Men's Major Season Awards 2026: Best Player, Biggest Disappointment And Shot Of The Year
With the men's Major season over for 2026, Golf Monthly's tour experts hand out a few figurative prizes to those who stood out in the four biggest championships
'Inside The Ropes' is the chance for Golf Monthly's expert team to share its honest thoughts on the biggest subjects in the game. This time, it's all about our men's Major season award winners.
What a run of men's Major championships we all witnessed in 2026. The biggest events never fail to deliver and this year was no different with four worthy winners providing a fascinating array of victories.
Rory McIlroy defended his Masters title in very different circumstances to 2025 - although there were similar themes such as a feature from Justin Rose - while Wyndham Clark captured a second US Open after battling the boo-boys and a typically brutal Shinnecock Hills layout.
Meanwhile, there were two fresh Major champions - and immensely popular ones too. Aaron Rai roared down the back nine at Aronimink to clinch the PGA Championship before Ryan Fox went out and won The Open at Royal Birkdale to close the season out.
While there were four winners, there were many who fell short in their pursuit of immortality. But that doesn't mean they will walk away empty-handed.
At Golf Monthly, we've decided to hand out a number of awards while the Majors are still fresh in our minds - from the best shot of the year to the biggest disappointment and plenty in between.
For more discussion on a few of these awards, you can listen to the most recent episode of the Golf Monthly Tour Issue podcast.
Whether you agree of disagree with our selections, please leave us your thoughts in the comments box below. And without further ado, here's who we've picked out and why.
BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT
Bryson DeChambeau. The polarizing American had three really bad missed cuts in the year's first three Majors, before looking more like himself at The Open.
However, he was penalized two shots for improving his area of intended swing on the Friday and his challenge petered out over the weekend.
Scottie Scheffler. The World No.1 has to be disappointed not to add another Major to his tally after a year where he was by far the best from tee-to-green but simply did not putt well enough.
Bryson DeChambeau. DeChambeau was the biggest disappointment of the Major season, undoubtedly, after missing three cuts and fading in the other.
But Cameron Young might be the most disappointed after coming so close to winning The Masters and The Open, only to be pipped at the post. Young might be especially gutted over his shot selection out of the fairway bunker on the 72nd hole at Royal Birkdale...
JJ Spaun. He won the US Open last year and it's not like his form in PGA Tour events has dropped off since, given that he claimed victory at the Valero Texas Open and has multiple top 10s in 2026.
I could have opted for DeChambeau here, but I've gone with Spaun as he as also missed three Major cuts and only finished T40th at The Open Championship.
BIGGEST SURPRISE
It has to be Aaron Rai. The Englishman had won once in America before the PGA Championship in May and had never seriously contended in a Major. It wasn't just a surprise that he was contending; it was a surprise how comfortable and ruthless he was during Sunday's back nine.
Aaron Rai. This is a toss-up between Rai and Ryan Fox, but I'll side with the Englishman as he had only won once on the PGA Tour prior to charging past the likes of Jon Rahm with a stunning final round, sealing a Major that has been won exclusively by Americans since 2016.
Only one US Major winner. Given six of the world's current top-10 are American and so many Major seasons take place with multiple US winners, I have to say I'm pretty surprised there was only one in 2026.
Add in to that, if you'd have given me one guess as to who the American winner would be back in April, I would have gone a long time before landing on Clark...
No Major win for Scottie Scheffler. Let's be honest, if Scheffler had putted like he did in 2025, we could have easily seen him claim three of the four Majors this year.
He's still the best player in the world by some margin, but to see him not win a Major in 2026 was extremely surprising. In all honesty, Scheffler only winning once this year is an even bigger shock!
BEST PLAYER
This is a tricky category. Can someone who didn't win a Major be labelled as the best player? I'm not sure, but I feel Sam Burns deserves some recognition for his fantastic Major season, so I'm going to vote for him here.
Scottie Scheffler. He went 2-2-T14-T4. Yes, he was the biggest disappointment for me, but only because of the incredible standards he sets. To contend at every Major shows just how good he is.
In this category, stats don't lie. Scottie Scheffler was the best player at Majors in 2026, despite not winning one.
