Five months ago, Justin Rose, then the No. 1-ranked golfer in the world, decided to do something he had never done before. At a time of year when most players are ramping up their playing schedules, Rose took a full month off, from early February to early March.

It was a novel approach to a new conundrum: How to master a new major championship schedule that suddenly this year put those four career-defining events in rapid succession?

“The whole idea behind that was to be fresh enough for the majors,” Rose said. It mostly backfired. Rose missed the cut at the Masters and seriously contended at only one major, the U.S. Open, where he finished tied for third.

The end of the British Open last weekend marks an earlier-than-usual conclusion to golf’s major championship season, which saw the PGA Championship move from August to May. But for most players, the new twist on an old puzzle—how to peak for the majors—remains a source of guesswork and uncertainty.

“I really do think it’s going to take everybody two to three years to find their groove,” said Justin Thomas, the 2017 PGA champion. “Before this year I would say you could probably get 40 or 50 guys in a room and they could tell you their schedule before the season even started.”