3 Europeans Favorite To Become Next Men's First-Time Major Winner

Xander Schauffele's PGA Championship win at Valhalla secured the American a long-overdue victory on tour and ensured he was no longer in the conversation of 'best player yet to win a Major.'

The 30-year-old moved up to World No.2 following a tense one-stroke victory over LIV Golf's Bryson DeChambeau - who himself has a solitary Major to his name following the 2020 US Open at Winged Foot.

But ahead of the 2024 US Open, there are several of the pair's rivals who have tasted success at the highest level without claiming one of the four blue-chip tournaments by which success among legends of the game is measured.

Gambling.com Golf Expert Warren Barner has assessed several of the leading players in the queue for maiden major success and calculated the odds on who will be the next to do it for the first time.

At the top of the list is the man who came very close to pipping Schauffele and DeChambeau at Valhalla - Viktor Hovland. The Norwegian unequivocally put comments about potentially pulling out of the PGA Championship due to poor form behind him with a superb week in Louisville - going on to pick up third place after running out of steam on the 72nd hole.

Nevertheless, the reigning FedEx Cup champion appears to have performed a dramatic u-turn in form and is the market favorite at just +200 (2/1).

Narrowly behind him at +250 (5/2) is a fellow Team Europe golfer who has only ever seemed to be in form since bursting onto the scene midway through 2023 - Ludvig Aberg.

The 24-year-old turned pro last June before going on to win the European Masters on the DP World Tour a matter of weeks later. He then paired with Hovland in a historic hammering during one Ryder Cup match and lifted his first PGA Tour title at the RSM Classic at the end of the season.

Valhalla did not see the best of the Swede after he missed the cut, but Aberg managed a runner-up finish at The Masters in April and was right in the mix until a late mental error cost him a genuine chance at challenging Scottie Scheffler.

Tommy Fleetwood was recently labelled as the '$20 million loser' after he became the first player in PGA Tour history to surpass the financial earnings mark without winning a contributing event.

Yet, bookies have him as the third favorite to break his Major duck at +400 (4/1). Part of that rationale pertains to his strong record at US Opens. In his past seven starts, Fleetwood as three top-five results. He has also enjoyed a strong 2024 so far, with a win on the DP World Tour in Dubai and three top-10s on the PGA Tour - the latter of which was at The Masters.

Away from European picks, Patrick Cantlay is the most-fancied American pick to win a first Major next at +500 (5/1). Curiously, despite populating the world's top-10 for several years, he has not stood in the winner's circle since claiming a second BMW Championship title in August 2022.

And completing the top five is another American - Max Homa. The 33-year-old Californian was rarely among the top placings at Major championships before 2023 when he ended 10th at The Open.

Since then, he was T3 at The Masters and very much in the conversation on Sunday before fading. He then followed that up with a T35 result at the PGA Championship. But Homa's form is certainly trending in the right direction and - as a result - he is +600 (6/1) to win his first Major next.