Best in 2024 majors: Scottie Scheffler aggregate, Xander Schauffele breakthrough stand out in major specials

There is going to be at least one first-time major winner this season, probably two if you go with history, and bettors have the chance to predict who it will be among many major championship season futures bets.

It’s not just the eve of the Masters, it’s also the eve of the 2024 major championships season and there is action to be had over the course of all four.

The next three months or so will also bring us the PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club, the U.S. Open at Pinehurst Resort and The Open Championship at Royal Troon Golf Club.

Who will be the best performers in the quartet of majors? If you think you know, BetMGM Sportsbook has a multitude of majors specials to peruse.

From the obvious (like will an individual win a major in 2024) to the exotic (like which player will have the lowest aggregate score in relation to par across all four events). I’ll get to that one soon.

World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler leads the board to win one of the four majors at +125 but keep in mind, in the last 78 years of major championship golf since World War II, we have had exactly 156 first-time major winners, averaging out to exactly two a year.

In fact, only four times since the war has there been a season without a first-time major winner. In 1972, legends Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Lee Trevino scooped the major pool, 1980, when it was Nicklaus, Tom Watson and Seve Ballesteros, 2000 when Tiger Woods won three and Vijay Singh the other and most recently in 2014 when Rory McIlroy claimed two majors and Bubba Watson and Martin Kaymer each won their second, have broken the trend.

So while Scheffler could indeed win a major or two this season, chances are a new champion is coming somewhere. Viktor Hovland (+225), Will Zalatoris (+500), Xander Schauffele (+550), Ludvig Åberg (+550), Patrick Cantlay (+600) and Max Homa (+700) are considered the most likely to join the club by the oddsmakers.

If you ask me, I’d be jumping on Schauffele, who coincidentally was the last man standing from my Masters eliminator column this week. We are at 11 major top 10s and counting, and 18 top 20s… plus he’s coming off a runner-up result at THE PLAYERS. If you don’t want to leap on his Masters outright odds, but want a conservative hedge, perhaps this is your play.

Scheffler is +800 to win two majors in the season, a feat not happened since Brooks Koepka won the U.S. Open and PGA Championship in 2018. Jordan Spieth (2015) and McIlroy (2014) also managed this in the last decade. McIlroy is +1000, Koepka is +3300 and Spieth is +4000 to do it again.

Scheffler is +400 for the Masters – if he wins the green jacket, do you expect his odds for the remaining three majors to be shorter? If so, maybe this +800 is for you.

The low aggregate market across all four majors is certainly intriguing. You need a player to make the cut in all four for a start and then play well. Once again Scheffler leads the market at +350 with Rory McIlroy next at +650.

I could mount an argument to take Scheffler at +350 to do this, such is his incredible consistency, rather than the +400 to win the Masters this week. Barring injury, which is always a concern with futures, Scheffler is likely to contend at all four majors. Blowout scores are not in his arsenal. In fact, he hasn’t had an over-par round this season and a 75 is the highest posted round he’s had since March of 2022. He last missed a cut at the 2022 PGA Championship, the only time in his last 14 major appearances he didn’t play the weekend and ultimately finish no worse than T23 in all of those.

Scheffler is -175 to make the cut in all four majors, too short to jump on when you factor in the chance of injury. Personally, I’d need +200 odds or better to jump into this market.

With that bar in mind, consider U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark at +200 to make the four weekends. Prior to winning at Los Angeles Country Club last June, he’d only made two of six cuts in majors but he’s a new man now and plus money could represent value.

Plenty of punters are backing Tiger Woods to make the cut at +100 for the Masters. If you think he can make the cut in all four majors, it’s +350. Outside Clark, Sahith Theegala +250 is a flyer I could get behind as a great young talent and Tony Finau +200 has been a tease the last three years, making three of the four cuts. If you could be sure of his health, Will Zalatoris +200 is another option.

You can also bet on the rare chance a player will finish in the top five, top 10 or top 20 in all four majors. Rickie Fowler finished in the top five of all four majors in 2014 – without winning any of them – but is +40000 to do it again this season. Spieth did it in 2015, winning twice, and finishing runner-up and T4 in the others. He’s +25000 to repeat top-fives this season. Scheffler is +2000, with McIlroy at +4000.

Not even Scheffler was able to get four top-20s last year, though he went close. Scheffler was T10 at the Masters, T2 at the PGA, third at the U.S. Open but dropped to T23 at the Open. Oddsmakers think he can get inside the top 20 for all four this season, pricing the Texan at +150. Schauffele, at +800, appears some value here as he did it last season!

Plenty other major markets exist as well at BetMGM, including the following:

• +110: No majors in 2024 to be decided by a playoff
• +150: Any player to win 2+ majors in 2024
• +200: An English player to win a major in 2024
• +225: Patrick Cantlay or Xander Schauffele to win a major in 2024
• +240: Justin Thomas or Jordan Spieth to win a major in 2024
• +275: Nick Dunlap Top 10 finish in any 2024 major
• +450: Cantlay and Schauffele both make the cut in all four 2024 majors
• +500: Thomas and Spieth both to make the cut in all four 2024 majors
• +600: A hole-in-one in all four majors in 2024
• +700: McIlroy and Rahm both win a major in 2024
• +800: Scheffler and Hovland both win a major in 2024
• +1000: All four majors won by a player from the USA
• +2500: All four majors won by a European player
• +8000: Any player to win the Grand Slam (all four majors in 2024)
• +15000: All four majors in 2024 to be decided by a playoff

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