8 Of The Best Players To Never Win The Open

The names of many of the game’s greatest ever players are inscribed on the famous Claret Jug – the likes of Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Severiano Ballesteros, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Tom Watson, Nick Faldo, Ernie Els and Rory McIlroy among them. 

However, even some of best players ever to have picked up a golf club have come up short in their quest to add an Open Championship title to their CV. Here, we take a look at some of the best golfers never to lifted the game's most famous trophy.

Bernhard Langer

The German was a prolific winner on the old European Tour, winning a staggering 42 times, but he didn’t quite get the job done at The Open despite getting himself into decent positions.

In 1981, he finished four shots adrift of Bill Rogers. Three years later at St Andrews, and this was a tournament that belonged to the late, great Seve, with Langer, the Spaniard’s playing partner, finishing just two shots back. Tee to green, Langer was arguably the better player, but his putter went very cold.

A year later, at Royal St George’s, Langer’s putt grazed the lip on the 72nd hole but failed to drop. He finished two shots back of the champion, Sandy Lyle.

Colin Montgomerie

‘Monty’ is one of the best players never to win a Major Championship – but how close he came at The Open.

St Andrews would have erupted in 2005 had the Scot got the better of Tiger Woods, a scenario that was very much on the cards going into the turn on Sunday afternoon, with Montgomerie just one shot back from the master.

His 6-iron on the 11th went long, however, and he made a untimely bogey. After Woods birdied 12, Montgomerie just couldn’t find the magic to make a final challenge.

Sergio Garcia

For a long time, the Spaniard seemed destined to finish his career without a Major title, but he got that monkey off his back by winning the Masters in 2017, his 74th Major Championship appearance.

He probably should have at least one Open title on his CV, too. However, having failed to qualify for the 151st Open Championship, it’s fair to say that the 43-year-old, a 16-time DP World Tour winner, is running out of opportunities.

In 2007, Padraig Harrington started the final round six strokes behind Garcia, who had led throughout following an opening 65.

The Spaniard stumbled badly on the back nine but still arrived on the final hole needing a par for the win. He made bogey, and then had to watch Harrington lift the trophy that he must have thought was his.

Garcia came close in 2014, too, making a charge at Royal Liverpool on the final day only to come up two shots short of Rory McIlroy. 

Byron Nelson

Nelson won five Major Championships and he may well have claimed a Claret Jug had me made the trip over to Britain more than once.

However, back in the 1930s and 1940s, the tournament’s purse wasn’t quite so attractive to overseas players.

The prolific champion did have a stab at Carnoustie in 1937, but he finished a distant six shots back of Henry Cotton after giving himself too much to do with an opening-round 75.

Raymond Floyd

The American won three of the big four – the Masters (1976), the PGA Championship (1969 and 1982) and the US Open (1986). He also won 22 times on the PGA Tour.

However, The Open was the one Major that eluded the man from North Carolina, with his best effort a tie for second in 1978, when he finished two shots back of Jack Nicklaus. 

Vijay Singh

The Fijian enjoyed lengthy spells as the world number one and racked up 34 PGA Tour titles over the course of a stellar career.

A three-time Major winner, Singh came close to adding an Open Championship to his long list of titles, only to get edged out by America’s Ben Curtis by a single stroke at Royal St George’s in 2003.

He finished alongside Thomas Bjørn in a tie for second.

Ian Woosnam

Former world number one 'Woosie' was a popular winner of the Masters in 1991, and he amassed a total of 29 wins on the European Tour.

The Welshman came close to winning The Open on two occasions, too, first in 1986, when he finished tied third, and then in 2001, when he declared a two-shot penalty after his caddie discovered that he had been carrying 15 clubs. 

Woosnam ended up finishing four shots back which, in some ways, would have been a relief. 

Fred Couples

Couples, still a favourite with the fans wherever he plays, also made it to the top of the world, and he enjoyed decent success at the Majors, too. 

The American won the Masters in 1992, although that was his only Major title. He could well of had more.

A best finish of second at the PGA Championship and tied for third at the US Open, Couples also recorded third-place finishes at both the 1991 and 2005 Open Championships. 

At the former, only three shots separated Couples from the winner, Ian Baker-Finch, whilst Woods was a runaway winner at the latter.