelming in the majors given his strong play at the start of 2026 but I like where he is trending as he regains footing on the PGA Tour following his suspension.
Justin Thomas (B-)
Masters (T41)
PGA Championship (T4)
U.S. Open (T17)
Open Championship (T65)
This was JT’s best major season since 2022 so that’s good. He also had a tremendous Sunday at the PGA, coming from behind to put a scare into the leaders. It was an OK major season but I’m sure he holds himself to a higher standard.
Collin Morikawa (B-)
Masters (T7)
PGA Championship (T55)
U.S. Open (T17)
Open Championship (T18)
What a weird season. Morikawa was red-hot early on in the year but a back injury seemed to cool him off prior to major season. Having said that, he made all four major cuts, showed some grit at the Masters and is a top-10 player in Data Golf. On the other side, Morikawa has gone five years without a major victory. You could argue he has never really been close since that 2021 Open Championship win.
Tommy Fleetwood (C+)
Masters (T33)
PGA Championship (MC)
U.S. Open (T11)
Open Championship (T4)
It was a decent major season for Fleetwood but he’s the No. 4 player in the world and expectations should be high. It’s easy to start wondering whether Tommy will ever get his major. He just doesn’t have that “it factor” on Sunday.
Brooks Koepka (C+)
Masters (T12)
PGA Championship (T55)
U.S. Open (MC)
Open Championship (T28)
I think Koepka gets some grace here. He missed three of four major cuts in 2025 so this year was a slight improvement on that. It was also just a strange season transitioning back to the PGA Tour. Expectations will be a little higher in 2027. I’m looking for him to get more involved next year.
Jon Rahm (C)
Masters (T38)
PGA Championship (T2)
U.S. Open (MC)
Open Championship (T46)
The standard for Rahm is to be a top-five player in the world who contends for majors every season. I know he got involved at the PGA Championship but this overall effort is so lackluster. By the time the Masters begins, it will be four years since Rahm’s last major title.
Si Woo Kim (C)
Masters (47)
PGA Championship (T35)
U.S. Open (MC)
Open Championship (T6)
Kim recorded his best-ever major finish with a T6 at The Open. It was just his second top-10 finish in a major. But Kim, No. 10 in Data Golf, needs to have a higher ceiling in majors.
Akshay Bhatia (C-)
Masters (MC)
PGA Championship (MC)
U.S. Open (T17)
Open Championship (MC)
There is a lot of hype around Bhatia (No. 25 in Data Golf), and for good reason. He’s still just 24 years old and won at Bay Hill this year. His ceiling is high. But he also hasn’t registered a single top-10 major finish so far. He gets a longer leash here but we need to see progress in 2027.
Patrick Cantlay (C-)
Masters (T12)
PGA Championship (T35)
U.S. Open (MC)
Open Championship (T28)
Cantlay’s major record is putrid. As expected, it’s another totally uncompetitive major season in the books for a player who, on paper, is among the top few active golfers yet to win a major.
Matt Fitzpatrick (C-)
Masters (T18)
PGA Championship (T14)
U.S. Open (22)
Open Championship (MC)
Fitzpatrick gets a much, much better grade for the overall season—he has three victories and four other top-five finishes so far—but his major championship campaign was lacking in 2026. He really never even sniffed meaningful contention on a major Sunday and then he no-showed at the Open Championship. I think he’ll be the first one to tell you that this year was a disappointment in the majors.
Jordan Spieth (C-)
Masters (T12)
PGA Championship (T18)
U.S. Open (T56)
Open Championship (MC)
I would give Spieth a worse grade but I just don’t think our expectations should be any higher than lukewarm at this point. He is who we thought he was. Jordan is a decent but totally unspectacular Tour player who peaked from 2015-2017. That transcendent golf is not coming back. Calling Spieth a shell of his former self is generous.
Cameron Smith (D+)
Masters (MC)
PGA Championship (T7)
U.S. Open (MC)
Open Championship (MC)
Smith is threatening to exit the top 100 in Data Golf so I guess this is ambitious of me to still include him in the grades. He did randomly pop up in contention at the PGA but the three missed cuts—and fluky nature of that PGA—makes it seem like Smith is more lost than he’s ever been.
Viktor Hovland (D)
Masters (T18)
PGA Championship (MC)
U.S. Open (MC)
Open Championship (MC)
The yuckiest of yucks. I have Hovland at No. 3 on my list of the best active players without a major, but he didn’t even give himself a shot in 2026. It was a solid season beyond the majors as he won the Travelers Championship and is firmly in the Data Golf top 20, but I’m sure Hovland is kicking himself for a snoozer of a major season.
Bryson DeChambeau (D-)
Masters (MC)
PGA Championship (MC)
U.S. Open (MC)
Open Championship (T14)
I still believe Bryson has some great golf left in him but he needs to get back in the lab. The wedges and irons have been problematic under pressure. He showed some life at the Open Championship—enough for me to show mercy and offer a passing grade—but it was a disastrous major season overall. And, yes, he deserved that two-stroke penalty at The Open. It was an obvious infraction.
What grades would you give everyone for the major season? Let me know in the comments down below.
Top Photo Caption: Bryson had a disastrous major season. (GETTY IMAGES/Andrew Redington)
