Worst Player to win a Major?

[avrag]

Can you elaborate a bit more on your statement "the courses were always set up in exactly the same way, so that it did not really matter, which course they were playing"?

 

Thick, lush, deep rough right up to the fairways and the greens, hard fast greens. Every shot MUST be played through the air.

It was a revolution, when the USGA first introduced so-called "chipping areas", i.e. areas around the greens with the grass cut to fairway length, at some point in the late 90s, maybe even early 2000s.

I have watched majors on TV from about 1984 or so. With the exception of Shinnecock on multiple occasions and Pebble Beach in 2000 (but not in 1992), every US Open course played exactly the same until about 2004 or 2005.

[Joe85]

Didn't look at one post in this thread, and these are names that immediately came to my mind (I'm 35, been watching pro golf since the late 90s)

 

 

Rich Beem

Todd Hamilton

Y.E. Yang

Danny Willett

 

 

 

(dis)Honorable mention to (non majors, yet massive wins):

 

Billy Horschel (how the hell did he win the FedEx Cup again???)

Craig Perks (how did he win the TPC???)

[Joe85]

Ben Curtis

Shawn Micheel for the men and Birdie Kim for the women

 

 

I knew I was leaving a few out...Those two listed above are clearly on that list...

 

 

Also add Keegan Bradley to the list...

[Scooterboy59]

I don't know how I can rank anyone. I've got a couple of Jr. tournaments, a club championship,county championship and a few pro-ams from when I was a golf professional. I'm not qualified.

[smiedt]

Worst Human to win a major - Phil Mickelson.

[Dave230]

Didn't look at one post in this thread, and these are names that immediately came to my mind (I'm 35, been watching pro golf since the late 90s)

 

 

Rich Beem

Todd Hamilton

Y.E. Yang

Danny Willett

 

 

 

(dis)Honorable mention to (non majors, yet massive wins):

 

Billy Horschel (how the hell did he win the FedEx Cup again???)

Craig Perks (how did he win the TPC???)

 

Willett really? 28-year-old who is heading into his peak, in the top 10 of the world rankings, who is top of the Race to Dubai rankings?

[bub72ck]

I'm not sure "worst" is the correct term for any of these people were talking about. Just to make it on tour you have to be a very good player much less win a major championship. Biggest upset winner? Maybe. The earnings that each of these guys have taken home is still staggering:

 

Micheel: $9,108,270

Curtis: $13,767,219

Beemer: $9,602,992

Yang (PGA tour only): $8,662,111

Hamilton: $5,521,259

[hebsan]

Micheel or Hamilton for sure...totally disappeared and have never been heard from again. Even though I love the guy, John Daly could be on the list I guess...one or two great years and then just a circus after that. Still gotta hit the shots, drain the putts, and play all 72 holes or more though.

 

I wonder if we would have ever heard about Big John if Nick Price hadn't pulled out of the PGA Championship 25 years ago.

[Jwin323]

For all you "feel good" types who think you can't be worst if you won a major, it's in RELATIVE terms. No one is saying they aren't good golfers. In any group someone will be best and someone will be worst. It's like asking who's the least attractive contestant in the Miss America Pageant.

 

And it's Shaun Micheel. Won the PGA and promptly went on the side of a milk carton.

[djmohab2]

Michael Campbell won that US Open and then his game went immediately to rubbish.

[BillMurrayGolfing]

Keegan Bradley because he is OCD.

[Joe85]

The way I heard Rich Beem talk about making the cut this week makes me think he's the one.

 

 

He literally acts stunned and giddy that he made the cut this week - at a tournament he won before. smh

[EKELLY]

Micheel or Hamilton for sure...totally disappeared and have never been heard from again. Even though I love the guy, John Daly could be on the list I guess...one or two great years and then just a circus after that. Still gotta hit the shots, drain the putts, and play all 72 holes or more though.

JD may be an underchiever but he is a top 5 talent of the last 25 years. He is not even in the discussion of worst players to win a major. I'll throw Rich Beem into the mix with some of the others mentioned.

 

I think the thread title is unfair, as worst implies being bad. Every major winner is a very good golfer. Perhaps something like 'least likely golfer to catch lightning in a bottle during a major week' would be a more fitting title.

But Daly did win 2.....Call it what ya like, it is what it is......

[EKELLY]

There is no discussion about that, because the answer is so clear: Andy North.

 

Andy North has 2 Majors. 3 PGA wins. 14 wins as a professional. Five top 10's in a major. You may not be overly impressed, but it's very clearly a stat line that does NOT qualify as the worst career that still includes a major.

 

YE Yang took out Tiger head to head, so he gets points for that. And does have another PGA victory. Rich Beam has 3 victories on the PGA tour.

