Updated: Best without a major

There was a time in the early 1990s when the list of the Best Players Never to Have Won a Major was standing room only. It included Fred Couples, Davis Love III, Paul Azinger, Corey Pavin, Tom Kite, Tom Lehman and Mark O'Meara, among others. You couldn't fit all the worthy candidates into a top-10 list.

Right now it's different. Jim Furyk checked himself off the list last weekend when he won the U.S. Open at Olympia Fields. The new list definitely lacks numbers. Once you get past the luckless lefty, Phil Mickelson, and the hapless Scot, Colin Montgomerie, there aren't a lot of players who have done enough in their careers to warrant inclusion. It seems premature, for instance, to put Charles Howell III on the list. He only has one PGA Tour victory so far. It's still early in his career.

So in the wake of Furyk's upgrade to first class, here is my list of the top 10 players who haven't won a major ... yet:

1. Phil Mickelson (World Ranking: 8). Lefty has enjoyed the most successful PGA Tour career of anyone in the last two decades -- well, except for one other guy. He has already cracked the 20-victory barrier, but the no-major tag is the equivalent of The Haunting. The monkey on his back is King Kong climbing up the side of the Empire State Building, which is going to make breaking through even harder. Comparisons to Tiger Woods don't help Lefty, either. Woods is the technician, the tactician, the plodder who can go for the center of greens and bide his time, like Jack Nicklaus did. Lefty is the fastest car on the track but can't go the full 500 miles without breaking down. He's an artist, a go-for-broke player in the mold of Johnny Miller or Greg Norman. He's still only in his mid-30s, so there's plenty of time, but this no-major issue has already turned into Susan Lucci and the Daytime Emmys. Everyone wants Lefty to win one so we can just quit talking about it and move on to something else. Will he win a major? Yes.

2. Padraig Harrington (9). The new Best Player in Europe sneaked into a 10th-place finish at Olympia Fields. Last year at Bethpage, he played in the final group Saturday with Woods. As he has throughout his career, he's slowly but surely getting better. He has seven victories in Europe and is a cerebral and methodical player whose game seems to fit the U.S. Open the best of all the majors. Will he win a major? Yes.

3. Kenny Perry (10). Well, the Franklin Mint (he's from Franklin, Ky.) is printing money lately. He's probably the hottest golfer in the world, still. He won two in a row, the Colonial and the Memorial, and a good final round enabled him to sneak up at the U.S. Open and quietly finish fourth. He's long, pretty straight, and lately his putter has been hot. Perry is a high-ball hitter, so the windy conditions at the British Open don't favor him (if he plays), but he slogged through heavy winds at Memorial and it didn't bother him at all. He could challenge at Oak Hill in August's PGA Championship. He has six career wins. Will he win a major? Maybe.

4. Sergio García (15). I probably would've rated him second a year ago. He was fourth in last year's U.S. open, 10th the year before, and his career generally is on the upswing. He's only 23 and hasn't really played that many majors. His ranking on the list is simply an indication of his untapped potential. García is going through some swing changes that will make him more consistent and a better player in the long run. Will he win a major? Yes.

5. Robert Allenby (16). The Aussie hasn't played that well of late, but, hey, I'm running out of candidates for this list. He's a proven vet, among the best ballstrikers in the game. He has won four times in the U.S., four times in Europe and eight times in Australia. I still remember that 3-wood shot he hit to the 18th green in a pouring rain at Riviera when he won a playoff in 2001. The putter has always held him back. Will he win a major? Probably not.

6. Colin Montgomerie (21). Our pal Monty has always had this poor-little-doomed look. The man who once dominated Europe, winning seven straight money titles, now plays with an almost resigned air. His body language makes him look like he's waiting for an accident to befall him. He still has game, as he proved at the Ryder Cup, but he's not a factor on the world stage anymore. He needs a sports shrink like Bob Rotella, and he needs him now. The clock is ticking. Monty has time to turn his game around and have a nice little five-year run, but at the moment I don't see it happening. Will he win a major? No.

7. Darren Clarke (24). A lifetime underachiever, this natural talent has been working hard this year. He was my sleeper pick for the U.S. Open. He has addressed his major issue -- putting -- and seems to have regained his desire. I look for him to be a contender in any major this year. He's a good pick for the British Open, too. He has won nine times in Europe and there's no reason he doesn't have a victory total twice that number. Will he win a major? Maybe.

8. Jay Haas (28). Sure, he's 49 and probably will enter only one or two more majors, but he has played so well this year that he has earned a spot on this list. Haas has racked up nine wins and had a pretty nice career, but it's disappointing that he hasn't won a major. In fact, it seems as if he had the talent to win a lot more on tour, but he put his family first, much to his credit, and cut back on his travel during his prime years. Haas has a great family -- he and his son, Bill, both missed the cut last week at the U.S. Open -- but he doesn't have a major championship. If Haas doesn't mop up on the senior tour next year, it'll be a shock. Will he win a major? No.

9. Fred Funk (26). He's enjoying great success in his later years, although he's not winning a lot. He stole the show at the PGA last year but couldn't catch Rich Beem. Funk made a nice run to finish second at the FBR Capital Open in his home state and enjoyed a local-hero week. He's 46, has five career wins, and his straight driving keeps him in play and makes him a contender for any major, really. Again, putting has never been his strong suit. Will he win a major? No.

