Scottie Scheffler was winless on the PGA Tour in early February. Now he’s ranked No. 1 in the world as a four-time winner and Masters champion, with Scheffler earning a green jacket thanks to a three-shot victory in just his third ever start at Augusta National.

Scheffler, 25, essentially underwent a standard 10-year career arc in less than 60 days, enjoying a meteoric rise en route to his first major victory. The golf betting world expected big things from Scheffler long before he made his first Ryder Cup team in 2021 and landed his first win at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. But no one could have expected just how quickly the accomplishments would stack up in such a short time.

Any time a player wins their first major is special. Some younger players, like Scheffler, are simply talented enough to overcome the experience gap when they’re playing at their best. For others, it takes years to build the confidence and knowledge to reach their potential – Sergio Garcia made 74 major starts before winning his first at age 37 in the 2017 Masters.

While Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and a few others like Ernie Els, Rory McIlroy and Padraig Harrington dominated the major scene throughout the 2000s, newcomers and breakthrough wins have been far more common in recent years.

Players who previously held no major titles have accounted for 16 of the last 24 major championships dating back to 2016, as well as three of the last four. That includes the likes of Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Hideki Matsuyama, Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau, Collin Morikawa and Scheffler.

Despite the trend, the top nine players on the PGA Championship betting board are all past major champions. And with three more majors left to go in 2022, bettors would be wise to consider the golf odds of first-time winners and search for value on those most likely to pick off a breakthrough victory.

Next First-Time Major Winner In Golf

Odds are projected by Bookies.com and do not reflect odds that may be available on betting sites.

Xander Schauffele, +350

Schauffele missed the cut at the 2022 Masters, but he’s been a major menace for quite some time. Schauffele has nine top-10s in 19 major starts and is just beginning to enter his prime at age 28. With his talent level and the consistency to keep getting in the mix on the weekend, it seems like only a matter of time before Schauffele wins a big one.

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Cameron Smith, +450

Smith has now finished top-10 in four of his first six Masters starts, including three in a row. The problem is he hasn’t finished any better than T-20 in the other three majors since 2016. But with a Players Championship under his belt and experience in the final pairing Sunday at the Masters, Smith’s resume is tough to beat.

Viktor Hovland, +450

Hovland now technically owns the title of “Best Player in the World Without a Major” at No. 4 in the OWGR. The 24-year-old U.S. Amateur champ has five international wins over the past three years, but he has yet to log a top-10 finish in his first nine major starts.

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Patrick Cantlay, +650

The reigning Tour Championship winner and former No. 1 Amateur showed big major promise in 2019 with back-to-back top-10s at the Masters and PGA Championship. He ripped off four wins last season and is always a popular pick entering major week.

Will Zalatoris, +700

Zalatoris has a ridiculous four top-10s in his first six majors, including a solo second at the 2021 Masters. The 25-year-old is a ballstriking machine and has the type of game that figures to translate to any course in any conditions.

Tony Finau, +1200

It’s always stunning Finau doesn’t have more victories – major or otherwise – given how consistently he contends and plays well. The seeming disparity between talent and resume is wide, but he’s only 32 and has many good chances ahead of him.

Daniel Berger, +1600

Berger has a top-10 finish in three of four majors, including a T-6 and T-7 at the U.S. Open. He’s not the biggest name on the board on betting apps, but the game is there and we’d never be surprised to see him heat up and have a chance on the back nine at any given major.

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Sungjae Im, +2000

While golf fans have been well acquainted with Im for years, he’s still just 24 years old. The Korean native already has two Tour wins and a pair of top-10 finishes at the Masters. He will be a major player for years to come.

Joaquin Niemann, +2000

Niemann is another prolific young gun with two Tour wins to his name at age 23. He has yet to finish top-10 in 12 major starts, but it feels like only a matter of time before we see his name pop up with regularity on the weekend.

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Sam Burns, +2200

Burns has three wins over the last 11 months and seems poised to translate that to major success early in his fourth full season on Tour. We just haven’t had the chance to see it yet, with no results of note and four missed cuts/WDs in his first seven starts.

RELATED: Tiger Woods Complete Masters Betting History

Abraham Ancer, +2500

Ancer has shown flashes of sustained brilliance in recent years. The 31-year-old has just had a difficult time bottling it up, with one Tour win and just one top-10 finish (T-8, 2021 PGA Championship) in 12 major appearances.

Corey Conners, +2500

Conners is coming off his third straight top 10 at the Masters, and he’s now finished T-17 or better in four of the last five majors. He’s one of the purest ballstrikers on Tour and is starting to reach his potential at age 30, with a career-best finish at 22nd in the FedEx Cup Standings in 2021. He hasn’t won since the 2019 Valero Texas Open, but his iron play gives him a chance to add another on any given week – especially at the big four where precision is generally rewarded.

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Tommy Fleetwood, +2800

The 31-year-old Englishman has cooled off significantly since back-to-back top-5 finishes at the 2017-18 U.S. Opens, including a solo second in 2018. He was also solo second at the 2019 British Open but hasn’t threatened at any major since. While Fleetwood owns six international victories since 2011, he’s still winless on Tour.

Matthew Fitzpatrick, +3500

Fitzpatrick has an excellent irons game and solid resume with seven international victories. He just hasn’t figured out how to be a big-game hunter yet, with only one top-10 in 27 career major starts.

Paul Casey, +3500

Casey proved he still has what it takes at the majors with two top-10 finishes in 2021, including a T-4 at the PGA Championship and T-7 at the U.S. Open. He has 12 total throughout his career but has not been able to get over the hump. While he remains in good form at age 44, time is running out.

RELATED: Tiger Woods' Odds For the Remaining 3 Majors In 2022

Rickie Fowler, +4000

Fowler was long assumed to be the “next” first-time major winner, but it never happened despite runs including top-5 finishes in all four majors in 2014. The problem is Fowler is now deep in a slump and has failed to qualify on merit for three of the last five majors.

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Lee Westwood, +4000

While Westwood is coming up on Champions Tour eligibility at age 48, Phil Mickelson proved it's still possible by winning the 2021 PGA Championship at age 50. Westwood did win in Abu Dhabi in 2020 and made a serious push with a T-4 at the 2019 British Open.

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