So, I got thinking the other day about this phrase you hear thrown around a lot, especially in golf circles: “the best player to never win a major.” It pops up now and then, and it always gets my gears turning. Who actually fits that bill? It sounds simple, but when I started really digging into it in my head, it got messy pretty quick.
My first step was just letting names float around in my memory. It’s funny how your mind instantly jumps to certain players. For me, Colin Montgomerie, or ‘Monty’, usually comes up first. I spent years watching him play, especially in the Ryder Cups where he was just phenomenal. He won a ton on the European Tour, topped their money list something like eight times. That’s serious consistency. But the majors? Always the bridesmaid, never the bride. Loads of second-place finishes, some really painful ones too.
Then, right after Monty, Lee Westwood usually pops into my head. Another Englishman, tons of wins all over the world, even reached World Number One. You don’t get to number one by accident. That means for a stretch, you were arguably the best player on the planet. But again, that major trophy just stayed out of reach. He had his chances, plenty of them, deep into Sundays.
Thinking About the Candidates
So I had these two main guys swirling around. What did I do next? Well, I didn’t dive into spreadsheets or complex stats. That’s not really my style for this kind of question. It feels more like a “gut feeling” thing, based on watching them over the years. I tried to remember the feeling watching them contend. The hope, the near misses, the final round pressures.
I thought about what “best” even means here.
- Is it the most talented guy who just had bad luck or timing?
- Is it the guy with the best overall career apart from the majors?
- Is it the guy who held the World No. 1 ranking?
All valid ways to look at it, I guess. That’s why it’s such a debate.
Of course, you have to be careful. Some players used to be on this list. Phil Mickelson was maybe heading that way before he broke through. Sergio Garcia was the poster child for it for ages until he finally won the Masters. Dustin Johnson took a while too. So the list changes over time. We’re talking about players whose careers are largely done, or at least past their peak, and that major win just never happened.
I pulled up some old articles, just reading opinions, reminding myself of specific tournaments. Winged Foot in 2006 for Monty comes to mind. Ouch. Turnberry in 2009 for Westwood, another close call. It’s these moments that really define this discussion, isn’t it? The ‘what could have been’.
My Takeaway (For Now)
After mulling it over, watching a few old highlights just to refresh my memory, I kept coming back to the sheer volume of high finishes and the incredible consistency Monty showed in Europe. Being number one there for seven years straight… that’s staggering. While Westwood reached World Number One, Monty’s longevity at the top in Europe and those gut-wrenching major near-misses just shade it for me.
So, my personal conclusion, after tracing back my thoughts and memories? It’s probably Colin Montgomerie. But it’s close. Westwood has a huge case. Others might bring up different names too, maybe from different eras or even different sports, though golf feels like the home of this particular title.
It was an interesting exercise, just tracing the path of that thought. No definitive answer, really, just a personal reflection based on years of watching. It’s one of those debates that’ll probably never truly be settled, and maybe that’s the fun of it.
