The phrase ‘best player without a Major’ has been synonymous with Spain’s Sergio Garcia for almost 20 years. Now that he has shrugged that off, who takes his place?
Garcia’s record at Majors, prior to The Masters, spoke for itself. In 73 appearances, he had four second place finishes, 12 top-fives and 22 finishes inside the top 10. The 1999 PGA Championship, The Open in 2006 and again in 2007, are just a few of the opportunities that either passed him by, or were taken from him by a rampant Tiger Woods.
That all changed on Sunday, in one of the most memorable Sunday finishes at Augusta in living memory. He is no longer the bridesmaid, his talent has been validated by the green jacket.
Who now takes his place as his successor?
The criteria should be based on age (only players over 30 should realistically be forced into this equation), Major appearances (only those with 10 or more appearances), career money earnings and events won.
The candidates:
Paul Casey
The Englishman, who has gone from 45 in the world (March 2015) to 15th, continued his revival with a third successive top 10 finish at The Masters. He has 14 titles worldwide, and believes his game is close to adding a Major to that list. ‘I desperately want to win a major, and I feel the game is there or thereabouts,’ he said after The Masters.
Lee Westwood
Add 13 top 5 finishes in the last 10 years to his record of 25 wins on the PGA and European Tour, and you can see why Westwood easily makes the list of candidates. At 43, time is running out for Westwood as he looks to go one better than second place finish at The Open (2010) and The Masters (2010 and 2016).
Matt Kuchar
Kuchar almost got himself involved in the mix at The Masters after his ace at 16. Ranked inside the top 20, Kuchar has earned close to $40-million in career earnings, without winning one of the four elite events. At 38, he still has time on his side, but one feels that Augusta represents his best chance of adding a Major winner to his name. He has four of his eight top 10 finishes at the year’s first Major, including this year.
Brandt Snedeker
The 2012 FedExCup winner definitely fits the bill as a good player without a Major. Inside the top 30 in the world, over $40-million in career earnings and at 36, he has plenty of time on his side. A worrying number is that he has only two finishes inside the top five in Majors since he starting competing in them back in 2004.
Steve Stricker
The 50-year-old American is probably the least likely on this list to add a Major to his CV before moving on to the Champions Tour full-time. He has already limited his schedule, but with the most career earnings (over $42-million) of all players on the list, Stricker remains one of the best active players without a Major. ‘I’m going to take it week by week. I still feel like I should be out here (on the PGA Tour) but it’s hard to pass up some of those Champions tour majors, too. I haven’t won a major. It would be fun to win one, even though it doesn’t compare to these out here,’ Stricker said after his top 20 finish at Augusta.
Ian Poulter
Better known for his Ryder Cup heroics than contending down the stretch at the Majors, Poulter has 12 worldwide wins, making him a must to consider for the tag. Injuries have played their part in his plummet down the rankings. He has now been outside the top 200 in recent years, but if he rekindles the kind of form that made him so lethal during the biennial competition between Europe and the USA, then surely a Major could be lucky win number 13?
Luke Donald
Donald, who was the first person to win both the European Tour and PGA Tour moneylists in 2011, is a former world number one, with over 10 worldwide wins. His Major record? Only five wins from 53 appearances.
Bubbling under:
Players like Hideki Matsuyama, Rickie Fowler, Patrick Reed, Branden Grace and Justin Thomas all have multiple wins, and world rankings that suggests a Major should be on the horizon. All under 30, they have some time left on their side to complete the task, before their names are added to the list above.
Who do you believe is the rightful owner new of the ‘best player without a Major’ tag? Let us know via our social media channels.
