The common take these days is that golf’s major season flies by too fast. Here we are, just barely in the grand month of August, one toe in the water, and the season’s long done — that’s how this argument goes. You know: Augusta in April, the PGA in May, Open I in June, Open II in July, majors out.
Well, we’re here to tell you that’s not true — that summation, that whole four-and-done thing, is way too narrow. For starters, there’s one major left, and it’s boffo: the U.S. Amateur (for men), this year at Merion. Come nightfall on Aug. 16, when it wraps and all the shouting is over, maybe the Amateur will get the coveted GOLF.com prize, “Best Major of the Year.” Could happen, but it’s going to have to beat out this amazing threesome of majors to do it, presented here in order of their amazingness. That is, not the fame of the event or its winner or the venue, but the tingly excellence of the event itself.
Our ranking of the three best majors of the year to date:
No. 1. U.S. Women’s Open at Riviera, won by Nelly Korda on June 7.
Survey says: The course, its history; the winner, her history.
No. 2. PGA Championship at Aronimink, won by Aaron Rai at Aronimink on May 17.
Survey says: The broad Rory-Scheffler-Cam vibe is cool but this win by golf’s most humble man was a welcome correction.
No. 3. AIG Women’s Open at Royal Lytham, won by Shiho Kuwaki on Aug. 2.
Survey says: Shiho was last lady standing after an unlikely two-hole playoff featuring two totally dissimilar golfers in the English dusk of an insane Sunday that proved how hard it is to close in golf.
So that’s three, of 13.
Yes, 13 majors — this year.
This year, and any year that ends in an even number, there are 13 major golf events: the four cited above (the U.S. Women’s Open and AIG Women’s Open; the PGA Championship; and the U.S. Amateur), plus these tried-and-true standbys: the Masters; the U.S. Open and Open Championship; the Senior PGA Championship and the U.S. and Senior British Opens; the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship and the Chevron Championship; and the Augusta National Women’s Amateur. Next year, with the Ryder Cup in Ireland, there will be 14.
Is this list subjective? Of course. Is there a reason why the Tradition, a so-called senior major, is not included? Yes. Our take is that winners of majors get bragging rights that don’t expire until the golfer does; in victory, the winner is overwhelmed with emotion, and so are the fans. If you like golf, you’re watching that ANWA finale. It’s one of the best days of the golfing year. Have you ever watched the Tradition? Relatives of Steve Stricker (a three-time winner), please do not answer that question.
So without further ado, and holding a place for the U.S. Am, our first GOLF.com Majors of the Year ranking, starting with a quick recap.
No. 1. Queen Korda at the U.S. Women’s Open at Riv.
No. 2. PGA won by modest Mr. Rai at a spruced-up Donald Ross course, Aronimink.
No. 3. Shiho’s colorful and expressive playoff win over Esther Henseleit, a stoical and lanky German golfer, at the Women’s Open at Royal Lytham.
And here are the rest…
No. 4. The Masters, won by Rory McIlroy on April 12, one year after he won his first green jacket at Augusta National. So, back-to-back wins after so many years of golfing torture. How weird is that?
Survey says: Did this really happen — and did Scottie finish a shot out of a playoff? Will Rory ever make anything look easy?
No. 5. U.S. Senior Open at Scioto Country Club in Columbus, Ohio, won by Padraig Harrington.
Survey says: Paddy in full. Paddy in full! At the course that made Jack. Or, Jackieboy, as Nicklaus’s lifelong instructor, Jack Grout, always called his prized pupil.
No. 6. Nelly Korda winning the Chevron, née Dinah, on April 26 at Memorial Park, a public course in Houston, and reclaiming her place as the most dominant golfer in any division of the game, male or female, pro or amateur.
Survey says: Korda was only 27 when she won the Chevron, her third career major — and then added her fourth at Riviera. When she’s done, will she be on the Mount Rushmore of women’s golf with Mickey (Wright), Kathy (Whitworth) and Annika? Let’s see what the next decade and change brings!
No. 7. Open Championship, golf’s oldest and grandest event, at Royal Birkdale, won by Ryan Fox on July 19.
Survey says: The course is as great as Muirfield, the Kiwi winner has a hugely fun spirit, and his get-on-with-it pace of play is a lesson for us all.
No. 8. Augusta National Women’s Amateur at Augusta National, won by Maria Jose Marin of Colombia on April 4 by way of a final-round 68 with pixie dust all over it, including a tee shot on 12 that stayed on the bank, “a miracle,” as she said when it was over, her English as good as her golf.
Survey says: Maria Jose Marin as the first Latin American golfer to make the 36-hole ANWA cut and then win? A win that likely lit a million dreams across South America and beyond.
No. 9. U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills, won by Wyndham Clark on June 21. He captured his second Open in the same unlikely way he won his first: by shooting four rounds of golf, each higher than the preceding one.
Survey says: All U.S. Opens are majestic. Any day of golf at Shinnecock Hills has a majesty to it. For some reason, the week did not completely click. The course has become too hit-it-anywhere open and some of the Sunday spectators were classless boors. Clark did not inspire a lovefest. Still, it was a U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills, and that’s a lot.
No. 10. KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Hazeltine, in Chaska, Minn., won on June 28 by Haeran Ryu, the Korean sensation who was the LPGA’s rookie of the year in 2023.
Survey says: You’d be hard-pressed to say which American state has the deepest passion for golf, so close are both Minnesota and Wisconsin to claiming this title. Minnesota’s hearty golf fans, with their short season and few chances to see in-state major championships, embraced Ryu as if she were the second coming of Kevin Garnett, or something like that.
No. 11. Senior British Open at Gleneagles in Scotland, won by 59-year-old Jerry Kelly of Wisconsin on July 26.
Survey says: Along with everything else, the win gives Kelly a place in next year’s Open Championship on the Old Course in St. Andrews, Scotland, and he becomes part of Gleneagles lore.
No. 12. Senior PGA Championship, won by six shots by Stewart Cink at the Concession Golf Club in Bradenton, Fla., on April 19.
Survey says: Big trophy, big winner by a big margin.
The 36-hole stroke-play qualifier for the U.S. Amateur will be held Aug. 10 and 11 at Merion and Philadelphia Country Club: 312 players for 64 spots, then 64 to 32 to 16 to eight to four to two to one. A lot of golf to go. One more major.
Michael Bamberger welcomes your comments at Michael.Bamberger@Golf.com
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