We’re just over a week away from the first shot of the 2024 season and the excitement is building in the From the Locker Room team.

We’ve got our sunscreen packed, our in-flight playlist ready, and we are excited to take to the course in Cascais, Portugal. However, in all the excitement of the EuroDov Cup there is also a lot of chatter about the stories of 2024.

So, the Team has sat down and collated the big stories of the 2024 season, and how we think they’ll pan out, so let’s get started.

Story #1 – McColgan completes the grand slam
Probability – 11%

This feels like Groundhog Day for McColgan who has been chasing the Grand Slam since The Invitational was introduced in 2022. McColgan has 10 Majors to his name (4 – Montgomery Cups, 3 – James Braid Quaich’s, 3 – EuroDov Cups) but finds himself yearning for the The Invitational as the only Major needed to complete the collection.

He has never been far off from winning it – 2 shots in 2022 and 4 in 2023 – but equally he’s never really been in the hunt.

As the Tour has expanded his ability to notch up the wins has decreased, and I am sure he’d swap it all in 2024 just to get his hands on the Invitational.

Story #2 – Another Grand slam winner
Probability – Varied in brackets

Kevin Brannan (5%) and Andy Love (9%) are the closest to winning the Grand Slam after McColgan. Both of them hold a pair of Majors, The Invitational and the EuroDov Cup (Brannan) and the Montgomery Cup (Love).

Love’s path to the Grand Slam is easier the EuroDov Cup a limited field, but the Order of Merit still looms large on the horizon as the ultimate test of form over a year. It should be noted however Love did manage a runner-up place in the OoM in 2023, and if he can go one better in 2024 he could just pip McColgan to the Grand Slam.

Brannan’s final two pieces are arguably the hardest to win. The 16 man field of the OoM and the 24 man field of the Montgomery Cup present significant challenges when chasing the Grand Slam. Brannan has the game though and with 2 Majors in his trophy cabinet already we know he’s got what it takes.

Story #3 – First time winner on the Order of Merit
Probability – 60%

After 3 years of the Order of Merit there have been 11 different winners of events. Of the 2024 field only 6 players remain who have not won a single event.

They are Ally Greenshields, Joel Morrison, Graeme Connor, Stuart Sutherland, Stuart Harwood and Jim Robertson. In 2023 the first three players in this list found themselves in the hunt a number of times including Greenshields finishing 2nd in the St Andrews Open at the start of the season and losing on a countback in the Tour Championships to close the season.

Graeme Connor also finishes runner-up in the EuroDov Cup and the Montgomery Cup marking himself out as a possible winner.

The truth is the likelihood of anyone of these players claiming their first victory is high, they are steady players who have avoided relegation to Q-School with Greenshields, Morrison and Connor all finishing in the top-10 at the end of the season.

This is the story most likely to happen in 2024 for sure.

Story #4 – Second time winner on the Order of Merit
Probability – 38%

Whilst 62% of the Order of Merit field have previously won an event only 25% have won multiple events and only 18% have won multiple events in the same year.

With that in mind we’re looking at Alan Duncan, Stevie Orr, Andy Love, Barry Cunningham, Denis Duncan and Kevin Brannan – who have all won an event in the past 3 years – as the most likely to join the multiple event winners list.

There is plenty of talent here and it isn’t outside the realms of possibility the one of the pops up and wins in 2024. In 2023 there were 6 winners across the 7 events, so we know the field is evenly matched and this might be a story we are writing very early on in the season.

Story #5 – Multiple event winner on the Order of Merit in 2024
Probability – 2%

This is a low probability story line; however, it has been achieved in ever season of the Order of Merit since 2021.

McColgan won three events in 2021 and went on to win four events in 2022 along side Paul Gowens who won 2 and in 2023 Richard Mair recorded 2 wins as well.

We know there is enough talent in the field to record multiple wins but with the OoM becoming an increasingly difficulty place to get one win, two wins is a truly remarkable achievement.

Story #6 – First time Major winner
Probability – 69%

Since the Tour was founded in 2013 only 8 players have ever entered the pantheon of Major winners. In 2024 they represent only 14% of the entire field, a truly unique set of players.

However, in 2023 we saw two players join the ranks, Kevin Brannan (EuroDov Cup & The Invitational) and Callum McNeill (The Montgomery Cup).

Players have 4 chances to win a Major, The EuroDov Cup (March), The Invitational (May), The Order of Merit (August) and the Montgomery Cup (September).

Of the field who haven’t won Majors Graeme Connor stands above all others with 3 runner-up places. There is also a strong belief that Stuart Allan – whose biggest win so far was the Tour Championship in 2023 – is definitely in line to win one, but as we’ve seen since 2013, it’s not easy and there are plenty people vying to join that group of Major winners.

Story #7 – Multiple Major winner
Probability – Varied in brackets

We have 4 players who already hold a Major, Cunningham (4%), McNeill (6%), Kinnear (4%) and Baxter (4%).
They are all playing differing schedules in 2024 and as such the possibility of them joining the ranks of multiple Major winners varies slightly.

However, if we look at those in this bracket McColgan (10 Majors), Love (2) and Brannan (2) they represent the top 3% of all players on Tour in 2024. The ambition to join this group might be great but the truth is it is not a group easily joined.

Those are the main stories the From the Locker Room Team have delved into for 2024, and I am sure there are many more.

Join us throughout the season to see if any of them come to fruition and we’ll be sure to bring new and old stories as they emerge.

Until the season, happy golfing and see you all soon.