The Different Dozen

Scottie Scheffler was the 12th straight first-time Open champion. How does that stack up to other major sports titles?

Scottie Scheffler did it again this weekend, basically lapping the field in Rory McIlroy’s backyard at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland. Scheffler’s fourth major victory puts him just a U.S. Open victory away from a career Grand Slam, something that only Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, and the aforementioned McIlroy have achieved in men’s golf. Beyond the incredible coincidence that the days (1,197) between Scheffler’s first and fourth career slam title came in exactly the same number of days as the same feat by Tiger Woods (h/t to the golf researcher who figured that one out), the other number that stuck out to me was that this was the 12^th straight Open Championship in which a first-time winner took possession of the Claret Jug.

That got me to thinking, how unique is that in major pro sports? So I decided to look at the four men’s golf majors, tennis Grand Slams for both men and women and the big four North American pro sports leagues to find out the longest stretches of unique first-time champions. What I found was pretty incredible (at least to me). The active streak of a dozen newbies in a row is still at least a driver away from the tournament with longest span between repeat winners. That distinction belongs to the PGA Championship which crowned 19 unique champions from 1952 through 1970. The hardest trophies for newcomers to consistently break through are the Stanley Cup and the Larry O’Brien Trophy.

Lord Stanley’s inclusion is unsurprising since there was a quarter century in which the league consisted of just six teams. The longest the NHL has had newcomers hoist the Cup was three straight years, with the Lightning, Hurricanes and Ducks.

The NBA is a league of dynasties and with the Celtics, Lakers, Bulls and Spurs and Warriors taking turns dominating over the years, we’ve seen no more than three straight years of fresh titlists.

(Please feel free to dig into other sports and share your findings in the comments)

• PGA Championship

  • 19

    • 1952-1970

      • Jim Turnesa, Walter Burkemo, Chick Harbert, Doug Ford, Jack Burke Jr., Lionel Hebert, Dow Finsterwald, Bob Rosburg, Jay Hebert, Jerry Barber, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, Bobby Nichols, Dave Marr, Al Geiberger,

        Don January, Julius Boros, Raymond Floyd, Dave Stockton

• Open Championship

  • 12

    • 2013-2025

      • Phil Mickelson, Rory McInroy, Zach Johnson, Henrik Stenson, Francesco Molinari, Shane Lowry, Collin Morikawa, Cameron Smith, Brian Harman, Xander Schauffele, Scottie Scheffler

• US Open Golf

  • 9

    • 2009-2017

      • Lucas Glover, Graeme McDowell, Rory McIlroy, Webb Simpson, Justin Rose, Martin Kaymer, Jordan Spieth, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka

• Wimbledon, Women (Open Era)

  • 8

    • 2017-2019, 2021-25

      • Garbiñe Muguruza, Angelique Kerber, Simona Halep, Ashleigh Barty, Elena Rybakina, Markéta Vondroušová, Barbora Krejčíková, Iga Swiatek

• French Open, Women (Open Era)

  • 6 2016-2020

    • Garbiñe Muguruza, Jeļena Ostapenko, Simona Halep, Ashleigh Barty, Iga Swiatek, Barbora Krejčíková,

• Super Bowl

  • 5

    • Super Bowl III to VII

      • New York Jets, Kansas City Chiefs, Baltimore Colts, Dallas Cowboys, Miami Dolphins

• Masters

  • 5

    • 1937-1941 Byron Nelson, Henry Picard, Ralph Guldahl, Jimmy Demaret, Craig Wood

    • 5 1955-1961 Cary Middlecoff, Jack Burke Jr., Doug Ford, Arnold Palmer, Art Wall Jr.

    • 5 1967-1971 Gay Brewer, Bob Goalby, George Archer, Billy Casper, Charles Coody

• Wimbledon, Men (Open Era)

  • 5

    • 1972-1976

      • Stan Smith, Jan Kodes, Jimmy Connors, Arthur Ashe, Bjorn Borg

• US Open, Women (Open Era)

  • 5

    • 2015-2019

      • Flavia Pennetta, Angelique Kerber, Sloane Stephens, Naomi Osaka, Bianca Andreescu

• French Open, Men (Open Era)

  • 5

    • 1995-1999

      • Tomas Muster, Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Gustavo Kuerten, Carlos Moya, Andre Agassi

• Australian Open, Women (Open Era)

  • 5

    • 1978-1982

      • Chris O’Neil, Barbara Jordan, Hana Mandlikova, Martina Navritilova, Chris Evert

• World Series

  • 4

    • 1903, 1905-1907

      • Boston Americans (Red Sox), New York Giants, Chicago White Sox, Chicago Cubs

• US Open, Men (Open Era)

  • 4

    • 1988-1991

      • Mats Wilander, Boris Becker, Pete Sampras, Stefan Edberg

• Australian Open, Men (Open Era)

  • 4

    • 1976-1978

      • Mark Edmonson, Roscoe Tanner, Vitas Gerulaitis, Guillermo Vilas

• NBA

  • 3

    • 1946-47 to 1948-49

      • Philadelphia Warriors, Baltimore Bullets*, Minneapolis Lakers

        * Disbanded in 1954

    • 1976-77 to 1978-79

      • Portland Trail Blazers, Washington Bullets, Seattle SuperSonics

• Stanley Cup (NHL Era only)

  • 3

    • 2004, 2006-2007

      • Lightning, Hurricanes, Ducks