Each year, the top male golfers in the world get together to play the Masters, US Open, British Open Championship and the PGA Championship.
(Next year, the order is the Masters, PGA Championship, US Open and The Open.)
And at the end of 16 rounds of major championship golf, there are usually anywhere from a handful to a dozen players who have competed in every major round of the year. While it's an unofficial honor, having the lowest aggregate score in the four majors in one year is a great achievement. It means, first, that a player has made the cut in all four majors. Second, it means they either placed highly in several majors, or they won at least one major by so many strokes that three other mediocre performances in majors were good enough to earn the honor.
This year, 11 players completed all 16 majors rounds. Among those 11, Justin Rose had the lowest aggregate score by a shot over Rickie Fowler. For the major year, Justin Rose was 12-under total, taking 1,120 strokes to get through the 16 major rounds at the Masters (par 72, 288 total), US Open (par 70, 280 total), British Open Championship (par 71, 284 total) and PGA Championship (par 70, 280 total).
In each of the majors, Rose finished no worse than T-19. He was T-12 at the Masters (6-under 282), T-10 at the US Open (7-over 287), T-2 at The Open (6-under 278) and T-19 at the PGA Championship (7-under 273).
Brooks Koepka won two majors this year, and he would have easily won the lowest aggregate score in the 2018 majors had he actually played in the Masters. Koepka missed the first major of the year as he was recovering from surgery to repair a wrist tendon. He likely would have made the cut at Augusta National, where he has improved his finish each year he has played. He won the US Open at 1-over 281, finished T-39 at 2-over 286 and then won the PGA Championship at 16-under 264 for a total of 13 under for 12 major rounds.
Here's a look at the final standings among the 11 players to make the cut in every major in 2018.
2018 golf majors: Lowest aggregate scores
1. Justin Rose (-12)
2. Rickie Fowler (-11)
T-3. Tony Finau (-9)
T-3. Tommy Fleetwood (-9)
5. Francesco Molinari (-8)
6. Webb Simpson (-5)
7. Zach Johnson (+1)
8. Xander Schauffele (+4)
9. Tyrrell Hatton (+5)
10. Marc Leishman (+14)
11. Rafa Cabrera Bello (+15)
In 2019, we'll have four venues favorable to Tiger Woods. Of course, Augusta National will host the Masters again in 2019. The PGA Championship will be next in May, as it's played at Bethpage State Park's Black Course, where Tiger Woods won the 2002 US Open. The US Open will be held at Pebble Beach Golf Links, where Woods won by 15 shots in 2000. Then the 2019 major calendar ends in July with The Open returning to Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland for the first time since 1951.
