Are you ready for the 2026 golf season?
More than three months have passed since the Ryder Cup, four months since the Tour Championship and—gasp!—five months since the British Open, the last major championship of 2025.
You have probably seen the commercials on TV during NFL games and college bowl games reminding how the Masters isn’t too far away, which is (tinkling piano) music to everyone’s ears. With that in mind, SI Golf is kicking off its 2026 preview content with major predictions—who will win the four biggest tournaments this year?
Agree or disagree with our picks? Tell us on the SI Golf X account.
Who will win the 2026 major championships?
Masters (April 9-12, Augusta National Golf Club, Augusta, Ga.)
Bob Harig: Scottie Scheffler. How much might things have been different at Augusta in 2025 if Scheffler were not still working his way back into form after his Christmas hand injury? He still managed to finish fourth, never really in serious contention and yet still posted a fourth straight top-10. I’m looking at an Arnold Palmer-like every-other-year run for Scheffler, who also won the Masters in 2022 and 2024.
Jeff Ritter: Tommy Fleetwood. It’s tough to make a Masters a first career major, but Fleetwood ended 2025 as golf’s hottest player, where the wins just flowed after a long and highly publicized run of near-misses. A major is Fleetwood’s next logical step, and I’ll guess it arrives in April. One note: it’s tempting to predict that lefty Robert MacIntyre could “Bubba Watson” his way to a jacket, but there will be more on him shortly.
Max Schreiber: Bryson DeChambeau. Once upon a time, DeChambeau called Augusta National a par-67. Then, he struggled for years at the major. However, he’s carded two straight top 10s and was in the final pairing last year before a final-round 75. Maybe this time around, it’ll all come together for DeChambeau.
John Schwarb: Scottie Scheffler. Chalk always looks good in January, doesn’t it? Who knows how the first few months of the season will shake out and maybe someone else will come in red-hot (like Rory McIlroy last year), but Scheffler at Augusta is going to have to be beaten—he won’t make mistakes.
PGA Championship (May 14-17, Aronimink Golf Club, Newtown Square, Pa.)
Harig: Jon Rahm. No worldwide wins for the two-time major winner in 2025, but Rahm was amazingly consistent. He was top 10 in 12 of 13 LIV Golf League events and managed to win the individual title. He also has two top 10s in majors and was in contention at the PGA Championship until a poor finish. Undoubtedly he’ll be focused on getting back on top again in one of the biggest events.
Ritter: Viktor Hovland. His game took on an “all-or-nothing” quality in 2025, but when he’s dialed he can hang with anyone. If he connects here, Hovland would be another member of the BPWAM list to finally cash in and scrub his name from the member rolls.
Schreiber: Scottie Scheffler. Honestly, I should just take Scheffler at all the majors and I’ll likely hit on several. But we haven’t had a repeat PGA winner since Brooks in 2018-19. Scheffler ends that mini-drought.
Schwarb: Tommy Fleetwood. Last year was an unusually so-so one for the Englishman in the majors (nothing better than T16), but he won at East Lake to end the PGA Tour drought. With that storyline laid to rest, it’s time to get a maiden major.
U.S. Open (June 18-21, Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, Southhampton, New York)
Harig: Brooks Koepka. This would be quite the leap for Koepka after perhaps his worst year as a pro. He missed three cuts in major championships in 2025, but did manage tie for 12th at the U.S. Open. The tournament returns to Shinnecock Hills, where he won the second of his two titles in 2018. Perhaps after leaving LIV Golf and getting his game in order, another major is in store.
Ritter: Scottie Scheffler. Completing the career Slam will be a big talking point all summer long, and I think Scheffler will end his “Slam Watch” quickly on a tough Shinnecock layout that will be set up to be tamed only by the best of the best. That has Scheffler written all over it.
Schreiber: Sam Burns. All eyes will be on Scheffler to complete the slam, but doing it in your first attempt is a tall task. So his best friend Burns will nab the title after two consecutive top 10 finishes in the major.
Schwarb: Brooks Koepka. This would be just too delicious, winning a major the season after jumping out of LIV Golf. But Koepka will have returning-champ vibes at Shinnecock and may arrive on Long Island completely on his own terms, preparing for the major wherever and however he wants, depending on his PGA Tour status.
British Open (July 16-19, Royal Birkdale, Southport, England)
Harig: Tommy Fleetwood. The Englishman is coming off a strong year that saw him win the PGA Tour’s Tour Championship as well as a DP World Tour event while he moved his way into the top five in the Official World Golf Ranking. A major title is the next step, and why not at the Royal Birkdale course that is in his hometown of Southport, England?
Ritter: Robert MacIntyre. He showed a lot of grit at last year’s U.S. Open and Ryder Cups. His star is rising, and his powerful left-handed game is major-ready. This would be a great spot.
Schreiber: Justin Thomas. His ability to shape shots is a plus in the carnage of an Open. If he can build on his comeback campaign of 2025, another major that’s not a PGA is in Thomas’ future, once he recovers from his back surgery.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Predicting Who Will Win Golf’s Major Championships in 2026.
