It would be true to say that South Carolina is one of the key states in the U.S. when it comes to professional golf.
Not only has SC produced a number of big tournament winners over the years, but it also hosts a number of PGA and LPGA TOUR events.
There will be players born and bred in South Carolina with aspirations of winning majors in 2024, so who are the individuals from the Palmetto State with the best chance of winning golf’s biggest prizes?
Dustin Johnson
It might be fair to say that Dustin Johnson has taken his eye off the boil since joining LIV Golf.
He has won 24 times on the PGA TOUR, including two majors, but since heading over to the rebel circuit he’s triumphed just three times.
Even so, DJ remains a major contender – in every sense of the word, and his PGA odds of +6600 suggest he still has a chance of succeeding at a Valhalla Golf layout that should suit his length off the tee.
Those who bet on golf may also be inclined to back Johnson in the U.S. Open. That tournament gave the 39-year-old his first major win back in 2016, where he outlasted the field in tough conditions at the Oakmont Country Club in Pennsylvania.
The 2024 U.S. Open will take place at the Pinehurst Resort just over the border in North Carolina, so DJ will be hoping that he’s playing all the right notes there come June.
Russell Henley
The emotional connection between Russell Henley and Charleston cannot be doubted: his wife, Teil Duncan, is a renowned producer of fine art working out of the city.
As for Henley himself, he’s recorded top-20 finishes in all four of golf’s majors – confirming his status as a fine all-round player who can compete anywhere.
The 35-year-old has won four times on the PGA TOUR, and it’s notable that each of those has come in conditions that can best be described as windy on the coasts of Florida, Hawaii, and Mexico, and in the breeze of Houston, Texas.
That’s why Henley is such a reliable performer when the going is tough – hence his major pedigree, and the U.S. Open and British Open in particular are the two majors where his skillset is able to achieve its maximum reward.
Lucas Glover
The PGA TOUR utilizes a number of different stats and metrics to rank its players.
Driving Accuracy (DA) measures the percentage of fairways found off the tee; Strokes Gained: Approach ranks those who hit the most accurate shots into the green; while Strokes Gained: Around-the-Green reveals how reliable the players are when chipping from just off the putting surface.
Lucas Glover ranks sixth, sixth, and eleventh respectively for those three metrics in 2024, which confirms that he is one of the most talented ball-strikers on the PGA TOUR.
But the issue for the Greenville-born, Clemson-educated 44-year-old is that he ranks 175th for Strokes Gained: Putting – revealing his struggles at taking advantage of the chances he creates.
Even so, Glover has won six times on the PGA TOUR – including twice in 2023, and the U.S. Open back in 2009.
Into the autumn of his career, Glover is still very much capable of mixing it with the elite at courses where accuracy is of paramount importance, so it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him have one more run at a major left in him.
So who will be South Carolina's next major champion?
