The Open 2022: Major stats ahead of this week's championship

The average, as well as median, age for major championship winners is 32, according to the Professional Golfers' Association of America. And this covers 160 years of major tournament golf.

While great players such as Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods won bucket-loads of majors in their 20s, this early success has generally been offset by those whose one or two titles were achieved after the age of 30.

Nicklaus won seven before entering decade number four, while Woods captured 10. Meanwhile Padraig Harrington, a winner of three major titles, had to wait until a few weeks before his 36th birthday to secure the first of his trio of triumphs.

Currently, we are experiencing a trend where the number of players winning a major title before the age of 30 has increased significantly.

The latest member of this elite group is Matt Fitzpatrick who, at 27, clinched a one-stroke victory at the US Open last month.

Since the start of the current decade, eight of the 10 majors have been won by golfers yet to celebrate their 30th birthdays - including each of the last five.

This is how it looks:

Major Champions Since January 1st, 2020

Yrs-Mths
23-6: Collin Morikawa (PGA `20)
27-0: Bryson DeChambeau (USO `20)
36-4: Dustin Johnson (Mas `20)
29-1: Hideki Matsuyama (Mas `21)
50-11: Phil Mickelson (PGA `21)
26-7: Jon Rahm (USO `21)
24-5: Collin Morikawa (BO `21)
25-9: Scottie Scheffler (Mas `22)
29-1: Justin Thomas(PGA `22)
27-9: Matt Fitzpatrick (USO `22)

And to extend back even further this is taking hold - for the time being at least - because 22 (66.67%) of the 33 major winners since June 1st, 2014, were still in their 20s.

Remarkably, as many as 11 of the top-13 players in the World Ranking (as of 11/7/22) are under the age of 30.

The two exceptions are Rory McIlroy (33 years, two months) and Patick Cantlay who turned 30 earlier this year.

Latest betting for this week's Open Championship

Major Stroke Averages

Lowest 15 In Major Championships (Since January 1st, 2020)
Average .... (Rounds)
70.03: Scottie Scheffler (34)
70.34: Collin Morikawa (38)
70.40: Jon Rahm (40)
70.52: Will Zalatoris (27)
70.56: Dustin Johnson (34)
70.58: Xander Schauffele (36)
70.61: Paul Casey (28)
70.63: Rory McIlroy (38)
70.71: Louis Oosthuizen (35)
70.87: Justin Thomas (38)
70.94: Hideki Matsuyama (36)
70.95: Dylan Frittelli (20)
71.00: Brooks Koepka (32)
71.14: Cameron Smith (36)
71.17: Tony Finau (36)
Min. No. of Rounds = 16
Only those entered this week are included in table

Major Consistency Chart

Most Times Within Eight Shots of Winner In Majors (Since July-1st-2017)
10: Brooks Koepka
10: Jon Rahm
10: Jordan Spieth
9: Tony Finau
9: Dustin Johnson
9: Rory McIlroy
9: Xander Schauffele
8: Patrick Reed
7: Louis Oosthuizen
7: Justin Rose
6: Patrick Cantlay
6: Collin Morikawa
6: Scottie Scheffler
6: Webb Simpson
6: Justin Thomas
Only those entered this week are included in table

Latest betting for a top-10 finish at St Andrews

Twitter: Golf Stats Alive

Key: B (The Open), U (US Open), P (PGA Championship), M (The Masters)