The Best Golfer Never To Win A Major...

Guest post from Mark Cockroft

With the 140th Open Championship starting this week, we thought we’d take a closer look at the golfers out there who despite their wins and wealth of talent, have been unable to land one of the four biggest prizes in the game.

Phil Mickelson carried with him the ‘best golfer never to win a Major’ tag until 2004, when he finally claimed The Masters title in his 47th Major Championship appearance. Then look what happened: 2005 – USPGA Champion, 2006 – Second Green Jacket, 2010 – Masters ‘hat-trick’. Who is next to break their long awaited drought? And can we expect the floodgates to open once they do?

Here are the main contenders

Colin Montgomerie

Perhaps the greatest of them all never to get his hands on that elusive first Major, Monty is a European Tour legend and his Eight Order of Merit wins may never be matched. So why did he never land one of the ‘Big Four?’ He finished runner-up at the US Open in 1994, 1997 and in 2006, lost a play-off to Steve Elkington at the USPGA Championship in 1995, and who can forget that ‘tussle with Tiger’ at The Open in 2005, where he lost out to arguably the best golfer of all-time.

Unfortunately for Monty, it looks as though his time has passed, and his near-miss at The Scottish Open this weekend means he is sitting out of The Open for the first time since 1989. It is going to take a Tom Watson moment (which he is no doubt capable of) for Monty to mount a serious challenge again, otherwise he may always be remembered as the Major’s ‘nearly man’ when our grandchildren look back through the archives.

Lee Westwood

Unlike Captain Monty, Lee is in the midst of a golfing re-birth, and surely it is only a matter of time before he ends his long wait for one of these things. His Major record in recent years in unrivalled, finishing in the top-three six times in the past three years. He led by one-shot heading into the final round of the 2010 Masters, but managed only a 1-under par 71 which was not enough to hold off some Mickelson magic. The 2009 Open will always be remembered as Tom Watson’s year (despite eventually losing to Stewart Cink), but Lee will remember it as perhaps his biggest missed opportunity. He led twice during the final round, but three bogeys in his final four holes cost him dearly, and his three-putt at the 18th to miss out on the play-off could haunt him forever, unless that is, he finally wins one.

Lee is now in the elite and playing some of the finest golf of his career as he tries ever so desperately to regain his World Number One spot back. You’d be a fool to think that final hurdle will never be cleared, and he is surely one of those that once he pops, he won’t stop.

Sergio Garcia

Since his emergence at the Masters in 1999, everyone has loved Sergio Garcia. That infectious smile, the gung-ho approach to the game, the unquestionable potential just waiting to burst out... Unfortunately, that’s all it has been with Sergio... potential. Most golfers could only dream of eight victories on the European Tour and seven over in America, but with Serge, it has never seemed enough. Now maybe we are asking too much, but he is just too good never to have won more, especially when it comes to the Major’s. In the modern era, his 16 top-10 finishes are the best of any player yet to win one, so the question remains, does he still have the game to challenge once again?

The 2007 Open was to be Sergio’s closest taste of victory, narrowly losing out in a play-off to Padraig Harrington. Prior to the play-off, Sergio should have wrapped up the tournament after it was handed to him on a plate. In scenes reminiscent of Jean van de Velde’s almighty collapse in 1999, Padraig put two balls into the stream on the 18th, finishing with a double-bogey six. All Garcia needed was a par to win, but his eight-footer did everything but drop and he lost the play-off by one.

Sergio’s well publicised slump in form is in transition, and his recent performance at the US Open (where he tied for 7th) is perhaps the start of his ‘Westwood’ period.  At the BMW International Open two weeks ago, Sergio was beaten in dramatic fashion by fellow Spaniard Pablo Larrazabal. A five-hole play-off was needed to decide the winner, with Larrazabel coming out on top, but the Sergio of old was back in contention, and if he is able to build on his recent form, then his best years may well be ahead of him.

One thing is for sure, golf has never had so many strong contenders heading into a Major Championship, and the trend of new winners has every chance of continuing. Rory McIlroy’s recent triumph at the US Open was the eight time in the last eleven Major’s that a new champion has been crowned. Are we going to have a ninth next week?