Dustin Johnson left the conversation in June. Henrik Stenson politely excused himself from the discussion earlier this month.
But golf’s 19th hole isn’t silent of chatter with the topic at hand, for there remains a handful in the sport labeled as the best player who hasn’t won a major.
Johnson emphatically rid himself of the tag with a commanding performance at Oakmont Country Club to win the U.S. Open, ending his streak at 11 top-10s in majors without a win. Stenson was a record-breaking machine at Royal Troon when he made his sweet exit from the dialogue while carrying the Claret Jug after winning the British Open, ending at nine his top-10s in a major championship without a victory.
So step right up, Sergio Garcia, for you are front and center among the banter as you have been for years. Bring Rickie Fowler with you, too, and have Lee Westwood tag along. The talk could extend to Matt Kuchar, Patrick Reed and Brandt Snedeker, too.
Heading into Thursday’s start at Baltusrol Golf Club of the 98th PGA Championship, recent history bodes well for those in the conversation as the last four majors have been won by first-time major winners — Jason Day in last year’s PGA Championship, Danny Willett in this year’s Masters, and Johnson and Stenson.
Garcia, 36, has been touted to win not one but multiple majors ever since he ran up the 16th fairway at Medinah Country Club and into the hearts of sports fans when he nearly ran down Tiger Woods in the 1999 PGA Championship. That was the first of 22 top-10s in majors, the last two ties for fifth in the U.S. Open and British Open (though he was 16 shots behind Stenson). Since then there has been a lot of scar tissue, including another three runner-up finishes.
Garcia, who at the 2012 Masters said he wasn’t good enough to win a major, doesn’t put much stock in the conversation, often saying he’ll try his best and see what the clubs will do. Winning a major or not won’t define him, said Garcia, who has 29 other wins worldwide, including one this year in the AT&T Byron Nelson.
Westwood, 43, has 18 top-10s in majors, including a tie for second in the Masters in April. He hasn’t paid much heed to the conversation for years now, but won’t admit that time is running out.
World No. 7 Fowler, 27, and No. 10 Garcia are the only players in the top 10 who haven’t won a major. Fowler joined the conversation in 2014 when he became just one of four players — the others being Jack Nicklaus, Woods and Jordan Spieth — to finish in the top-5 in every major in one season. The other three won majors those years. Fowler didn’t.
“I think it’s a compliment,” to be in the conversation, Fowler said during a practice round on the Lower Course on Monday. “Obviously you’re not part of the elite who have won majors. I’ve been close, had chances. And it has been fun watching guys who have been close before win majors.
“Now we have to step up.”
Fowler has won four tournaments since the end of 2014, including his biggest to date, the 2015 Players Championship. He has struggled lately, and has missed the cut in three of his last seven majors.
“I love the feeling of majors,” he said. “But it’s tough. There are only four a year. And if you’re game is not on, it’s hard to put yourself in position for a good finish. The majors pick your game apart a little bit more, a little bit more demanding, so you can’t fake it.”
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