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Who are the best players never to win a major?

By: Golf Shake | Wed 17 Jun 2015


Post by Sports Writer, Derek Clements


IT IS the tag that nobody wants - best player never to win a major. The good news is that it means you have arrived as a world-class golfer; the bad news is that people will endlessly remind you that will never be truly regarded as one of the "greats" because you haven't yet won a major.

And the longer you go without winning one, the more the media will ask you about it. In the end, it can become an intolerable burden, a millstone around your neck. Come close and fail to finish the job more than once, and you will be labelled as a choker.

The truth, of course, is entirely different. It takes something special to contend in majors, and it takes something else to win them - not everybody possesses that extra ingredient, but that doesn't make them any lesser human beings. Here are a few who were and are cursed with the label...

Colin Montgomerie

Image Credit - @EuroSeniorTour Twitter

Being described as the best player never to win a major did not sit easily with Montgomerie. For more than a decade, he dominated the European Tour, winning the order of merit seven times on the trot and eight times in all. Try as he might (and he tried very hard indeed), the Scot couldn't get over the finishing line in the majors. He never came close in The Masters, chiefly because he was unable to draw the ball, but he should have won the US Open and the US PGA. He finished second to Tiger Woods in The Open at St Andrews, but was never really in contention to win. His biggest disaster came in the US Open at Winged Foot in 2006. He came to the last needing a par to win and a bogey to force a playoff. Monty split the fairway with his drive and then, inexplicably, fluffed his second with a seven iron. He also made a mess of his pitch and three-putted for a double-bogey. He never contended again, although he is becoming a serial winner of senior majors.

Henrik Stenson

If there is a mentally tougher golfer in the world than Stenson, it is difficult to know who it might be. This is a man who lost millions in Allen Stanford's massive Ponzi sting. He has also lost and rediscovered his game at least twice. Has never looked like winning The Masters, but he could easily be a three-time Open champion - he was third in 2008 and 2010 and finished second in 2013. In 2014 he was fourth in the US Open, and he finished third in the US PGA in 2013 and 2014. In 2013 he won both the Race to Dubai and the FedEx Cup, the first man ever to do both in the same season. There is still time for Stenson to land a major, but don't bet your life savings (or his) on him doing so.

Lee Westwood

Lee Westwood

Image credit - Tour Pro Golf Clubs/ www.tourprogolfclubs.com

Oh Lee! It could be argued that he was even more deserving of the "best player never to" tag than Montgomerie. Westwood had it all and, unlike Monty, he won PGA Tour events and was fit enough to be untroubled by the heat and humidity in which the US Open and US PGA are often played. He also came close in The Masters and should have won The Open on at least one occasion. There were never any disasters with Westwood, but he was unable to close the deal. He has won tournaments on every continent and is a former world number one. He finished second in The Masters in 2010 and was third two years later, he has been twice third in the US Open, second, third and fourth in The Open and third in the US PGA.

Luke Donald

Another former world number one who seemed destined to win a number of majors. He was a serial winner on both the PGA and European Tours until deciding to change his swing, and in 2015 suffered the ignominy of having to qualify for the US Open. In 2014 he was overlooked for Paul McGinley's European Ryder Cup team, and it has been all downhill ever since. As recently as 2011 he became the first man to top the money lists in Europe and the USA. In truth, the Englishman has never looked like winning a major. He seemed to have a game that was built for the US Open but has never finished better than eighth. He was third in The Masters in 2005 and fourth in 2011, fifth in The Open in 2009 and 2012 and third in the US PGA in 2006.

Sergio Garcia

Sergio Garcia

Garcia burst upon the scene at the 1999 US PGA championship when he stood on a green and stared back at the waiting Tiger Woods on the tee. It was like he was throwing down the gauntlet. He famously played a wondrous shot from the base of a tree and then ran down the fairway, skipping and jumping, to see where his ball had finished. He came up short that year, but he was only 19 and surely it was only a matter of time before he landed the first of many majors. He is still waiting. Padraig Harrington beat him in a playoff for The Open and then crushed him in the USPGA championship. Garcia recently told his home media that he wasn't good enough to win a major and would probably never do so. Sadly, we have to agree.

Matt Kuchar

Is there a more consistent money-making machine on the PGA Tour? Jim Furyk comes to mind, and the two have one thing in common - they both possess golf swings that are, erm, unconventional at best. However, Furyk has a US Open to his credit. Kuchar's major total? Nil. Zero. Nothing. Diddly squat. He has topped the money list, he has won the Players Championshipand he has won the Accenture World Matchplay. Between 2009 and 2012 he won more than $15m in prize money. He is also one of the most likeable men in golf, donating millions to charity. But his record in majors is awful. He finished third, eighth and fifth in The Masters between 2012 and 2014, but has only one top-10 finish in each of the other majors.

Steve Stricker

Twice a PGA Tour Comeback Player of the Year, Stricker eventually became known for his remarkable consistency. Now approaching 50, he still possesses a putting stroke that the likes of Adam Scott would pay many millions of dollars to own. His best, and perhaps only, real chance of winning a major came at the US PGA in 1998 in his first incarnation when he finished as runner-up. He probably thought that he would have many more chances and although he has enjoyed 12 top-10 finishes in the big ones, his next-best is fifth at the US Open, something he achieved in 1998 and 1999.

Ian Poulter

We include Poulter because we know he would include himself. Sure, he has a tremendous Ryder Cup record - or at least he did have until the Ryder Cup at Gleneagles, when he lost some of the magic, along with his air of invincibility. Poulter is not backwards when it comes to moving forwards about his ability, and he does manage to earn plenty of dollars and euros. And he has won two WGC events. He will point to his runner-up finish at The Open (2008) and his third-place finish in 2013, but on neither occasion did he have a prayer of winning. His best at The Masters is a tie for sixth, and two other top-10 finishes and he was third in the US PGA in 2012. But the less said about his US Open record, the better

We would love to know your thoughts, please feel free to comment below and let us know who would be on your list!


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Tags: sergio garcia Matt Kuchar Luke Donald lee westwood ian poulter Henrik Stenson Colin Montgomerie



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