He was a cumulative 20-under through the four championships (as was Sam Burns) but the World No.1 twice finished runner-up. There wasn't much between them, but Scheffler just edged it.
This is the hardest category to pick, in my opinion, as the four Major winners haven't really shone in other championships outside of their victories.
McIlroy is the only player to make all four cuts and win a Major, but his T32nd at the US Open and T40th at The Open left a lot to be desired. Therefore, I am going with a split between Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns. They ended the year with the best combined score over the four Majors and contended in the majority of them.
BEST FINAL ROUND
I'm going for Cameron Young at The Open. I know ultimately it wasn't enough, but I was convinced his closing 64 was good enough to get him into a play-off at the very least. Only some heroics from Ryan Fox stopped that from being true.
Ryan Fox at The Open. Fox birdied four of his last six holes, which also featured a brilliant bogey save on 15 after a horrible break in the bunker, to take the Claret Jug. It will go down as one of the best Open finishes of all time.
To reiterate what I've said on this week's Golf Monthly Tour Issue podcast, I think Wyndham Clark's final round at The US Open was the best. He faced all kinds of adversity and never really wavered.
The other three were amazing in their own ways, but golf is especially tough when you're fighting against something all day and it felt like it was Clark against the world, so huge props to him for standing strong.
Aaron Rai (PGA Championship). Again, this was tricky, as Ryan Fox and Wyndham Clark showed grit to win their Majors, but I've gone with Aaron Rai, simply for that incredible final 10 hole stretch.
Having never won a Major, you could be forgiven for falling off the pace, but an eagle at the ninth and four birdies coming in, including that putt on the 17th, meant the Englishman fired a 65. In a week where scoring wasn't there, a joint best round of the week to win a Major is always going to stand out.
UNSUNG HERO
Ludvig Aberg quietly had a very strong Major season. His worst finish was a tie for 21st at The Masters and he registered top-10s at the PGA Championship and The Open.
Brooks Koepka. It has been a big year for Koepka after leaving LIV Golf, and following three MCs in the Majors last year, he made three cuts in 2026, going T12-T55-MC-T28. Certainly nothing to shout about, but good progress - all while struggling badly on the greens.
The PGA Championship. The year's second Major is always picked on or left until last in the rankings, but this year it was truly incredible. There was a tight leaderboard right up until the end, it was an interesting golf course and there was a worthy and popular winner. What more could you want?
The Greenkeepers and Organizers. It's a generic answer, but I felt that all the greenkeepers and organizers set up their respective Majors perfectly, as shown by all four championships being thrilling finishes.
The Masters is The Masters and, although the wind at the US Open was a big talking point, the set-up was perfect as it never affected play. The PGA Championship delivered competitive scoring for a change, while The Open Championship provided perfect burnt out links conditions. Overall, I take my hat off to the organizers and green staff.
BEST SHOT
Ryan Fox's drive on the 72nd hole at Royal Birkdale takes it for me. It was so brave given how narrow the fairway was and it set up his closing birdie, which meant he avoided a play-off. Rai's putt on the 17th hole at Aronimink is a close second.
Wyndham Clark, 2nd shot, 16th hole, third round, US Open. All four Major champions produced countless top-class shots this year, but this is one that really stands out to me. It set up an eagle three on the par-5, and really felt like it was the moment where he knew it was going to be his week
Elliott's nomination is certainly a close second, but I want to give the nod to Rory McIlroy's second into the 18th in round four at The Masters.
McIlroy hit arguably the worst drive I've ever seen on that hole to a part of Augusta National I'm not sure anyone ever knew existed, only to rescue it with a world-class effort into the front-left bunker he just cannot have practiced. That shot was pure talent, and it helped him with a second Green Jacket.
Lucas Herbert (The Open Championship, Round 3, 17th Hole)
Herbert's chances of a Claret Jug were slipping away on Saturday and, when he found the shrubbery on the 17th with his tee shot, you could be forgiven for thinking he was out of the championship, given he had to take a drop.
However, with a 6-iron in-hand, unsighted, off a bad lie, he didn't just advance it up the hole, but nearly smacked the flag! It's one of the few shots this year that made me bellow out "what a shot," and that's why I think he deserves the award.