The career Grand Slam is the ultimate individual achievement in golf, a feat so rare that only six players in the history of the sport have managed it: Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, and Rory McIlroy, who completed the set at the 2025 Masters.
With US Open golf odds beginning to reflect his status as one of the leading contenders for the 2026 renewal at Shinnecock Hills, Scottie Scheffler now stands one major away from joining that exclusive group, and the question being asked across the sport is whether this could be the year he does it.
What he has already achieved
Scheffler’s major haul is already the stuff of legend for a player still in his prime. His two Masters titles, claimed in 2022 and 2024, confirmed him as the dominant force in world golf. He added the PGA Championship and The Open Championship in 2025, a season of sustained excellence that placed him firmly in the conversation about the greatest players of his generation.
The US Open is the only major missing from a collection that would otherwise be complete, and the fact that he arrives at Shinnecock Hills as world number one with multiple major victories behind him makes him a different proposition from most players attempting the feat.
His US Open record
What makes Scheffler’s case at Shinnecock Hills particularly compelling is that his US Open record is one of the strongest of any player in the field. After missing the cut on his professional debut in 2019, he has not looked back: T7 in 2021, T2 in 2022, third in 2023, a rare off-day at T41 in 2024, and T7 again at Oakmont last year when J.J. Spaun claimed the title.
Five finishes in the top 10 from six starts as a professional, with a near-miss on the trophy itself in 2022. The one major that has eluded him is also the one he keeps threatening most consistently. That combination of near-misses and sustained excellence at the tournament is either the sign of a player overdue a breakthrough or one whose game simply suits the demands of the championship better than any other.
Either way, it makes him the most compelling story heading into Shinnecock Hills.
A slower start to 2026
It would be inaccurate to describe Scheffler’s 2026 season as poor. By the standards of most players on the PGA Tour, it has been excellent. But by his own standards, there has been a sense that he has not yet hit the devastating form that made him almost unbeatable at his peak. Most notably, an 18-consecutive top-10 finishing streak came to an end earlier in the season, a run that had seemed almost incomprehensible in its consistency.
The Masters provided encouragement. Scheffler came from 12 shots behind going into the weekend to finish one shot behind McIlroy, a performance of exceptional quality given the deficit he had to overcome. The following week at the RBC Heritage told a similar story: seven behind Fitzpatrick through 36 holes, he posted rounds of 64 and 67 to force a playoff before losing out.
Two consecutive runner-up finishes, both times coming from significant deficits, both times losing to a European opponent. The quality is clearly there. The results have just not quite gone his way.
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The case for Scheffler at Shinnecock
The US Open suits Scheffler’s game in several important ways. His precision off the tee, his ability to manage a round and avoid the kind of catastrophic errors that the USGA’s setup punishes most severely, and his mental composure under pressure are precisely the qualities the championship tends to reward. He has also demonstrated over the past two seasons that he can produce his best golf on the biggest occasions, which is not something every player in the field can claim.
The verdict
Bet on golf markets will reflect Scheffler as one of the leading contenders at Shinnecock Hills, and the logic behind that assessment is sound. He is the world’s best player, he needs the US Open to complete the Grand Slam, and he is showing signs of returning to his most dangerous form at exactly the right time.
History offers few guarantees, and the US Open has a long tradition of defying expectations. But if Scheffler can get into the final round with a chance, there are few players in the world you would rather back to close it out.
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