Four Takeaways From the 2024 Majors

This week I recorded an episode of the Fried Egg Golf Podcast (Apple, Spotify) with Andy and Geoff Shackelford in which we assigned grades to players and venues from the 2024 major championship season. In preparing for that podcast, I came up with some statistical notes and nuggets I found to be interesting and insightful as we put the 2024 men’s major season in the rearview mirror.

Note: The strokes gained numbers referenced below are raw (i.e. not adjusted for strength of field).

Xander’s Consistency

Xander Schauffele, the best performer of the 2024 major season, beat the field average in 15 of 16 major championship rounds this year. The only round in which he lost strokes to the field was the final round of the Masters, and even then his 73 meant he gave up just half a stroke. In the 2024 majors, Xander gained 3.61 strokes per round on the field. The next best performer, Bryson DeChambeau, gained 2.95 strokes per round.

Only two players finished in the top 20 in all four majors in 2024: Xander Schauffele and Collin Morikawa. Schauffele didn’t finish outside the top eight. With the addition of two wins in 2024, Xander Schauffele has rapidly assembled one of the best major championship résumés of the last ten years.

Is Dustin Johnson Done?

Dustin Johnson, one of the best players of the past 15 years, has seen his performances in major championships sharply decline. He made two cuts in majors in 2024, and his best finish was T-31 at the Open. DJ’s strokes gained per round in majors over the last ten years, in chart form:

We’re trending in the wrong direction!

Dustin Johnson is too talented for me to rule him out of future major championships. But at age 40, it’s reasonable to question how many competitive major appearances DJ has left in front of him.

Long Live Rose

Only one player meets the following criteria:

• Finished in the top five of a major championship in 2024
• Finished in the top five of any major 2008 or earlier

Justin Rose, who turns 44 next week, finished tied for runner-up in the 2024 Open Championship. He also finished T-5 at the 2007 Masters, T-5 at the 2003 U.S. Open, and T-4 at the 1998 Open Championship. I’ll note that his T-2 at this year’s Open Championship wasn’t his only flash of excellence this year; he finished T-6 at Valhalla as well, making him one of eight players with multiple top-10 finishes this major season.

Rose’s longevity is extraordinary. His lone major win at the 2013 U.S. Open doesn’t seem like enough to do his career justice. Decades from now, Justin Rose will probably be criminally underrated.

Cantlay Is Who He Is

Ok, I think we kind of know who Patrick Cantlay is. At +1.6 strokes gained per round, Patrick Cantlay ranked 14th in the 2024 majors by strokes gained among golfers who played at least eight rounds. He contended late into the U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2, ultimately finishing two back of the winner in a share of third place. Otherwise, Patrick’s results were consistent and uninspiring, with all three other finishes falling between T-22 and T-53.

No matter how I slice it, Cantlay’s 2024 major season looks a lot like his previous major seasons. By the time he tees it up in another major next April, he’ll be 33 years old. Looking to the future, Cantlay may contend in a major every once in a while. However, more often than not, I think we should expect consistently solid but ultimately lackluster results.

Anything is possible in this sport, but at this point, Patrick Cantlay feels like a known quantity.

This piece originally appeared in the Fried Egg Golf newsletter. Subscribe for free and receive golf news and insight every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.