To separate a first major from a repeat, we rebuilt every champion of the four men's majors from the official records: the Masters' list back to 1934, the PGA Championship's back to 1916, The Open's back to 1860 and the PGA Tour's past results for the U.S. Open back to 1895. That is 478 majors and 236 different champions, so wins before 2000 count too: of the 60 players who won a major from 2000 to 2026, only Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh and Ernie Els already had one.
How many majors went to first-time winners
The rate has moved with the era. From 2000 to 2008, when Woods won 12 of the 36 majors, first-time winners took 16 (44 percent); from 2009 to 2017 they took 24 of 36 (67 percent), and from 2018 to 2026, 17 of 35 (49 percent).
| Major | 2000-08 | 2009-17 | 2018-26 | 2000-26 | 1934-99 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters | 4 of 9 | 6 of 9 | 3 of 9 | 13 of 27 (48%) | 25 of 63 (40%) |
| PGA Championship | 3 of 9 | 7 of 9 | 3 of 9 | 13 of 27 (48%) | 39 of 65 (60%) |
| U.S. Open | 5 of 9 | 7 of 9 | 6 of 9 | 18 of 27 (67%) | 31 of 62 (50%) |
| The Open | 4 of 9 | 4 of 9 | 5 of 8 | 13 of 26 (50%) | 27 of 60 (45%) |
| All four majors | 16 of 36 | 24 of 36 | 17 of 35 | 57 of 107 (53%) | 122 of 250 (49%) |
Only two years since 2000 passed without a first-time winner, 2000 and 2014, and three had one in every major: 2003 (Mike Weir, Jim Furyk, Ben Curtis and Shaun Micheel), 2011 (Charl Schwartzel, Rory McIlroy, Darren Clarke and Keegan Bradley) and 2016 (Danny Willett, Dustin Johnson, Henrik Stenson and Jimmy Walker).
Over the long run the figure has held near half. From 1934, the first year all four majors were played, to 1999, first-time winners took 122 of 250, 49 percent. The 2010s had the highest share of any decade since then, 25 of 40 (63 percent), and the 1970s and 1980s the lowest, 16 of 40 each.
Which major has the most first-time winners
The U.S. Open, by a distance. Eighteen of its 27 champions since 2000 were winning a first major, 67 percent, from Retief Goosen in 2001 to J.J. Spaun in 2025, and among them were Brooks Koepka in 2017, Bryson DeChambeau in 2020 and Jon Rahm in 2021. The Masters and the PGA Championship each had 13 in 27, and The Open 13 in 26.
Before 2000 the ranking was different. From 1934 to 1999 the PGA Championship had the highest share of first-time winners, 39 of 65 (60 percent), and the Masters the lowest, 25 of 63 (40 percent).
First major win age: how old first-time winners are
The typical first-time winner since 2000 was 31. On the final day of the major, the median age was 31.2 and the average 31.4, from the birth dates in the players' PGA Tour profiles. Four were younger than 25: Jordan Spieth, 21, at the 2015 Masters; McIlroy, 22, at the 2011 U.S. Open; Collin Morikawa, 23, and Justin Thomas, 24, at the PGA Championships of 2020 and 2017.
The four oldest all won The Open: Clarke at 42 in 2011, Stenson at 40 in 2016, Ryan Fox at 39 this year and Todd Hamilton at 38 in 2004. First-time champions at The Open averaged 34.7 years, against 29.9 at the Masters, and the group has been getting younger: 32.9 on average in 2000-2008, 31.0 in 2009-2017 and 30.7 in 2018-2026.
How many first-time major winners won again
Eighteen of the 57, 32 percent, have won another major, and six have won at least three: Phil Mickelson and McIlroy with six each, Koepka with five, Scottie Scheffler with four, and Padraig Harrington and Spieth with three. The other 39 have one so far, a count that the latest three, Spaun, Aaron Rai and Fox, have had little time to change.
