Recent victory of Scottie Scheffler at 2024 Masters not only made the golfer one of the best in the game but also preconditioned a fascinating major season. He was so dominant at Augusta that the odds on the gifted American stomping to all four major wins this term have been dramatically reduced by the bookies. and such was his cool performance in Georgia, we need not be surprised at that.
He was already at the top of the betting lists heading to the major season in men. Nevertheless, being the favorite, in his latest attempt to capture the elusive Green Jacket, he started to run on the ground the very first moment. The 27 year old was the world number one since the moment he had won Masters back in 2022 and after finishing last year as being tied in tenth and eight shots out of the lead he came back to the golf course like the man who had gone mad. He was two-shots off the lead held by Bryson DeChambeau after playing a sizzling six under par on the first day and the last thing he would want was to end up again in the bottom of the ladder.
Scheffler takes the Green Jacket
On the second day, he remained composed to record a par of the course as the one who held the lead over the first changed as he finished with a score of one over him equating the two. That was all it took and he never turned back. A day three under accompanied an out-right lead before a sizzling 68 on Championship Sunday saw him romp away from the rest to eventually finish on 11 under and four shots ahead of runner-up Ludvig Aberg. The remainder of the opposition three shots behind the Swede.
That is how dominant he had become at Augusta that odds are now available online that he would win the remaining three major tournaments this year with all three majors closed within a short price of + 350. Actually, one betting media has even created a special market at odds of +8000 with him winning all four majors this year. In context, Jason Day, Rickie Fowler and Justin Rose, former major champions all have equal chances of winning the US Open alone.
In that sense then, who will be the top three contenders to Finals leader Scheffler till the end of the main season? So let us see.
Jon Rahm
The Spaniard Jon Rahm was, of course, the man who pipped the then defending champion to the Green Jacket at last year Masters. His 2023 season was a breakthrough with him ending four strokes ahead of longtime professionals Brooks Koepka and Phil Mickelson. He almost managed to become the first man to win multiple majors in the same calendar year since 2018 but he had to make do with a second place finish at the Open Championship as Brian Harman went into scintillating form at the Open Championship in Liverpool.
The City of Basque Country-born player has come to be associated with his explosive strength and battlesome nature in later years, Both of which were evident when he won the US Open in 2021, his maiden and the only major so far. In order to win that year he had to bride the last two holes and he did so with flying colors and he will be one of them to do so again later in the coming year.
Rahm has an unusual driving skill with his playing style often described as extremely long on tour. However the thing that really makes him special is his proficiency on the greens; a technique that has enabled him to tame courses that are out to push the boundaries of the game to its absolute extreme. He has now been installed as the second favourites by the bookies in all three of the remaining majors this season with odds of +1000 at the Open and +1200 at the other two Stateside spectaculars.
Rory McIlroy
Rory McIlroy has been acclaimed as one of the golfing prodigies long before. Debuting on the circuit as a teenager, McIlroy has been able to rack up four major championships of which he has won the PGA Championship twice. He fought back after surrendering in his initial bid to clinch the Masters way back in the year 2011 and despite becoming the most widely acknowledged golfer the world over, he had not won a major title since a decade ago.
But over the recent years he has returned to his very best. His resurgence has been marked with a string of authoritative play including victory in the 2022 FedEx Cup. Northern Irishman McIlroy has also lost out narrowly in the quest to break his long major drought, finishing runner up in this year Masters and Open and also a second place finish in the US Open last year.
Brooks Koepka
The story of Brooks Koepka to the present where he has received five major titles as a champion is a testimony of his strength and command under pressure. The America team has a very systematic attitude towards the majors and considers them as endurance and strategy-based wars. Too, he presents a physical advantage because of the intensive training sessions; thus, he has an upper hand as he can outlast the other players during tough tournaments spanning four days.
His numerous triumphs, such as consecutive wins in the U.S Open in 2017 and 2018, indicate that Koepka is capable of delivering his best when things matter the most. It is true that he has had some injury issues over the last few years during the start of the 2020s yet during the previous year, he once again regained his fitness and form winning the PGA Championship a third time and even tying for second place in the Masters. Provided that he is to maintain the same pace, you can only expect him to be on the hunt again this season as far as silverware is concerned particularly the US open and the PGA Championships in which he has left a mark in previous campaigns.