The British Open is this weekend. And with it comes talk of the best active player in the world who has never won a PGA Major (British, Masters, US Open, and PGA).
Sergio Garcia held the honor until he won last year’s Masters. Here are some candidates I came up with who could be considered the best player in the field who has never won a major.
Many feel Rickie Fowler tops this list nowadays. Fowler has proven multiple times that he is good enough to compete on the big stage, but has yet to pull it together on a Sunday to walk away with a major title.
Rickie Fowler
Fowler’s best year was in 2014 when he finished in the top five of all four major championships and joined only Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus as the only players to do so.
Here are some others who could come out on top this weekend and remove their name off the list.
Let me start with a European Tour stalwart, Lee Westwood. He would be a popular winner on Sunday. Though he rarely is a factor anymore, Westwood has played in 79 majors, made 61 cuts, has 18 top-10 finishes, and 11 top-5 finishes. Back in 2010, he finished second in both the Masters and British Open Championship. Like I said, his best days are behind him. With two PGA Tour wins and 23 European Tour wins, Westwood is one of the best golfers who has never won a major.
Matt Kuchar is the oldest American to be on this short list. Like Westwood, most thought Kuchar would have at least one major by now. Matt Kuchar began his major championship appearances in 1998 when he finished T21 as the low amateur in the Masters and T14 as the low amateur in the U.S. Open. He was not heard from much again until 2010. In 2010, he finished in the top-10 twice in majors and has only had two years between 2010 and 2017 that he did not have a top 10 major finish. Kuchar’s best year was 2017 when he finished T4 at the Masters, second at The Open Championship to Jordan Spieth, and T9 at the PGA Championship.
Brandt Snedeker
Another USA player who could win this week is Brandt Snedeker, He always seems to be able to perform well in the first two majors of the year. He has three top-10’s at the Masters and five top-10’s at the U.S. Open since 2008. Though he annually struggles at the British Open, Snedeker has eight PGA Tour wins to his name and was a member of the 2012 and 2016 Ryder Cup.
Don’t Raise Your Son To Be
A Runningback
One of the best runningbacks in the NFL, Le’Veon Bell, was unable to come to an agreement on a new contact this summer with the Pittsburgh Steelers. The negotiations ended up being a national story. This led to many news outlets doing some research. Research that indicates that runningbacks in the NFL are not getting long term contracts, like other positions do, and they are not close to being the highest paid position on the field, like they used to be.
Le’Veon Bell
The primary driver of this is that runningbacks are dominated by guys younger than age 26. Backs are getting injured, or are so beaten up and worn down in their first few seasons, that they have lost a step or two. Franchises then move on to younger backs instead of rewarding former stars with long contracts.
The runningback position, since 2007, has had the lowest rise in salary amongst all the positions. If you are curious, linebackers have had the highest rise in salary since 2007.
Soooo, raise your son to be a linebacker. To be the tackler instead of being tackled.