The Open Championship at Royal Troon has been the 470th Major in history. It all started in 1860 in Prestwick, a handful of kilometres from where Xander Schauffele picked up the Claret Jug yesterday Sunday. The Californian’s victory is the 288th of American golf. This represents more than sixty percent of the Majors held. The Stars and Stripes dictatorship not only continues, but it seems to have hardened in recent years.
The four Majors of 2024 have gone to the United States. Scottie Scheffler won the Masters, Schauffele the PGA Championship and the Open Championship, and Bryson DeChambeau conquered the US Open. It is the first time since 1982 that such an American sweep has occurred. On that occasion, the winners were Tom Watson (US Open and Open), Raymond Floyd (PGA) and Craig Stadler (Masters).
42 years have passed, but that does not mean that the American dominance has not been overwhelming. In fact, since 1910 there has only been one year without US victories in the Majors. Specifically, it was in 1994, when the four Majors winners were Nick Price (PGA and Open, like Schauffele), José María Olazábal (Masters) and Ernie Els (US Open). It has happened once in 114 years. An absolute rarity. The dominance in the Open Championship is also great. Schauffele’s triumph is the 47th of the USA in the 152 Open Championships contested. That is, close to a third, and they did not win it for the first time until 1921 with Jock Hutchison, an American of Scottish origin. The American hegemony is also observed in that they have won seven of the last Majors held, as well as 28 of the last 40.
Another historical curiosity of Schauffele’s triumph is that it is the eleventh consecutive edition of the Open won by a golfer who had never before conquered the British. Eleven consecutive editions of first-timers. This is also a rarity. In fact, Schauffele has matched the longest streak in history (between 1994 and 2004, both inclusive) and it could be broken next year at Royal Portrush. It will happen if a player who has never before triumphed in the Open wins again.
On the other hand, Schauffele becomes the first player to win two Majors in a year after Brooks Koepka in 2018, another American, and the first to win the PGA and the Open in the same season since Rory McIlroy in 2014. In this sense, the club of players who have won the PGA and the Open in a year is very small. Schauffele joins the aforementioned Rory, Harrington, Tiger Woods, Nick Price and Walter Hagen, the first to do so, coincidentally, exactly 100 years ago, in 1924.
