2025 ends and the calendars and schedules for 2026 are taking shape. Without a doubt, the four Majors will once again be the main attraction for golf enthusiasts. Ryan Gerard has been the latest to secure a spot for the Masters. A 10,000-kilometre journey to Mauritius that is undoubtedly more than justified by securing his fifth major and his debut at Augusta National.
After this addition, by the end of the calendar year, there will be a total of 86 qualified for the Masters (including the world top fifty at the end of the year), 50 for the PGA Championship, 53 already have a confirmed spot for the US Open and a total of 79 for the Open. 268 places allocated.
From this large group, as of today —and only as of today— there are a few golfers who already know they will be in the four majors of 2026. Specifically, a total of twenty. Perhaps a few more were expected. There are only two dozen chosen ones who will start 2026 knowing they are aiming for the Grand Slam.
The figure is not insignificant. The four majors use different access routes, with cuts that adjust throughout the year and criteria that do not always overlap. World ranking, exemptions for victories, Major champions, recent results, or historical status form a complex system. Hence the value of this crossover: only twenty players appear simultaneously in the four provisional lists. It also speaks to how difficult it is to access a Major. There aren’t that many.
In that group are the names that dominate current golf. Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy lead a list that also includes players with proven experience on big stages and Major champions like Jon Rahm, Xander Schauffele, Collin Morikawa, Justin Thomas, or Brooks Koepka. All of them reach 2026 with their seat secured.
Alongside them are profiles that have consolidated their status through consistency. Ben Griffin, Chris Gotterup or Brian Harman by ranking, results, and being a Major winner in the case of the Texan.
However, it is worth clarifying the scope of the figure. That there are only twenty players classified today for the four majors does not mean that only those twenty have their presence in the four assured. There are obvious cases —such as Tyrrell Hatton, Viktor Hovland, Ludvig Åberg, Shane Lowry, Sepp Straka, or Akshay Bhatia— who will end up playing the four majors, but it will not be official by December 31.
In this regard, the clearest example is the PGA Championship, whose field is completed with players ranked within the top 100 of the world ranking, and it is impossible for the mentioned players to fall out of that group that grants access in May to the PGA. The difference is purely temporal, but relevant: they are not yet classified; the other twenty are.
The list also excludes several historic champions and veteran figures who maintain partial, but not complete, exemptions from the ‘Grand Slam’. For example, Padraig Harrington will be able to play all the Majors, except in Augusta where he has not won. The Irishman will be able to compete in the Open and PGA as a champion and in the US Open after winning the Senior in 2025). Tiger Woods for example, injury aside, would have to receive an invitation to play the US Open, there is no doubt he would receive it, but he is not currently classified.
In summary: only 20 players are currently starting the year knowing they will compete in the four majors of 2026. This is the snapshot of the moment.
Could you name the list of the twenty? Here it is:
- Scottie Scheffler
- Tommy Fleetwood
- Jon Rahm
- Rory McIlroy
- Ben Griffin
- Xander Schauffele
- J.J. Spaun
- Bryson DeChambeau
- Matt Fitzpatrick
- Cameron Young
- Keegan Bradley
- Harris English
- Justin Thomas
- Collin Morikawa
- Justin Rose
- Chris Gotterup
- Brian Harman
- Wyndham Clark
- Cameron Smith
- Brooks Koepka
