Four championships, four very different golf courses, four distinct tests. The Masters, the PGA Championship, the US Open and The Open Championship span the calendar from April to July and collectively answer the most-debated question in golf: who is the year's best player? Here's how each 2026 major sets up and what it will demand from the field.
The Masters — Augusta National, April
Augusta rewards patience, precision and the kind of course-management discipline that turns the second nine into a test of nerve. The par-5s are reachable in two for the longest hitters, but the second shots demand commitment. The par-3s are not the shortest, but they sit on greens where misjudged winds punish mistakes heavily. Amen Corner remains the centre of the tournament — the stretch from the 11th to the 13th has decided more Masters than the back nine of any other golf course in history.
The 2026 setup is expected to firm up the greens in the final round, which usually tilts the tournament toward patient, short-iron players who can hold greens on the approaches. The rough is rarely punitive at Augusta — but the slopes around the greens are, and missing on the wrong side has been the undoing of countless contenders.
The PGA Championship — Quail Hollow Club, May
Quail Hollow is a different test. The golf course gives up plenty of birdies, and the winning score in 2026 is likely to be deep into double digits under par. The course features a demanding closing stretch — three holes that punish wayward drivers and force second-shot creativity. The greens are large and well-contoured, but the wind can whip through the property in the afternoon and turn a four-iron on the 17th into the difference between birdie and bogey.
The PGA has historically rewarded bombers — players who can turn long drive into short iron and then take advantage of soft greens with scoring wedges. The 2026 field is unusually strong at the top of the rankings, with four of the world's top six tee-ing it up, but the layout's defence is real. The cut will be after 36 holes at even par or better, and only the deepest four-round performances will make the weekend meaningful.
The US Open — Pinehurst No. 2, June
Pinehurst in June is special. The sand-capped fairways, the sandy waste areas, the turtleback greens — every shot has the same question attached: where will this ball end up if it lands on the wrong half of the green? The USGA typically sets up the second major with wide fairways and punishing rough, but the 2026 setup at Pinehurst will lean on the course's natural character.
Players who thrive at Pinehurst are the ones with the best short-iron games, the most confident scramblers and the calmest nerves around greens where one inch of misread is a three-putt. Expect the winning score to be around level par — and expect the winner to have had a steady, birdie-light week punctuated by a single round in the 60s.
The Open Championship — Royal Troon, July
The Open returns to Royal Troon on Scotland's west coast — a links course that demands creativity, patience and the willingness to accept uneven lies. The opening six holes are birdie opportunities for the longest hitters; the closing stretch is a brutal examination of composure. The wind can swing twenty degrees over the course of a round, and the fairways and greens are firm enough to make every club selection feel consequential.
Links golf rewards the player who can play the ball along the ground. The best Open contenders in 2026 will be confident on the bump-and-run, comfortable hitting partial wedge shots, and prepared to commit to a creative line even if it means playing away from the flag. The wind will decide the week. The player who reads the wind best wins.
What Connects The Four
Despite the differences in terrain and climate, the four majors share a single test. They measure composure under sustained pressure, over four rounds, against the best golfers in the world. The single biggest predictor of major success in the last decade has not been driving distance, scoring average, or even strokes-gained metrics — it has been performance in the final group on Sunday afternoon.
The 2026 majors will continue that pattern. Watch the names on the back nine of the final round of each championship. The leaderboard rarely changes dramatically from the 12th tee onwards, but the players who finish highest in the world ranking at the end of July are exactly those who kept their composure in those final thirty-six holes.
Final Word
The 2026 major season promises a fascinating blend of course variety, calendar momentum and competitive depth. Expect storylines: a returning champion hunting history, a young player completing a major breakthrough, a veteran winning late on the back nine of one of the four championships. Sportuto will be covering all four events with leaderboards, analysis and live reaction.