2023 Major Golf Championship Prediction: Xander Schauffele takes first place as Jordan Spieth comes back
April will arrive before you know it, and with April will be the start of golf’s 2023 major championship season. Starting with Augusta National for the Masters, as usual, the majors will have a long way to go to determine next year’s best match.
While all eyes around Augusta will be on Tiger Woods and the return of Phil Mickelson, world No 1 Rory McIlroy will continue his quest for a career Grand Slam title. The major four-time champion still doesn’t have a green jacket in his wardrobe and will attempt to become the sixth man to collect all four majors. Scottie Scheffler will also be looking to defend his green jacket after spending most of 2022 ranking as the world’s top golfer.
After passing Augusta, Georgia, the focus will shift to Rochester, New York, for the PGA Championship. A year has passed since Justin Thomas’ memorable seven-stroke win at Southern Hills, the two-time PGA Championship champion will contest his third Wanamaker Trophy at Oak Hill Country Club. Meanwhile, good friend Jordan Spieth is looking for his first, which will help him complete the big shot of his career.
A new major tournament venue will be announced at the US Open in June. The Los Angeles Country Club will host its first major tournament and the first to take place in the Los Angeles area in three decades. Former champions Matt Fitzpatrick, Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau should expect a stern test from the relatively unfamiliar venue.
Then, as it has done since 2019, the Open Championship will welcome the big season. The 151st edition of the event will have big boots to fill as it follows Cameron Smith’s win at the Old Course in St. Andrews. Royal Liverpool Golf Club in Hoylake will host the Open for the first time since McIlroy’s win in 2014 and wrap up what should have been another great major.
Odds via Caesars Sportsbook
big championship prediction 2023
Masters | Augusta Country | April 6-9
Jon Rahm (12-1): If I had to bet on a player winning a major title in the next 10 years, it would be Jordan Spieth at the Open Championship and Jon Rahm at masters both will be at the top of the list. Rahm was already a beast at Augusta National. Among golfers who have played at least 24 rounds at the Masters in the stroke era, the top four in that category are as follows: Spieth (2.75 per round), Rahm (2.56), Tiger Woods (2.54), Phil Mickelson (2.25). That’s nine green jacket combinations, and Rahm will eventually add to that total. –Kyle Porter
Xander Schauffele (18-1): Despite how successful Schauffele has been in 2022, he’s still disappointing in majors. I expect this to change dramatically in 2023 and it all starts at Augusta National. His miss at the 2022 Masters was an anomaly as he owns previous records of T3 in 2021 and T2 in 2019. With one of the higher major championship tiers, it’s very likely hand The 29-year-old will be in the final round and will hopefully be the one to put on the green jacket. — Patrick McDonald
PGA Championship | Oak Hill Country Club | May 8-11
Will Zalatoris (January 25): Do I feel good about my back injury? I do not. Would I be pleased to have someone three strokes away to win half of the major in 2022 25-1 for the second major of 2023? I do. Zalatoris has always been annoyed at the major championships, and he is possibly the best dribbling striker in the world. He finished in 8th place in 6 of his first 10 main games (which is amazing), and in the past 12 months, no one has had a better number than 1.88 batting. his. Two pretty elite batting forwards beat it last time with a PGA at Oak Hill, and I imagine Zalatoris will follow in their footsteps this time. –Kyle Porter
Collin Morikawa (January 20): The last time the PGA Championship was at Oak Hill Country Club, Jason Dufner beat Jim Furyk by two strokes, and to me, those two players scream about sharp play and precise steering. While the course will stretch considerably since then, those two stats will remain commonplace. In the past 12 months, only one player who made the top 10 on both shots has achieved approach and steering accuracy. That’s right, two-time major champion Morikawa. — Patrick McDonald
US Open | Los Angeles Country Club | June 15-18
Xander Schauffele (18-1): Schauffele’s US Open career was brilliant. He has six starts and his worst is T14 in 2022 at Brookline. His the worst Finish. In every other US Open he has played, Schauffele has won at least 2.7 strokes and all of his other 5 matches have been top players. The bottom line with Schauffele at the US Opens is that he argues. He’s in the mix. He always takes the lead at the end of the event. At 18-1, that’s all you ask. I believe Schauffele will win many major titles by the end of his career and the US Open will be one of them. –Kyle Porter
Patrick Cantlay (January 25): There are many names I like for this championship including Morikawa and Tony Finau, but I will choose Cantlay. The California kid doesn’t have the best record at the major championships but may have found something in late 2022 with a T14 at the US Open and a T8 at The Open. His back still causes problems for him as the weather turns bad, but the summer in Los Angeles will pave the way for the world No. 4’s first major championship title. — Patrick McDonald
Open | Royal Liverpool Golf Club | July 20-23
Jordan Spieth (January 16): At this point, it’s an automatic choice for me every year. He’s only had one finish outside the top 10 in his last five starts and that was T20 at Royal Portrush when his match was held alongside nothing more than hot glue and hope. There seems to be an unseen quality when it comes to Spieth and the Open Championship, which all the world’s hit data cannot quantify. I know that sounds like an excuse or reason for me to include Spieth in these picks, and it probably is, but link golf and Open golf are more spiritual, more magical. any other version of the sport — and no one better fits those whims than Spieth. –Kyle Porter
Cameron Young (50-1): If Young goes through a sophomore season like his freshman campaign, that number will be gone by July. Second place ahead of Cameron Smith at the 150th Open in St. Andrews, Young proved capable of competing with the best players in the world in all conditions. He’s been on the field for a long time and has all the tools in the barn. With the success of his first associate golf experience, he should be competing again. — Patrick McDonald
