Ranking: The Top 10 Players Without A Major

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The 2016 season produced four first-time major champs in Danny Willett, Dustin Johnson, Henrik Stenson and Jimmy Walker. As we approach the 2017 Masters, we put our new formula* to work to determine who are the best current players who haven’t hoisted a trophy at one of golf’s four biggest events. We only used results from the past two years, so heartbreak veterans like Sergio Garcia and Lee Westwood took a hit. Not that they should mind. If you’re on this list for too long, the last thing you want is to be reminded about it.

*FORMULA: PGA Tour/European Tour wins since start of 2015 (WGC, Players, and FedEx Cup Playoff events weighted more) + Average Official World Golf Ranking Points + Top 10s in majors the past two years (top 5s weighted more).

10.) Brandt Snedeker (6.63)

Snedeker sneaks into the top 10 despite his closest calls in major championships (a pair of T-3s) coming well before the time set forth by our formula. Overall, at 36 he has eight majors and eight top 10s in majors.

9.) Matthew Fitzpatrick (6.78)

The second-youngest player on our list, Fitzpatrick, 22, would probably be higher if he had more than one full year of playing in major championships. He finished T-7 in his Masters debut in 2016.

8.) Patrick Reed (6.94)

Patrick Reed

You might be surprised to see this Ryder Cup star so low on the list, but you also might be surprised to learn he has zero career top 10s in majors.

7.) Rickie Fowler (8.82)

Another US Ryder Cup star checks in lower than expected, but keep in mind that no one is hurt by our criteria as much as Fowler. His four top-five finishes in majors in 2014 don’t count. Yes, our cut-off date is arbitrary, but if you don’t like it, you’re welcome to come up with your own formula.

6.) Sergio Garcia (9.12)

Sergio also gets hurt by our cut-off date, losing credit for his four career runner-ups in majors. But again, our focus is not on the best players ever to not win a major (Sergio would be near the top of that), but rather the best current players without one.

5.) Justin Thomas (9.46)

Thomas’ best major finish in six starts is a T-18 at the 2015 PGA Championship. But following a burst of three PGA Tour titles to start the 2016-17 season, we don’t expect that to be the case for long.

4.) Branden Grace (9.73)

Of all non-major winners, Grace is the only player with four top-five finishes in those four events over the past two seasons. His closest call came at the 2015 US Open when he stood on the 16th tee in the final round tied – but then hit his tee shot out-of-bounds onto railroad tracks.

3.) Alex Noren (10.15)

The Swede’s red-hot finish to 2016 (Four European Tour titles from July-November) wasn’t enough to earn him a spot on the European Ryder Cup team, but it did pull him near the top of this list. Noren will make his first Masters start in 2017.

2.) Jon Rahm (10.55)

OK, so here’s where we cheated a bit. The numbers didn’t put Rahm, the youngest player to make our list, in the top 10, but because that’s ridiculous, we made an adjustment. Since Rahm has only played in 19 events that count for Official World Ranking Points – and everyone else has played in at least 40, the minimum divisor that’s also used to calculate Rahm’s rank – we basically doubled his points to make up the difference. Deal with it.

1.) Hideki Matsuyama (13.69)

So this wasn’t even close. Matsuyama easily led our list with the best balance of wins, World Ranking points, and high finishes in majors. At 25, he already has top 10s in all four majors and when it comes to winning a big one, it’s not a question of if, but how many. Then again, everyone would have said the same thing about a 19-year-old Sergio Garcia. . .