 

Shaun Micheel would be the most obvious answer.

I could be WRONG here, but isn't YE Yang the ONLY ONE to take out Tiger on Sunday head to head to win a major??.........Of course, a few months later the wife took him out!!.....LOL....

[Joe85]

Daly also won at St. Andrews.

[EKELLY]

At the end of 72 holes, all these bums we're talking about had the lowest score!!.........Isn't that how you win, regardless of how you got there??.......

[Shilgy]

The way I heard Rich Beem talk about making the cut this week makes me think he's the one.

 

 

He literally acts stunned and giddy that he made the cut this week - at a tournament he won before. smh

Maybe because he doesn't play anymore?

[JustTheTips]

The way I heard Rich Beem talk about making the cut this week makes me think he's the one.

 

 

He literally acts stunned and giddy that he made the cut this week - at a tournament he won before. smh

 

He is just excited about not having to pay for his clubs: http://www.golfchannel.com/news/golf-central-blog/tour-pro-charged-clubs-and-cant-pay/

 

Can you really blame him?

[JustTheTips]

If you are going to be looking at golfers careers, you would be better off looking at top 5s versus wins. There is too much variance in wins (i.e. someone missing a 2 foot putt or shooting 63 to your 65) and our sample size is too small to know what the long term would be.

[Joe85]

How the heck did I forget about Mike Weir? He fell so far off I absolutely forgot about him.

[PGArox]

How the heck did I forget about Mike Weir? He fell so far off I absolutely forgot about him.

 

At least Mike was a really good player for a while. He won a WGC event and the TOUR Championship before winning the Masters.

 

Mike finished inside the top 10 on the PGA TOUR's money list twice, and just missed (11th) another time. The year he won his major (2003) he had 7 top 3 finishes, and at one time he reached #3 in the OWGR.

[cdnglf]

How the heck did I forget about Mike Weir? He fell so far off I absolutely forgot about him.

 

The name of the thread is Worst Player to Win a Major, not Random List of Players With 8 Career PGA Tour Victories.

[Joe85]

They just posted the last couple years all four major winners were first time winners (2011, 2003).

 

 

2003:

 

Weir

Curtis

Micheel

[glk]

Orville moody, no contest. 1 win in 266 tour starts. 1969 us open.

[ob1soccer]

everyone on the list stinks

[WidespreadPanic]

Dufner? Not even close. He won as recently as THIS YEAR.

 

Micheel comes to mind.

 

Did Rich Beem or YE Yang ever do anything else?

[WidespreadPanic]

The way I heard Rich Beem talk about making the cut this week makes me think he's the one.

 

 

He literally acts stunned and giddy that he made the cut this week - at a tournament he won before. smh

 

He is just excited about not having to pay for his clubs: http://www.golfchannel.com/news/golf-central-blog/tour-pro-charged-clubs-and-cant-pay/

 

Can you really blame him?

I don't think he's played in an event in years so it's pretty understandable. But yeah he's gotta be on the list.

[WidespreadPanic]

Keegan Bradley by far

 

Huh - thought you would have said Willett

 

Willett hasn't been too impressive since that win.

this made me LOL.

[minhjn]

There are some truly asinine answers in here frankly. Someone said Zach Johnson? Lol he's got two majors. Anyone with a win on the Euro/PGA tour in addition to their major is automatically out of the discussion. So that takes out Hamilton and Yang. Rich Beem won twice before the PGA.

 

I saw people say Ben Curtis. Dude has 3 other wins in addition to the Open and he made a friggin Ryder Cup team.

 

Michael Campbell? 8 Euro tour wins

 

It's clearly Shaun Micheel

[Potatohead]

But, what we ought to be talking about is how did faldo win so many majors?

 

You are kidding right?

 

He was never the flashiest of players but he did things right. I always looked at him and Greg Norman as Maverick and Ice Man from Top Gun. Everyone wanted to be Maverick, Maverick was probably better but Ice Man had a better way of going about things. Just like Norman and Faldo.

Faldo is luckiest player ever in the majors. Won two Masters courtesy of epic chokes. He was certainly a great player and good enough to put himself in position to cash in on the chokes, but imo he is without doubt the worst 5 plus major champion.

 

If I thought you were being serious I would be worried��

So Faldo is better than any of the likes of Jack, Tiger, Player, Hogan, Snead, Nelson, Palmer Player, Watson, Trevino, Seve etc?

Hoch missed a two foot putt and Norman choked away a 6 shot lead. Don't see how my comments are that outlandish. But you go ahead and make lame, worn out personal attacks.

 

Come on man Faldo shot 67 that day in '96 he didn't really back into a win.