{"id":376072,"date":"2025-12-29T15:30:10","date_gmt":"2025-12-29T15:30:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/376072\/"},"modified":"2025-12-29T15:30:10","modified_gmt":"2025-12-29T15:30:10","slug":"who-will-win-their-first-golf-major-in-2026-analyzing-the-top-contenders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/376072\/","title":{"rendered":"Who will win their first golf major in 2026? Analyzing the top contenders"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Gabby Herzig, Brody Miller and Hugh Kellenberger<\/p>\n

You know what\u2019s hard? Winning a golf major.<\/p>\n

There are only nine a year \u2014 four for the men, five for the women \u2014 and when you combine limited opportunity and a finite prime in which you are most likely to contend, it is agonizingly hard to describe yourself as a major champion. If you\u2019re not Scottie Scheffler, you may get only one or two chances in your entire career.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t believe us? Just look at any list of top golfers who have yet to win a major championship. It\u2019ll include several big-deal names, which may or may not show up in The Athletic\u2019s list of golfers we\u2019re projecting to win their first major in 2026.<\/p>\n

Jeeno Thitikul<\/p>\n

Somehow, the best female golfer on the planet hasn\u2019t won a major championship. Jeeno Thitikul, the 22-year-old phenom from Thailand, snagged nearly every top award and accolade in women\u2019s golf this past year but has yet to enter the LPGA major winner\u2019s circle. Thitikul was named Player of the Year, and she won the CME Group Tour Championship for the second season in a row, making her the only LPGA player to win three times in 2025. She also set the record for the lowest single-season scoring average in LPGA history, surpassing Annika Sorenstam\u2019s 2002 average. But this summer Thitikul also lost in a seven-hole playoff to Grace Kim at the Evian Championship, one of the five women\u2019s majors, narrowly missing her latest chance to snag a maiden major victory. Since 2021, Thitikul has posted nine top-10 finishes in the majors. It\u2019s just a matter of time before her premier ball-striking and consistency lead to her hoisting a major trophy.<\/p>\n

In addition to Thitikul, Charley Hull is trending toward a major win \u2014 the 29-year-old from the English Midlands has four runner-up finishes and says chasing major victories is her priority in the game right now. She stands at No. 5 in the world, a career-high ranking, after her most recent runner-up finish at this summer\u2019s AIG Women\u2019s Open. \u2014 Gabby Herzig<\/p>\n

For you Frank!! \ud83c\udfc6 pic.twitter.com\/L1niemLW2K<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Tommy Fleetwood (@TommyFleetwood1) October 19, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n

Tommy Fleetwood<\/p>\n

Yeah, I know, really original. But this is much, much more than the ol\u2019 \u201cHe\u2019s so consistently good, eventually one will go his way\u201d argument. No. Something flipped with Fleetwood late this summer as the struggling-to-finish discourse reached its apex. He just kept playing better. And better. By the time he won the Tour Championship, absolutely dominated the Ryder Cup and won in India, he was no longer just a really nice player. He became elite. He learned how to become confident in crunch time, and it gave the impression that there\u2019s always been an all-time great golfer hidden behind the inherent politeness and kindness of Fleetwood.<\/p>\n

Maybe this all ramps the pressure up even more, and it has an adverse effect. My gut says for the first time in his career, he\u2019ll go into the Masters thinking he should win it. He won\u2019t get in his head or be content with a nice, consistent top-10. That golfer at the Tour Championship and at Bethpage looked like somebody who can compete with Scheffler and McIlroy on the best days. I don\u2019t think he felt that way before. \u2014 Brody Miller<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n Cameron Young won three points at the Ryder Cup. (Jared C. Tilton \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Cameron Young<\/p>\n

I would love to name someone no one sees coming here, to identify the 2026 version of J.J. Spaun or Wyndham Clark, and be able to screenshot it for social media at some point this spring\/summer in a true \u201cNailed it!\u201d moment. Alas, I was unable to identify any such player in my research who held up to statistical analysis and the crucial gut check.<\/p>\n

So, how about the guy who, until August, could not win any event, ever? Yes, Cameron Young.<\/p>\n

Something happened to that man when he finally broke through and won the Wyndham Championship. He was in the top five again the next week, and also at the Tour Championship. Young was arguably the Americans\u2019 best player across three days at the Ryder Cup, winning a point in every format.<\/p>\n

Moreover, the dawg was unleashed. A guy who very clearly had the game but over the years had repeatedly failed to close on the back nine on Sundays found himself, with the kind of energy releases we\u2019re used to seeing at Ryder Cups but had never seen from Young.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s also a probability play here, as Young has tasted success in all four majors, with six top-10 finishes since 2022 and a runner-up at the 2022 Open.<\/p>\n

The U.S. Open, in particular, stands out as an opportunity for Young, a New York native who has no doubt seen Shinnecock Hills a time or two. \u2014 Hugh Kellenberger<\/p>\n