Those who won young were likelier to win again. All four who won before turning 25 have added a major, against 6 of the 21 aged 25 to 29, 6 of the 17 aged 30 to 34 and 2 of the 15 aged 35 or older, Ángel Cabrera and Harrington. The repeat winners were 28.9 on average at their first major; the one-time winners, 32.6.
By the major of the first win, U.S. Open champions have won again most often, 8 of 18, McIlroy, Koepka, DeChambeau and Rahm among them, ahead of Masters champions (5 of 13) and PGA champions (4 of 13). Of the 13 first-time winners at The Open, only Harrington has won another major, following the 2007 Open with the Open and the PGA Championship in 2008.
A second major, when it came, usually came soon: 11 of the 18 won it within the next eight majors, Spieth and Xander Schauffele in the same season. Zach Johnson waited longest, from the 2007 Masters to the 2015 Open.
The longest streak of first-time major winners
Nine majors in a row went to first-time winners from the 2010 U.S. Open to the 2012 U.S. Open: Graeme McDowell, Louis Oosthuizen, Martin Kaymer, Schwartzel, McIlroy, Clarke, Bradley, Bubba Watson and Webb Simpson. No longer run exists in the record of the four majors back to 1860, and before 2000 none went past five. Els, already a three-time major winner, ended it at the 2012 Open.
The next two longest runs also came after 2000: seven, from Jason Day at the 2015 PGA Championship to Koepka at the 2017 U.S. Open, and six, from Rich Beem at the 2002 PGA Championship to Mickelson at the 2004 Masters. The longest stretch without a first-time winner in the period was five majors, from Singh's win at the 2000 Masters to Woods's at the 2001 Masters.
The 2026 majors: two first-time winners
Two of this year's four majors went to first-time winners, in line with the long-run rate. Rai, from England, won the PGA Championship at Aronimink in May at 31, and Fox, from New Zealand, won The Open at Royal Birkdale in July at 39, the third-oldest first-time winner since 2000, after Clarke and Stenson.
The other two went to past champions. McIlroy won the Masters for the second year running, a sixth major in all, and Wyndham Clark won a second U.S. Open, at Shinnecock Hills, three years after the first.
Our golf schedule has the dates and courses of every PGA Tour, LPGA, DP World Tour and Champions Tour event, and the golf leaderboard follows the tournament in play, round by round. Two earlier studies look at how often the 54-hole leader wins a major and what score wins one.
Every first-time major winner since 2000
| Year | Major | First-time winner | Age | Majors won |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Open | Ryan Fox | 39 | 1 |
| 2026 | PGA | Aaron Rai | 31 | 1 |
| 2025 | U.S. Open | J.J. Spaun | 34 | 1 |
| 2024 | PGA | Xander Schauffele | 30 | 2 |
| 2023 | Open | Brian Harman | 36 | 1 |
| 2023 | U.S. Open | Wyndham Clark | 29 | 2 |
| 2022 | Open | Cameron Smith | 28 | 1 |
| 2022 | U.S. Open | Matt Fitzpatrick | 27 | 1 |
| 2022 | Masters | Scottie Scheffler | 25 | 4 |
| 2021 | U.S. Open | Jon Rahm | 26 | 2 |
| 2021 | Masters | Hideki Matsuyama | 29 | 1 |
| 2020 | U.S. Open | Bryson DeChambeau | 27 | 2 |
| 2020 | PGA | Collin Morikawa | 23 | 2 |
| 2019 | Open | Shane Lowry | 32 | 1 |
