GolfMagic’s 10 Boldest Predictions for the 2026 PGA Tour, LIV Golf and DP World Tour season

With the 2026 golf season just around the corner, it’s time to have a little fun. Professional golf is currently in one of its most unpredictable eras — and that makes predictions more exciting (and more dangerous) than ever.

Here are my 10 bold calls for what I think we’ll see across the Tours this year. When you’re done, sign up for a free GolfMagic account and share your thoughts in the comments at the bottom of this article.

GolfMagic’s 10 extremely bold predictions for the 2026 season Scottie Scheffler

Scottie Scheffler

1) Scottie Scheffler completes the career Grand Slam at the US Open (and bags two majors… again)

Yup, I’m backing the world’s best player to dominate yet another season – and this time, to join the most hallowed club in men’s golf.

I see Scheffler slipping on a third green jacket at Augusta in April, joining the likes of Faldo, Mickelson and Player. Then, on his 30th birthday no less, I’m calling a first US Open crown at a bruising, unforgiving Shinnecock Hills. That win would make him just the seventh man of the modern era to complete the career Grand Slam, alongside Sarazen, Hogan, Player, Nicklaus, Woods and McIlroy.

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He’s 4/1 for the US Open at the time of writing – hardly generous, but the bookies know what we all know: Scheffler’s game simply doesn’t dip. Two more majors would take him to six total, tying 12th all-time… and if you want my truly long-term spicy take? I think he finishes his career with 12 majors, behind only Jack and Tiger. I admit I’m early with that one, but everything about Scottie’s current trajectory screams “era-defining”.

Oh, I’m not done with Scottie yet…

Scottie Scheffler

2) Scheffler remains a runaway World No.1 by year’s end

No chasing pack, no drama, no debate. Scheffler ends 2026 still head and shoulders above the field.

Even with McIlroy back in full flow and Fleetwood hitting career-best form, Scheffler’s consistency is ridiculous. He won six times on the PGA Tour in 2025, seven in 2024, and now that he’s fully dialled in with the Spider Tour mallet, he’s a certified killer on the greens.

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OWGR points for LIV? Doesn’t matter. Scheffler is so far ahead – currently by seven and a half points over McIlroy – that even a strong run from Rory and Tommy won’t be enough. With a full off-season recharge with wife Meredith and son Bennett, Scottie will come out firing. Expect another six or seven PGA Tour wins in 2026 and total domination in every ranking that exists.

Book it now: he ends the year still firmly on the throne.

Tommy Fleetwood

3) Tommy Fleetwood finally becomes a major champion – at The Open, at Birkdale, at home

Yes. This is the year. Fleetwood lifts the Claret Jug at Royal Birkdale.

The popular Englishman enters the season with a chest full of confidence: a first PGA Tour win (and FedEx Cup title), a talismanic Ryder Cup performance, and victory at the DP World India Championship. He’s playing the best and most complete golf of his life.

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And Birkdale? It’s practically home turf. Fleetwood grew up a few miles down the road in Southport and has walked every inch of that ground since childhood. He knows how the wind bends, how the fairways roll, what lines look right and what bounces don’t. It’s the perfect stage for him to shed the “best without a major” tag once and for all.

At 22/1, he’s outstanding value. I think Merseyside erupts in July.

Rory McIlroy

4) Rory McIlroy takes the US PGA for a third time – and he’ll match Monty’s European Tour record

With three major winners already predicted, we’ve got one left – and I’m handing it to Rory at Aronimink.

It’s a ball-striker’s playground: long, demanding, fair, and punishing if you’re even slightly off. With McIlroy’s new TaylorMade Qi4D driver setting up the year beautifully, this course fits his game like a glove.

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Crucially, Rory’s finally freed of the mental baggage that weighed on him for a decade. He’s completed the career Grand Slam. He’s playing liberated golf.

Two-time PGA champion already, McIlroy bags a third in May and moves to six career majors. At 7/1, this could look generous by spring.

As for the Race to Dubai, yup, Rory’s winning that again for a fifth straight time and eighth overall to match Colin Montgomerie’s European Tour Order of Merit record. The R2D points still heavily favour the majors and we all know Rory is going to stash away the points in all four of those, a huge reason why he keeps winning it.

2026 will be no different, sorry Monty!

