NEWS

Who is the best golfer to have never won a major now?

By Daniel Wilco
Published on
Who is the best golfer to have never won a major now?

Phil Mickelson, Justin Rose, Dustin Johnson, Henrik Stenson, and Sergio Garcia. Those five names were some of the biggest in recent history to top the most bittersweet list in all of golf: the best players to have never won a major. Until, at long last, they did.

RELATED: Sergio Garcia's path to a major title followed a long and winding road

Sergio held the mantle most recently. He played 73 majors without a win before sweet relief came in the form of a green jacket in Augusta, when the Spaniard topped Rose in a playoff for the 2017 Masters crown.

So now, the title must live on. But who will replace Sergio?

We gathered a handful of golfers who could be next in line for the throne — golfers without a major win who were either in the top of the Official World Golf Ranking, had played in more than their fair share of majors, or had a high ratio of top 10 finishes in PGA Tour events.

Then we looked at a handful of statistics:

  • Majors played
  • Rounds played in a major
  • Top 10 and top 5 finishes in a major
  • PGA Tour victories
  • Top 10 PGA Tour finishes
  • Career earnings

There are insights to be taken from the numbers. For example, Lee Westwood has the most top 10 finishes in a major without a win by far with 18. What’s more, 11 of those 18 finishes were in the top 5. Westwood has also played the most majors without a win, his 76 topping even Sergio’s 73.

Steve Stricker also stands out for a number of reasons. Stricker has earned the most of any player on the list with $42,625,659 in his career. He's also the only player other than Westwood with more than 60 majors played. Stricker does have Westwood beat in one category — percentage of cuts made in majors played. Stricker made the cut in 54 of his 68 major appearances (79.4 percent), while Westwood only managed to break through to the weekend in 58 of his 76 (76.3 percent).

To make up your mind on who takes over the terribly wonderful title, check out the interactive table below: