Best player to have not won the majors

[Voyager EMH]

Did Harry Vardon or JH Taylor ever play in the Masters ?

Sadly they did not. Neither did they compete in the PGA.
They did both compete in a few US opens
Vardon entered 3 times. A win and two second places.
JH Taylor entered twice. A second place and 13 years later a tie for 30th.
Both very good players and so deserve to be in the running for best player to not win The Masters. But Hagen wins that one by a long way.

 

[Orikoru]

Best player not to win a major.
I struggle with the comparison of Monty to Westy.

With so many second places, Monty came that close to winning more often. Top 3 finishes are equal. But top 10 finishes and cuts made, Westy looks much better.

MONTY

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WESTY

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I would rather sit on the fence on this one.
But I would, very reluctantly if forced to, have to say that Westy wins the "best player" by his record. He was competitive at top level for more years as well.

Yeah I'd say Westy was better as well. Two PGA Tour wins, plus was world number 1 albeit briefly.

 

[Voyager EMH]

Yeah I'd say Westy was better as well. Two PGA Tour wins, plus was world number 1 albeit briefly.

Beating Norman in a playoff for the Australian Open at the 4th extra hole when he was 24.
What a great moment that was!

 

[Arthur Wedge]

Yeah I'd say Westy was better as well. Two PGA Tour wins, plus was world number 1 albeit briefly.

Montgomerie 7 Order of Merits in a row ( 8 in total ) , 4th all time European tour wins
5 times runner up in a major

 

[AussieKB]

I was runner up in the Augusta Masters once, shot under par in the second round but playing off a 5 handicap was still not good enough to get the Green Jacket.

It was in West Aussie and they do give a Green Jacket to the winner, also a nett event.

 

[jim8flog]

I would go with the consensus about Monty.

Some Reasons for losing
Pebble Beach Kites incredible chip in at 17.
St. Andrews - Tiger Woods
Oakmont - Ernie Els

 

[Orikoru]

Montgomerie 7 Order of Merits in a row ( 8 in total ) , 4th all time European tour wins
5 times runner up in a major

Was that not because he just stayed in European plugging away instead of trying his hand on the PGA? (Genuine question, it's a bit before my time.)

I'm not sure if Runner-Up has any more value than finishing 3rd or 4th. We've seen countless times in recent years, players finishing 2nd despite not really being in contention because they hit a stess-free 64 on the last day. As Voyager's post showed, Westy had twice as many top fives and nearly twice as many top tens in majors than Monty did. That shows he was up there more often.

 

[irip]

Was that not because he just stayed in European plugging away instead of trying his hand on the PGA? (Genuine question, it's a bit before my time.)

I'm not sure if Runner-Up has any more value than finishing 3rd or 4th. We've seen countless times in recent years, players finishing 2nd despite not really being in contention because they hit a stess-free 64 on the last day. As Voyager's post showed, Westy had twice as many top fives and nearly twice as many top tens in majors than Monty did. That shows he was up there more often.

I would say Monty was the best player to never win a major.
He just couldn’t transfer his regular Euro tour game to the majors for whatever reason, although he did come close.
He didn’t ever go to the US tour but it was a lot less common than it is now when he was in his prime.
And he was doing pretty well financially on the European tour.
If you listen to the guys he played on the tour with they all say he was unbelievably good and nobody could touch him.

 

[Arthur Wedge]

Was that not because he just stayed in European plugging away instead of trying his hand on the PGA? (Genuine question, it's a bit before my time.)

I'm not sure if Runner-Up has any more value than finishing 3rd or 4th. We've seen countless times in recent years, players finishing 2nd despite not really being in contention because they hit a stess-free 64 on the last day. As Voyager's post showed, Westy had twice as many top fives and nearly twice as many top tens in majors than Monty did. That shows he was up there more often.

He stayed and supporting Europe most of the time and also travelled across Asia etc , he also won ten more tournaments than Westwood

 

[Orikoru]

I was Googling it, saw a MyGolfSpy article from one year ago ranking the top ten players never to win a major. Here were their final two with justifications:

2. Colin Montgomerie​

Mr. Montgomerie, I am sorry to put you near the top of another MyGolfSpy list. This one is at least more of a compliment.

Montgomerie is fourth all-time in European Tour victories (31). He won that circuit’s Order of Merit seven consecutive times, quite an accomplishment. The Scot also has 23.5 Ryder Cup points, three senior majors and a boatload of other accolades.

The fact that he never won a major—he was runner-up five times including when he lost two major playoffs—is one of the bigger letdowns in golf history. A closing double bogey in the 2006 U.S. Open is also haunting.

Montgomerie never won in the U.S. at all which is a big argument why he shouldn’t be considered the best player to have never captured a major. He also only had six top-five finishes, half that of the man who is No. 1 on this list.

Still, Monty’s major-less career is difficult to believe.

1. Lee Westwood​

I have Westwood in the top spot because his major record is superior to anyone else here.

The Englishman had a remarkable 12 top-five finishes in majors including a few bitter close calls. The 2008 U.S. Open, 2010 Masters and 2013 Open Championship are a few that come to mind. He was constantly involved in majors.

That high rate of being in contention without winning is likely unmatched in modern golf.

Westwood won 25 European Tour titles and a pair of PGA Tour events. He reached No. 1 in the world and had 24 Ryder Cup points. He did virtually everything except win a major.

It was an outstanding career—but a balky putter froze several times down the stretch in major championships.

If it didn’t, he would be talked about in a completely different light.

I'd largely agree with that.

 

[Bazz]

Not his biggest fan but Westwood playing during Tiger winning everything couldn't have helped.

 

[Lord Tyrion]

Was that not because he just stayed in European plugging away instead of trying his hand on the PGA? (Genuine question, it's a bit before my time.)

The European Tour was much stronger then. His record is genuinely impressive, it was not a big fish/ small pond situation.

 

[Hoganman1]

I vote for Montgomerie too. He had an amazing career. Of the current players, I pick Fleetwood. I feel he will get one soon.

 

[sunshine]

Ian Poulter would probably put himself at the top of this list.

Monty, Westwood, Donald, Fleetwood, Hatton. Why are they all British (and mainly English)?

 

[Hoganman1]

Well for one thing; three of the four majors are played in the US. All the names you listed (to my knowledge) do not live or even have second homes here in the US.
I'm not sure it's a big factor but I think it matters.

 

[babylonsinger]

Westwood for me. Montgomerie a close-ish second. Mad to think of some of the players who played well for 4 days and won a major and then a number of the names mentioned in this thread had stellar careers but will almost always be known for not winning one

 

[Arthur Wedge]

Ian Poulter would probably put himself at the top of this list.

Monty, Westwood, Donald, Fleetwood, Hatton. Why are they all British (and mainly English)?

Got players like

Stricker , Fowler , Finau , Kuchar from over the pond as well

 

[Voyager EMH]

Monty and Westy: Euro Order Of Merit rankings.

Monty was something of a slow starter in terms of Euro rankings and in terms of his age.
Westwood was better younger.
There is 10 years between them.
Monty was better for a shorter period and Westy was better over a longer period, maybe.

For example, at age 26, Monty finished 25th in Euro OOM, playing 30 tournaments.
That year, Olazabal, 3 years younger, finished 2nd with 22 tournaments played.

Monty climbed the rankings each year and got to the top in 1993 at the age of 30.
At age 26, Westy finished 2nd on the Euro OOM behind Monty who finished 1st, of course. They both played 20 tournaments.

Westwood hit the top of Euro OOM in 2000 at age 27. And was at the top again in 2009 at age 36.
Monty was at the top in 2005 at age 42, but remember, he was a sower starter in terms of age.

Westwood finished top of Euro OOM in 2020 at age 47. Phenomenal perhaps, but it was somewhat of a curtailed year due to Covid restrictions. He was 107th the following year.
It still puts Westy as a top performer over a longer period than Monty, but Monty more times at the top.

Head to head at the same time?
Well, there was that World Matchplay final when they were 27 and 37.
All square after 36 holes.

 

[Lucifer MorningStar]

Stricker is a great shout numerous top 10s and played in an era where others just seemed to get it done. I’m not having Fowler or Finau though I wouldn’t even class them as top level tour players both had relatively decent patches but neither ever showed that they had what it takes to win a major imo.

Hers one from a bygone era as a though, Doug Sanders! 20 career PGA Tour wins but no major and he missed that putt to win the Open!

 

[Doon frae Troon]

Perfect application of the hammer to the nail.
Harry Vardon also.

Hagen played in the first Masters, but he was 43 by then and had already won his 11 majors. Undoubtedly the best player not to win the Masters.

We do tend to rank players through history by most majors won.
Not ever playing in the Masters does not disqualify a player from being the best player not to win it.

Historical fact lost in history
Willie Anderson from the small Archerfield Estate near North Berwick won 4 US Opens in 5 years in the early 1900's
His cousin and fellow Archerfield estate neighbour Jack White won The Open during one of those years and the pair played a series of US Open V Open winners matches.