The Greatest Golfers Without A Major Championship

Over the year’s there has been an unofficial list revolving around some of the best talent in golf. However, any golfer on this list doesn’t exactly want to be a member of the list. The “best golfer to never win a major” list will always be around and it recently has had quite a few different names get checked off.

In 2016, Dustin Johnson crossed his name off the list when he finally came through at the U.S. Open. A month later, Henrik Stenson removed his name with a victory at The Open Championship.

One name has been on the list a lot longer than Johnson and Stenson and it stayed on the list through the 2016 season. That name….Sergio Garcia.

Well, at the 2017 Masters Tournament, Sergio Garcia FINALLY took his name off the dreaded list.

Garcia was finally triumphant in a major with a playoff victory over Justin Rose to capture his first major championship in his 74th career major appearance.

The Spaniard was long a regular on the list but he took his name off with some clutch playing at Augusta National. So this begs the question, who is the best golfer that has yet to capture a major championship?

Lee Westwood

Westwood has appeared in 76 major championships and has three runner up finishes in those appearances. Much like Garcia, the question has always been there. Will Westwood ever break through? At 43, it looks like he may never break through. But who knows, it looked like Garcia was down and out numerous times at the Masters but he continued to fight back and eventually won. Maybe Westwood has one big fight in him soon.

Matt Kuchar

Kuch is a seven time winner on tour including a FedEx Cup playoffs victory in 2010, a victory at The PLAYERS in 2012, and a WGC- Match Play victory in 2013. He also won a bronze medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics with closing 8-under 63 in the final round. Kuch has proven himself in all of the big stages except for major championships. His highest finish in a major was a T3 at Augusta in 2012 and he has eight top-10 finishes in his career in majors. Time is ticking on the 38-year-old who is just missing a major championship trophy in his trophy case.

Rickie Fowler

Fowler is the only guy in history to finish in the top-5 in all four majors in one season and not win any of them. He has had high expectations since joining the PGA Tour and hasn’t fully lived up to the hype. He has shown up in the moment at times, the 2015 Players Championship his best example, but he hasn’t shown up in the major moment. In 29 major appearances he has six top-10 finishes and seven missed cuts. Twice at Augusta he has had himself in the conversation at the start of Sunday’s round and on both occasions he was an absolute no-show. The pressure could be on him now more than ever now that Sergio finally has his major.

Brandt Snedeker

The eight time winner on the PGA Tour has appeared in 38 major championships and has eight top-1o’s to show for it. However, he has never been able to capture a major championship. His closest call was in the 2008 Masters tournament when he finished T3. Snedeker started Sunday two strokes back of eventual champion, Trevor Immelman, but shot a final round 76, which dropped him into a tie for third place, four back of Immelman. The 36-year-old definitely has the ability to win a major, he just needs to show it for 72-holes to capture one.

Patrick Reed

Reed has shown that he is a legitimate contender on the PGA Tour. He once went as far as calling himself a top-5 player in the world. Due to that comment, he deserves a spot on the list. If you think you are one of the world’s best, win on one of golf’s biggest stages. He is an absolute horse in match play competitions like the Ryder Cup and President’s Cup, now it is time for him to prove he has it in major competitions.

Too early for the list:

The following guys are still young enough where they aren’t on the list yet, however, if they don’t win a major in the next couple of seasons, they will find themselves on the list.

Justin Thomas

Four time PGA Tour winner has made seven major appearances. T18 at the 2015 PGA Championship is his best showing.

Hideki Matsuyama

Could and should probably be on the list now, but I’ll give him the rest of 2017. 18 major appearances, five top-10 finishes.

Brooks Koepka

14 major appearances, four top-10’s. Koepka has the talent to do it, the question is when will he do it?

Jon Rahm

I hate to put him on this list because he is so young. However, the 22-year-old has already cracked the top-10 in the OWGR and has shown he can thrive in “the moment”. If he ever gets to the list, he won’t be on it for a long time.