Hey non-major winners, time to step up
Gary Van Sickle's crystal ball was pretty stout in 2015, so on the eve of the U.S. Open he's taking another shot at predicting who is primed for a major breakthrough.
Once upon a time, a list of the Best Golfers Who Haven’t Won a Major Yet was an annual media typing event. It usually happened after the PGA Championship in August, the year’s final major back then, so we could examine who failed once again to snag their career-making major.
Then Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson quit hogging all the titles and everyone else poured in.
From 2009 through 2013, 15 of the 20 major champions were first-time major winners. That shot the hell out of the annual Best/No Major list column.
I went back to an epic non-major winners column (using “epic” sarcastically, FYI) I did for a Sports Illustrated subsidiary website in 2015. I wrote before the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits and made it clear that the rankings were based on players’ forms during the past few years, not a lifetime achievement award — sorry, Monty. How quickly this list changed.
My No. 1 was Dustin Johnson. Then: “This guy has let four major championships slip through his fingers. … It’s not farfetched that he could be sitting with five major titles. Instead, he’s got zero and the scars to prove it.” Johnson got his U.S. Open the next year at Oakmont and scored a November Masters later. Nice comeback.
Jason Day was No. 2. A week later, he demolished Whistling Straits and vaulted off the list. Of course, he’d still be in the Top 10 on the Best Players With Only One Major list. But that’s actually a good list to make.
Three was Sergio Garcia. It’s still hard to fathom that he won a Masters after all his self-loathing. But he did it.
Henrik Stenson, No. 4, won an Open Championship in a remarkable shootout with Mickelson a few years later.
Jimmy Walker, No. 5, landed a PGA Championship. He also got a bad case of Lyme disease later and got derailed.
Hideki Matsuyama, No. 6, won a Masters and showed off a great short game.
Seven and eight were Brandt Snedeker and Matt Kuchar, neither of whom got their major.
Lee Westwood was No. 9. He never got his major, either, although he did spend a short while at No. 1 in the world. He would pose strong competition for Monty (Colin Montgomerie) in the No-Major Career Achievement category.
Tenth was Patrick Reed. Then: “Yeah, I’m running out of guys to throw on this list.” Reed went from throw-in to Masters champ a few years later but hasn’t sniffed a second major.
Seven of the 10 players on the 2015 list soon got their majors.
Back to 2024. Xander Schauffele earned his first major title at the PGA Championship and left the No. 1 spot vacant. So where does that leave the current rankings?
Almost everyone we think should win a major based on their career trajectory has won one already. Still, Brian Harman has a major and Patrick Cantlay doesn’t. Golf is fickle. It only takes one hot week to make a career.
1. Viktor Hovland: He pulled off a Norwegian Mongolian Reversal, if such a thing is possible, by going back to his old coach, rediscovering his game and coming within one missed birdie putt on the final hole of joining Schauffele in a playoff at the PGA Championship. Hovland has played only 16 majors as a pro, already has three top-5 finishes and seems like a lock to get his major, doesn’t he? Hovland is only 26.
2. Patrick Cantlay: He showed he has the clutch gene at the Ryder Cup last year, but it hasn’t translated to major championship success. Cantlay has eight PGA Tour wins, yet only one top-5 major finish. He’s been quiet since that Ryder Cup. At 32, the clock is ticking.
3. Ludvig Aberg: It’s not fair to include Aberg. He is 24, has played only two majors but he finished second at the Masters in his debut and looks so talented that you just can’t insult the guy by leaving him out. He missed the PGA Championship cut. On the plus side, he didn’t get arrested.
4. Tommy Fleetwood: The Englishman with the rock-star hair gets overlooked. He has the top-5 slam — top-5 finishes in all four majors. He has top-10 finishes in five of the last 10 major championships. He keeps hanging around the lead, but then Brooks Koepka or Scottie Scheffler or somebody simply plays too well. He’s 33, was ranked 13th in the world before the Charles Schwab Championship and clearly likes playing on big stages.
