Most PGA Tour Victories Without Winning a Major
The four major championships in men's professional golf are (from oldest to youngest) the British Open, U.S. Open, PGA Championship and The Masters. The Masters, the last to be founded, was first played in 1934. The PGA Tour, meanwhile, traces its origins to 1916.
The fact is there aren't that many golfers in the tour's history who won at least 10 official tour events without also claiming at least one major championship victory. But Lighthorse Harry Cooper won 29 PGA Tour titles without ever claiming a major. And that is who tops the list. Cooper did finish runner-up in a major four times, and he was the first golfer to do that and never win a major.
The List: Most PGA Tour Wins But No Majors
Harry Cooper, 29 winsMacdonald Smith, 25
Doug Sanders, 20
Wild Bill Mehlhorn, 19
Dutch Harrison, 18
Bobby Cruickshank, 17
Jug McSpaden, 17
Ed Dudley, 15
Mike Souchak, 15
Bruce Crampton, 14
Kenny Perry, 14
Joe Turnesa, 14
Dave Hill, 13
Joe Kirkwood Sr., 13
Bruce Lietzke, 13
Wayne Levi, 12
Calvin Peete, 12
Steve Stricker, 12
Miller Barber, 11
Andy Bean, 11
Frank Beard, 11
John Cook, 11
Scott Hoch, 11
David Frost, 10
Ky Laffoon, 10
Mark McCumber, 10
Dick Metz, 10
Only three golfers finished their careers with 20 or more PGA Tour wins without any victories in majors. Six others finished with at least 15 wins but no majors. If you are good enough to win that many times in official PGA Tour events, then, in most cases, you will win a major. The golfers above, alas, did not.
Macdonald Smith had two brothers who also won PGA Tour tournaments. He won 25 tour titles, far more than either of them. But Willie Smith and Alex Smith both won the U.S. Open, Alex two of them. Macdonald did not.
Doug Sanders had 20 wins, third-most on the list. He is most-famous today for the short putt he missed on the 72nd green of the 1970 British Open, a 2-and-a-half-footer that would have won him the tournament. Instead, he lost in a playoff to Jack Nicklaus. Speaking of Nicklaus, he was the winner of all four of the majors in which Bruce Crampton (14 wins) finished runner-up.
To see the victory leaders-without-a-major on other tours, including the LPGA and in senior golf, see Most Wins Without a Major in Golf.
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