Golf: The nearly men of majors - so close, but yet so far

Golf is a game that simply oozes statistics, so here's one that typifies the state of the sport at the highest level right now.

Of the top 10 players in the world rankings, seven have not won a major, and the further you go down the list the bigger the disparity - 14 of the top 20 haven't won; 19 of 30, 26 of 40, 35 of 50 and, finally, 79 of 100.

For that you can blame just two players; Tiger Woods, who has won 14, the first in the 1997 Masters, and, to a lesser extent, Phil Mickelson, who has won four. This hasn't left that many for the others.

And, as the much-troubled Woods has tumbled down the ranks, from spending an eternity at No 1 to No 30, it's left the way wide open for a stream of would-be's and wanna-be's to shoot up the rankings.

The last six majors have all been won by first-timers, or to illustrate the even-ness of the game further, nine of the last 11 have been maiden winners.

Having a major on one's CV is the ultimate goal in golf, the yardstick by which a player's career is measured, perhaps unfairly in many ways, given there are only four each year.

Thus, the most unwanted tag in the game is the "best player not to have won a major". Until his breakthrough win in the 2004 Masters, Mickelson held that tag for 12 long and frustrating years, having begun his pro career in 1992.

Probably his only serious challenger was Colin "Monty" Montgomerie, now 48 and still playing on the European Tour, who had 31 career wins, won seven European Order of Merits, but never won an event in the USA, much less a major.

But these days the "honour" (if that's the right description) can be fairly shared by several of our leading players. In the top 10 Luke Donald (No 1), Lee Westwood (2), Steve Stricker (5), Jason Day (7), Dustin Johnson (8), Adam Scott (9) and Nick Watney (10) are major-less.

And don't forget a host of top players outside the top 10 who have all figured in majors many times, most notably Spaniard Sergio Garcia, one of the great ball-strikers but plagued by a flawed putting stroke.

Ironically, another super-talented golfer with the putting woes (until recently) is born-again Australian Adam Scott, who has bounced back into the top 10 with last weekend's headline-grabbing win (well, thanks to caddy Stevie Williams) at Akron.

It is widely accepted that Garcia should have won a major well before now but is one of many fine golfers forced to live in the shadow of Tiger Woods.

Garcia, by my count, has notched 15 top 10 placings in the majors, nine in the top five, and never had a better chance to break the hoodoo when he lost a playoff to Padraig Harrington at Carnoustie in 2007, having earlier missed a 3m par putt that would have given him the outright win.

Lee Westwood is another to have agonised over losing a British Open he should have won (2009, 3rd to Stewart Cink) and has chalked up at least 10 top 10s in majors.

At 38 it could be said time is starting to get away from Westwood to avoid a shared fate with his Ryder Cup captain and regular European Tour foe Colin Montgomerie who finished runner-up in majors four times.

So, the question now is: will one of these seasoned regulars finally break through in the last major of 2011 or will the winner come from within the ranks of these exciting youngsters such as Jason Day, Rickie Fowler, Ryo Ishikawa and Matteo Manassero?

               2011
British Open: Darren Clarke (NI)*
US Open: Rory McIlroy (NI)*
Masters: Charl Schwartzel (SA)*
               2010
PGA: Martin Kaymer (Ger)*
British Open: Louis Oosthuizen (SA)*
US Open: Graeme McDowell (NI)*
Masters: Phil Mickelson (US)
               2009
PGA: Y E Yang (Kor)*
British Open: Stewart Cink (USA)*
US Open: Lucas Glover (USA)*
Masters: Angel Cabrera (Arg)

*Denotes first major win.