Credit: Sky Sports Golf/X

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5) Marco Penge wins a PGA Tour title in his rookie season

Get ready: Marco Penge is not just making up the numbers on the PGA Tour in 2026 – he’s winning.

Three DP World Tour victories in 2025. A genuine Race to Dubai threat all year. One of the best drivers of the ball on the planet. And that swing? It’s up there with Rory’s when he gets going – pure, rhythmic, explosive.

England’s Penge is 27, not a young prodigy, but he’s hitting a new gear. He nearly won a co-sanctioned event at the Scottish Open, so he already knows he can hang at PGA Tour level. I don’t know which event he wins, but he will take one. His ball-striking is simply too good not to.

He’s also one of the nicest guys on Tour, which makes this prediction even easier to cheer for.

LIV Golf duo Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton

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6) Jon Rahm completes a LIV hat-trick – and Legion XIII go back-to-back

Not the boldest claim, but still firmly in my 2026 vision: Rahm wins his third straight LIV Individual Championship.

Switching to 72 holes will generally favour the elite players, and Rahm is exactly that. He won the season-long title in 2025 despite never winning a tournament as a result of pure consistency. But I can see him picking up at least three or four LIV wins next season.

And Legion XIII? With Rahm, Hatton, McKibbin and Surratt, they take the team championship again. They’re just too strong across all four bags.

As for what happens with both Rahm and Hatton’s DP World Tour fines in 2026, sorry I’m not going there…

Boston Common Golf x VENU

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7) Boston Common Golf win Season 2 of TGL

McIlroy’s squad were underwhelming in TGL’s inaugural run, but 2026 brings a very different story.

A lineup of McIlroy, Scott, Bradley and Matsuyama is absurdly strong on paper – four major champions, four proven winners, four hardened competitors. Rory’s also playing with a free mind now, and that matters.

TGL might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but it’s not going anywhere. With massive funding, celebrities on board, its PGA Tour partnership and a fast-paced format designed for a new audience, it certainly has legs. And Boston Common, narrow favourites at 10/3, have the firepower to take the crown this time.

Patrick Cantlay

8) Patrick Cantlay finally wins again… and wins twice

A two-win season for Cantlay – yes, really.

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He hasn’t lifted a trophy since August 2022, a staggering drought for an eight-time PGA Tour winner and former FedEx Cup champ. But signs of life emerged late in the season as he pushed Fleetwood at the Tour Championship.

Cantlay still gets grief for slow play, but when his game is sharp, he’s one of the most complete ball-strikers in golf. Courses that reward precision over brute force – RBC Heritage springs to mind – are ripe for him. With a bit of confidence restored, I see him collecting not one but two trophies in 2026.

It’s time he reminded everyone that he’s actually still pretty good at this game.

9) Ángel Ayora wins twice on the DP World Tour

Spain’s next superstar is coming fast – and 2026 is his proper breakout.

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Ayora finished 2025 with five top-10s in his last six starts, all at just 21 years old. He narrowly missed out on earning a PGA Tour card, but he’ll get it next time. With the top 10 DP World Tour players via the rankings now moving across to the PGA Tour, the door opens wide for Ayora to boss the DPWT leaderboard.

The sweet-swinging Spaniard has got the game, the confidence, the consistency… he’s just missing the wins. I’m calling two victories next season, with the potential for far more in the years ahead.

Tiger Woods [Photo: Sun Day Red]

10) Tiger Woods continues to struggle

Here it is: the prediction you probably came for.

I don’t see Tiger contending anywhere in 2026.

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Not on the PGA Tour. Not on the PGA Tour Champions. He’ll be eligible for the over-50s circuit (and allowed to use a cart), but the standard is strong and Tiger simply hasn’t played enough competitive golf. His body has endured too much: ruptured Achilles surgery in March, seventh back surgery in October, and no tournament since missing the cut at The Open in 2024.

Could he win if he plays? Maybe. It’s Tiger Woods, after all. But realistically, he’s rusty, he’s hurting, and the fields are too deep.

The most fitting ending? I still think he retires at The Open in 2027 at St Andrews – the perfect full-circle goodbye, just like Jack in 2005. But predicting Tiger is dangerous territory. He’s proved the impossible too many times.

Those are my 10 bold calls for 2026 – now let’s hear yours

Agree? Disagree? Think I’ve absolutely nailed it or completely lost the plot?

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