5. Max Homa: He appeared to step up to a new level with his stellar Masters performance. Homa has played only 19 majors and missed the cut in nine. He’s 33, has a solid all-around game and seems to be getting better. His Twitter/X quip game is definitely major-championship quality.
6. Tyrrell Hatton: The oft-irritated Hatton is a great iron player who has played in 36 majors with seven top-10s and only one top-5, a fifth at the 2015 Open Championship. He’s a good middle-of-the-pack guy in big events, but will he ever land the big one? He’s 32 and busy making bank on LIV Golf.
7. Sahith Theegala: This college superstar at Pepperdine has played only nine majors but we’re low on candidates. Theegala gets included because he was in the mix at the recent PGA Championship despite being sick as a dog. He faded to 12th and couldn’t do a post-round interview without coughing up half a lung so he gets a pass. Theegala has a big game, a big personality and, at 26, plenty of time.
8. Talor Gooch: The guy who ripped up the LIV circuit for a while got a special exemption into the PGA Championship and finished 60th. He’s played 12 majors and never finished in the top 12. His best was 14th at the 2022 Masters. He didn’t attempt to qualify for the U.S. Open so … his majors outlook is partly cloudy at best.
9. Tony Finau: It’s odd that Finau, a six-time PGA Tour winner, has four top-5 finishes in majors but those were all between 2018 and 2021. In his last 12 majors, his best showing was 15th at the 2021 Open Championship. He also missed three cuts and had seven finishes outside the top 25. Has he already peaked?
10. Field Entry: It’s Potpourri for $200, Alex. Dean Burmester, Russell Henley, Cameron Young, Thomas Detry, Joaquin Niemann … none of these players or anyone else has stood out enough to deserve the No. 10 spot. In short, we are simply out of legit candidates you can believe in. Sounds like politics, doesn’t it?
RANKINGS WITH A BIT MORE IMPORTANCE
There has been another change at the top of VULGR (Vans’ Ultimate LIV Golf Rankings).
Bryson DeChambeau, thanks to his runner-up finish at the PGA Championship, moved into the No. 1 spot that was vacated by Jon Rahm, who dropped to fourth after missing the cut at Valhalla.
The rankings are based on how many opponents each player beat, tied or lost to in LIV Golf events. When Dean Burmester won at Doral, for instance, he went 53-0-0 (in a field of 54 players). When Eugenio Chacarra tied for 10th at Singapore, he had a 41-9-3 mark. The rankings are based on the last 15 events played. The majors are included for those LIV players who competed. To make the majors count equally, the other three majors are capped at the same size as the Masters field (89 players).
THE VULGR TOP 15 (Through May 19)
1. Bryson DeChambeau, .773
2. Tyrrell Hatton, .713
3. Dean Burmester, .699
4. Jon Rahm, .686
5. Louis Oosthuizen .673
6. Richard Bland, .669
7. Talor Gooch, .662
8. Abraham Ancer, .660
9. Joaquin Niemann, .658
10. Cameron Smith, .636
11. Cameron Tringale, .628
12. Brooks Koepka, .619
13. Sebastian Munoz, .612
14. Sergio Garcia, .593
15. Marc Leishman, .591
Other notables: Anthony Kim’s performance continues to be abysmal as he tries to shake off the rust from a long golf absence. He has finished ahead of only seven players in his first five events for a mark of 7-257-0, .027. … Hudson Swafford has also struggled since coming back from surgery last year. He cracked the top 40 only once in seven events and is at .106. … Former World No. 1 Lee Westwood ranks ahead of only Swafford and Kim at .268. He is 48-258-8 in his last six tournaments. … Phil Mickelson moved up from 50th to 45th at .327, and Kevin Na jumped eight spots from 25th to 17th with his seventh-place finish in Singapore.
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MORE FROM GARY VAN SICKLE
> Memorial Day means more than a day off
> Handicapping the PGA Championship
> A LIV Golf, PGA Tour reunification? Pass
> Who is golf's next needle-mover?
> Hughes Norton: Golf's ultimate deal maker
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My thought is that it is time for Cam Young to stand out..