10. The Young Guns. This is a field entry of all the young studs who have a wealth of talent but really haven't piled up enough wins or experience to be considered legitimate threats to win a major yet. This includes Howell (22); Justin Rose (38), potentially the best player England has ever produced; Adam Scott (40), the solid Aussie whose swing reminds us of Woods'; Jonathan Byrd (74), a former Clemson star who has massive length and a pretty sweet short game; Paul Casey (33), who's coming into his own on the Euro tour; Trevor Immelman (41), who's talented but still has a lot to learn; and all the other promising young talent that's coming up.

Mailbag

Enough about young studs like ourselves. Let's check the Mailbag:

How in the world could you leave Phil Mickelson off your list of the top 10 U.S. Open contenders? I realize his game hasn't been stellar lately, but you must realize that although Mickelson doesn't win majors, he's always there.
—D. Hyde, Winnipeg

How in the world could I actually be right -- is that your question, Formal D. Hyde? Pardon me while I crow and you Hyde your head. Phil wasn't a phactor at Olympia Fields. After missing 18 of 28 fairways the first two days, he was lucky to still be at even par. I also looked good picking Vijay Singh to win ... until Sunday, when he blew up.

I'm very surprised you did not have Ernie Els on the list. Any particular reason or did you just run out of room?
—Ron Ebbing, Roswell, Ga.

You gotta go with the flow, Ebbing. Ernie's had a sore wrist, and when he has played of late he hasn't been in the same groove he was in earlier this year. I was right about him, too, although he had a nice weekend and quietly sneaked into the top 10.

I'm trying to recall the greatest final rounds ever played in U.S. Open competition, and Johnny Miller's 63 at Oakmont must be close to, if not at, the top. Many won't remember that Lanny Wadkins shot 65 the same day, certainly one of the best final rounds ever.
—Greg Smith, Toronto

It would be tough to top Miller's 63, which easily could have been three or four shots lower. David Graham's 67 at Merion in the final round in 1981 was near-perfect. He basically hit all 18 greens -- he had a couple of fringies -- while we watched George Burns go Mount St. Helens. That was my first U.S. Open as a golf writer, by the way. As for Lanny, I'd call it embarrassing that Ben Crenshaw and Harvey Penick were inducted into the International Golf Hall of Fame before he was. He definitely belongs in the hall if Crenshaw, Payne Stewart and, cough, Chi Chi Rodriguez are in. But that's another story.

Here's my solution to Jack Nicklaus' complaints that the distance the golf ball travels is ruining the game. Why not simply increase the size of the ball? A larger ball would not go as far because of the increased wind resistance, and it also would be more affected by spin -- a 300-yard drive would now only travel 280 yards, and a ball that moved 10 yards off line may now move 15 yards off line and possibly miss a fairway or a green. There would be no need anymore to lengthen courses or rein in technology. At one time golf balls were allowed to be as small as 1.55 inches in diameter, but that was increased to 1.68 (in 1932). Maybe technology has made it time for another change.
—Ken Evans, Winnipeg, Manitoba

Very innovative, Ken. Say hi to Barbie while you're at it. She is so hot in that Jeep. I think your idea has merit but I don't want to be the one to tell millions of American golfers that they're about to start hitting the ball shorter. They're not going to be happy about that. We'll have to publish your phone number when the angry mobs come after us at SI.com.

When watching a tour event on television, a viewer never sees rakes along the edges of bunkers. Where are they kept?
—Joe Gladziszewski, Oswego, N.Y.

Most rakes are either in the bunker or in the grass next to the bunker, Man from Glad. Sorry. I suspect you smelled conspiracy.

In your discussion of links golf courses, you neglected to mention two courses that are widely regarded as the two best links layouts in America. Bandon Dunes and Pacific Dunes, though located in the middle of nowhere on the Oregon Coast, are the ultimate examples of links golf in America. No trees, no houses, no carts. As their slogan says, it's golf like it was meant to be.
—Brad Kirkpatrick, Seattle

Thanks for the update. The Oregon Chamber of Commerce thanks you, also.

Next time you are in Columbus, you need to check out some of our other outstanding courses. Arthur Hills has designed what I think may be the best course in Ohio -- Longaberger, about 45 minutes east of Columbus. He also designed Winding Hollow, just a mile or two from The Golf Club. Jefferson Country Club is just down the road from it, a Robert Trent Jones Jr. track. Arnold Palmer designed Tartan Fields, less than a mile from Nicklaus' course, and Nicklaus' company put in 27 holes at Medallion receive very favorable reviews. Finally, way back when Donald Ross not only laid out Scioto, but also Columbus CC (home of a PGA Tour event), Grandville and the Springfield CC, a real gem. So give yourself a week and come on back. You should know, by the way, that part of the reason we have such great courses here is that we don't have an ocean, so there is nothing else to do but play golf. We just remove some corn and put in another fairway.
—Dave Shouvlin, Columbus, Ohio

I don't know, Dave. I kind of like corn. I did tour Scioto while covering the Memorial Tournament and enjoyed it thoroughly, no doubt because I unconsciously rang up five birdies. It's a classic course and the clubhouse has some nice Nicklaus memorabilia. I have played Tartan Fields, too, which I gave a thumbs-down because of its difficulty and forced carries that induce mind-numbingly slow play.

The authentic links course in Michigan is called The Gailes. It is part of the Lakewood Shores Resort outside Oscoda and was designed by Kevin Aldridge. It's better than Outback Steakhouse. I think you'd have a blast (especially with that optimized driver, you can carry 258).
—Phil Chvojka, Lansing, Mich.

Whatever you say, Phil. Don't give up in your quest for additional vowels.

Sports Illustrated senior writer Gary Van Sickle writes for the magazine's Golf Plus section and is a regular contributor to SI.com. Click here to send him a question or comment.

 

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