JASON Day didn’t win a major in 2016, but his combined form in the four majors – the U.S. Masters, U.S. Open, Open Championship and U.S. PGA Championship – resulted in him finishing atop the leaderboard.
After 16 major rounds, the 28-year-old’s 1123 total – nine-under par – saw him finish 12 shots ahead of his nearest rival Jordan Spieth (1135).
Argentina’s Emiliano Grillo finished third on 1142 – three ahead of American Kevin Na.
Adam Scott was the only other Australian to make the cut in all of the majors.
Just 14 players made the cut in all four major championships.
U.S. Open winner Dustin Johnson had a commanding 11-shot lead over Jason Day going in to the U.S. PGA Championship, but the tall American missed the cut.
Sergio Garcia, Matt Kuchar and Charley Hoffman, too, missed the cut at the PGA Championship to drop off the leaderboard.
To recap on the major season, Day tied for 10th at the Masters, tied eighth at the U.S. Open, tied 22 at the Open Championship and was runner-up at the PGA Championship.
For his effort in the four majors, the world number one, banked US$1,626,919.
Englishman Danny Willett, the Masters champion, was the only major winner in 2016 to play all four days in the four majors.
As mentioned, Dustin Johnson (U.S. Open) missed the cut at the PGA Championship, Henrik Stenson (Open champion) put himself out of contention when he withdrew from the U.S. Open and wire-to-wire U.S. PGA champion Jimmy Walker missed the U.S. Open and Open Championship cut.
The 37-year-old certainly bounced back in the fourth major of the year.
Fifty-seven players made the cut at the Masters to progress to the “second stage” – the U.S. Open.
That number reduced to 33 when 24 players missed the cut at the U.S. Open and to 18 after the Open Championship.
Rory McIlroy didn’t qualify after missing the cut at the U.S. Open.
Of the rest of the Australians, only Marc Leishman qualified for the four majors but he missed the cut at the Masters, which put him out of contention.
Queensland’s Cameron Smith made the cut in the U.S. Masters, U.S. Open and Open Championship, but did not get the chance to play in the PGA Championship.
John Senden qualified for the PGA Championship only; Geoff Ogilvy played in the U.S. Open only, where he missed the cut; Scott Hend and Matt Jones played the Open and PGA and made cut in both; Marcus Fraser played the Open (missed cut) and PGA (made cut) and Steven Bowditch missed cut in first three majors of year and did not play in the PGA Championship.
When it came to the money list, a breakdown of the players who made the cut in all four majors shows that Masters champion Danny Willett banked US$1,885,173 –US$258,254 more than Day – courtesy of winning the Masters, T37 at U.S. Open, T53 at the Open and T79 at the PGA.
The only other player to crack the million-dollar mark was Lee Westwood (T2 Masters, T32 U.S. Open, T22 Open and 85th PGA) with US$1,025,310.
THE MAJORS SCOREBOARD 2016
Total Name Four major scores To par Money (US$)
Jason Day 289-282-285-267 1123 -9 1,626,919
Jordan Spieth 286-289-286-274 1135 +3 1,150,058
Emiliano Grillo 292-293-283-274 1142 +10 465,619
Kevin Na 303-281-285-276 1145 +13 481,498
Lee Westwood 286-288-285-287 1146 +14 1,025,310
Rafa Cabrera-Bello 292-288-288-279 1147 +15 268,288
Danny Willett 283-289-291-285 1148 +16 1,885,173
Bill Hass 294-292-282-280 1148 +16 317,421
Martin Kaymer 300-289-287-272 1148 +16 409,498
Adam Scott 299-286-289-275 1149 +17 310,299
Bubba Watson 297-292-288-281 1158 +26 135,035
Justin Thomas 298-288-291-282 1159 +27 147,800
Harris English 299-289-290-281 1159 +27 128,397
Kevin Kisner 297-291-298-275 1161 +29 220,481
Chief writer David Newbery has been living, breathing and writing and editing golf for more than 30 years. His extensive knowledge of the game comes from covering golf around the world. Hired by Inside Golf in 2009, David previously worked as the editor of The Golfer for 25 years and before that worked for numerous daily newspapers in Australia and overseas. The Brisbane-based journalist describes his golf game as “a work in progress”, but has had the privilege of playing golf with some of the game’s best players including nine-time major winner Gary Player. David enjoys travelling, reading, music, photography and spending time with family and friends – on and off the golf course. 
