[Photo: Stephen Denton]
Was it ever in doubt? When Adam Scott walks onto the first tee at Shinnecock Hills for the 2026 US Open, he will officially join one of golf’s most exclusive clubs.
Just a few weeks earlier, however, those in the know were nervously scanning the Official World Golf Ranking like forensic scientists, desperate to see the Queenslander’s name high enough up the list. The scenario was simple, if not ‘squeaky bum’ territory: if Scott could muster a late charge to be inside the world’s top 60 by the USGA’s cut-off date for automatic US Open qualification, he would do something only one other golfer has done in the history of the game.
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A tie for fourth in the PGA Tour’s Cadillac Championship at Doral put an end to those fears: Scott would rise to 49th in the world and comfortably qualify for the unthinkable – his 100th consecutive appearance in a major championship. ONE HUNDRED, IN A ROW!
In an era defined by relentless travel, injury setbacks and increasingly fierce competition, the achievement stands as one of the most remarkable demonstrations of longevity and consistency the game has seen.
“100 does sound like a lot,” Scott reflected with Australian Golf Digest in the lead-up to Shinnecock. “Thinking back to 2001 when this streak started feels like a long time ago… almost my entire career!”
Almost, indeed.
Scott’s streak began at the 2001 Open Championship, when a fresh-faced 20-year-old from Down Under arrived on golf’s biggest stage carrying the hopes of a country and the expectations that naturally accompany prodigious talent. Twenty-five years later, he remains there. Extraordinary, by anyone’s measure, even that of golf’s latest Grand Slam champion, Rory McIlroy.
“It’s absolutely incredible,” McIlroy says. “To even play 100 majors in your career is amazing but to play 100 in a row… I think about the level you have to be at [to achieve that] – no injuries, there are a lot of things that need to fall in line, no births of children that fall on those [major championship] dates… It’s incredibly impressive.”
A young Adam Scott tees off watched by (L-R) Thomas Bjorn, Tiger Woods and Mark O’Meara, during a practice round for the 130th Open Championship at Royal Lytham St Annes. (Photo by Rebecca Naden – PA Images/PA Images via Getty Images)
The list of players who have come and gone during Scott’s major run is staggering. Entire generations have risen, flourished and retired. Equipment has evolved. Courses have changed. Fitness standards have transformed. Yet Scott has remained a constant presence not just on tour but at golf’s four most important championships. That is perhaps what makes the number so difficult to comprehend. Winning majors requires brilliance. Playing 100 of them consecutively demands something else entirely.
“It is not something that you set out to achieve, but the level of consistency it takes to make 100 in a row does make me feel proud that I have been so disciplined and focused on my game for such a long period,” Scott said.
The achievement places him in rarefied air, even above the guy who has seemingly achieved it all, Tiger Woods. Only Jack Nicklaus, whose record streak of 146 consecutive majors remains the benchmark, has travelled further down this road. While Scott has never been one to dwell on milestones, the comparison alone speaks volumes.
Like all great feel-good stories, Scott’s journey has not been without its hurdles. In 2008, he broke a finger after jamming it in a car door shortly before the US Open at Torrey Pines. For many players, it would have been a reason to withdraw. Instead, Scott teed it up alongside Woods and Phil Mickelson in one of the most memorable groupings of that era and finished tied for 26th.
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His heartbreaking loss to Ernie Els at the 2012 Open, where he blew a four-shot lead over the closing four holes, could have crushed him for good. Instead, it lit a fire within that would see him don the green jacket the very next year and break a 77-year hoodoo for his country.
Scott became the first Australian to win the Masters, at the 2013 edition, ending a 77-year drought for our nation at Augusta. [Getty Images]
There were periods when exemptions became harder to secure, when form fluctuated or even when younger stars threatened to push the more established names aside. Yet somehow Scott always found a way, and polished it off with the effortless charm and movie-star looks that has made him one of golf’s most enduringly popular figures.
“I think the biggest factor in reaching 100 consecutive majors has been my ability to maintain focus for this period and never allow myself to slip too far,” he added. “Every era the players continue to get stronger. Today’s players are no different.”
We politely disagree with that last notion. Adam Scott is different. The numbers say so, and so does history.