Xander Schauffele joins elite club ft. Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus with unique achievement at the 2024 Majors
With an incredible win at The Open Championship 2024, Xander Schauffele has joined an elite group featuring Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods with a unique record. The American golfer became part of this legendary group by finishing in the top 10 in all four Majors in a single season and winning at least two of them.
Others to achieve this unique feat are Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Jordan Spieth, and Tom Watson.
Earlier this year, Schauffele won the PGA Championship, marking his maiden Major victory. He then registered a two-stroke victory over Billy Horschel and Justin Rose on Sunday (July 21) to win the Claret Jug.
Besides his remarkable victories in these two Majors, Schauffele delivered impressive performances in the other two Majors. He achieved a solo eighth-place finish at the Masters and then tied for seventh at the US Open.
He is now the first golfer since Jordan Spieth in 2015 to win the first two Majors of their career in a single season. Spieth won the Masters and the US Open in 2015, finishing tied for fourth at The Open and second at the PGA Championship.
Tiger Woods has won three Majors in a single year. In 2000, he won the US Open, the Open Championship, and the PGA Championship and had a solo fifth-place finish at the Masters. In fact, Woods has had two incredible seasons in which he finished in the top 10 in all Majors and won two of them.
In 2005, he won the Masters and the Open Championship, finished second at the US Open, and tied for fourth at the PGA Championship.
Tom Watson also had two seasons with two Major wins and top-10 finishes in the other two Majors. In 1977, Watson clinched the trophies at the Masters and The Open Championship, finishing tied for seventh at the US Open and tied for sixth at the PGA Championship. He repeated this feat in 1982, winning the US Open and The Open Championship and tying for fifth at the Masters and ninth at the PGA Championship.
Jack Nicklaus also achieved this rare feat. He won two Majors, including the Masters and the PGA Championship in 1975, and recorded top-10 finishes in the other two Majors that season. He was tied for seventh place at the US Open and tied for third at The Open Championship.
Other golfers with such unique records include Arnold Palmer and Gary Player. Palmer won the Masters and the US Open in 1960, was the runner-up at The Open and finished tied for seventh at the PGA Championship.
Meanwhile, Player accomplished this in 1974 when he won the Masters and The Open Championship, finished tied for eighth at the US Open, and secured a solo seventh place at the PGA Championship.
Unique record Xander Schauffele made by winning The Open Championship 2024
Xander Schauffele became just the second golfer in history to shoot 65 or lower in the final round of a Major twice and win the event. He shot 65 in the final round of the PGA Championship 2024 to win the Major and then again shot 65 to win The Open Championship.
Prior to him, Jack Nicklaus did that to win the US Open in 1967 and then at the Masters in 1986. However, Schauffele achieved this feat in a single season, becoming the only player to do it in the same year.
He became the first player since Rory McIlroy in 2014 to win the PGA Championship and The Open Championship in the same season. Schauffele also became one of the few American golfers to win both The Open and the PGA Championship in a single season. Prior to him, Walter Hagen did it in 1924, and Tiger Woods did it in 2000 and 2006.
Additionally, it was the first time all four Majors in a season were won by American players since 1982. Scottie Scheffler won the 2024 Masters, Xander Schauffele won the 2024 Open and the 2024 PGA Championship, and Bryson DeChambeau won the 2024 US Open.
Interestingly, it marked the seventh consecutive time an American golfer won a Major. The streak started with Brooks Koepka winning the PGA Championship in 2023, followed by Wyndham Clark's victory at the US Open. Then Brian Harman won The Open Championship in 2023, followed by this year's Major winners, who are all American.