| 2019 | U.S. Open | Gary Woodland | 35 | 1 |
| 2018 | Open | Francesco Molinari | 35 | 1 |
| 2018 | Masters | Patrick Reed | 27 | 1 |
| 2017 | PGA | Justin Thomas | 24 | 2 |
| 2017 | U.S. Open | Brooks Koepka | 27 | 5 |
| 2017 | Masters | Sergio Garcia | 37 | 1 |
| 2016 | PGA | Jimmy Walker | 37 | 1 |
| 2016 | Open | Henrik Stenson | 40 | 1 |
| 2016 | U.S. Open | Dustin Johnson | 31 | 2 |
| 2016 | Masters | Danny Willett | 28 | 1 |
| 2015 | PGA | Jason Day | 27 | 1 |
| 2015 | Masters | Jordan Spieth | 21 | 3 |
| 2013 | PGA | Jason Dufner | 36 | 1 |
| 2013 | U.S. Open | Justin Rose | 32 | 1 |
| 2013 | Masters | Adam Scott | 32 | 1 |
| 2012 | U.S. Open | Webb Simpson | 26 | 1 |
| 2012 | Masters | Bubba Watson | 33 | 2 |
| 2011 | PGA | Keegan Bradley | 25 | 1 |
| 2011 | Open | Darren Clarke | 42 | 1 |
| 2011 | U.S. Open | Rory McIlroy | 22 | 6 |
| 2011 | Masters | Charl Schwartzel | 26 | 1 |
| 2010 | PGA | Martin Kaymer | 25 | 2 |
| 2010 | Open | Louis Oosthuizen | 27 | 1 |
| 2010 | U.S. Open | Graeme McDowell | 30 | 1 |
| 2009 | PGA | Y.E. Yang | 37 | 1 |
| 2009 | Open | Stewart Cink | 36 | 1 |
| 2009 | U.S. Open | Lucas Glover | 29 | 1 |
| 2008 | Masters | Trevor Immelman | 28 | 1 |
| 2007 | Open | Padraig Harrington | 35 | 3 |
| 2007 | U.S. Open | Ángel Cabrera | 37 | 2 |
| 2007 | Masters | Zach Johnson | 31 | 2 |
| 2006 | U.S. Open | Geoff Ogilvy | 29 | 1 |
| 2005 | U.S. Open | Michael Campbell | 36 | 1 |
| 2004 | Open | Todd Hamilton | 38 | 1 |
| 2004 | Masters | Phil Mickelson | 33 | 6 |
| 2003 | PGA | Shaun Micheel | 34 | 1 |
| 2003 | Open | Ben Curtis | 26 | 1 |
| 2003 | U.S. Open | Jim Furyk | 33 | 1 |
| 2003 | Masters | Mike Weir | 32 | 1 |
| 2002 | PGA | Rich Beem | 31 | 1 |
| 2001 | PGA | David Toms | 34 | 1 |
| 2001 | Open | David Duval | 29 | 1 |
| 2001 | U.S. Open | Retief Goosen | 32 | 2 |
First-time major winners: frequently asked questions
How many majors have gone to first-time winners since 2000? 57 of the 107 men's majors through the 2026 Open, 53 percent: 18 at the U.S. Open and 13 each at the Masters, the PGA Championship and The Open.
Who is the youngest first-time major winner since 2000? Jordan Spieth, 21 at the 2015 Masters. The oldest was Darren Clarke, 42 at the 2011 Open.
What is the longest streak of first-time major winners? Nine in a row, from Graeme McDowell at the 2010 U.S. Open to Webb Simpson at the 2012 U.S. Open, the longest in the history of the four majors.
Do first-time major winners usually win again? Most have not: 18 of the 57 since 2000 have won another major, 32 percent. All four who won their first before turning 25 did.
How this was built: the champions of all 478 men's majors, from the first Open in 1860 to the 2026 Open, from masters.com, pgachampionship.com and theopen.com, and from the PGA Tour's past results for the U.S. Open and the 2026 PGA Championship. A first-time winner had no earlier win in any of the four; amateurs' wins in them count, amateur and senior titles do not. Every champion and each player's running count of majors match Wikipedia's chronological list. Ages are on the final day, from PGA Tour player profiles (Justin Thomas's birth date from masters.com) and each major's dates, checked against masters.com, pgachampionship.com and the PGA Tour. Wins through the 2026 Open.