Most Wins Without a Major in Golf (Men, Women, Seniors)
Following are the leaders in this category in men's majors, women's majors and senior majors, for the PGA Tour, European Tour, LPGA Tour and Champions Tour.
Most PGA Tour Wins Without a Major
All-Time Leaders
Harry Cooper, 29 winsMacdonald Smith, 25
Doug Sanders, 20
Wild Bill Mehlhorn, 19
Dutch Harrison, 18
(view longer list)
Sanders, whose PGA Tour career ended in the 1970s, is the most-recent player on the list. His heartbreaks included missing a 2-and-a-half-foot putt on the 72nd hole of the 1970 British Open to fall into a playoff against Jack Nicklaus, which Nicklaus won. Cooper was the first golfer to finish runner-up in four different majors without ever winning a major. Smith had two brothers who each won majors, but he didn't.
Currently active: Two golfers near the tail-ends of their PGA Tour careers, Matt Kuchar and Brandt Snedeker, have nine wins each without any majors. Patrick Cantlay sits on eight wins.
Related:
Most European Tour Wins Without a Major
All-Time Leaders
Colin Montgomerie, 31 winsLee Westwood, 25
Miguel Angel Jimenez, 21
Sam Torrance, 21
Mark James, 18
Montgomerie holds the record for finishing second most often in majors without winning one: Five times Monty was a runner-up. Two of those second-place finishes happened in playoffs, at the 1994 U.S. Open and 1995 PGA Championship.
Currently active: Paul Casey, 15 wins. Note that Westwood, at the time of this writing, is still active on the European Tour. We listed Casey as the active "leader," however, because Westwood is now into his 50s and unlikely to be a factor in future majors.
Related:
Most LPGA Tour Wins Without a Major
All-Time Leaders
Jane Blalock, 27 winsJudy Rankin, 26
Ayako Okamoto, 17
Rosie Jones, 13
Clifford Ann Creed, 11
Ruth Jessen, 11
Blalock won the 1972 Dinah Shore Colgate Winner's Circle. That's the tournament that today is a major championship known as the Chevron Championship. But when Blalock won it in 1972, it was not a major. Rankin won the Dinah Shore Colgate Winner's Circle, too, in 1976, before it was a major. And she also won a second tournament that later became a major, but wasn't at the time — the 1977 Peter Jackson Classic (which later became the du Maurier Classic).
Currently active: Nasa Hataoka and Jessica Korda both have six LPGA Tour victories, but none yet in majors.
Related:
Most Champions Tour Wins Without a Senior Major
All-Time Leaders
Bruce Crampton, 20 winsGeorge Archer, 19
Larry Nelson, 19
Mike Hill, 18
Jim Dent, 12
Bob Murphy, 11
Dana Quigley, 11
Crampton almost made the PGA Tour list above — he won 14 times on the PGA Tour without a major. Before reaching the senior circuit, Crampton was runner-up in four majors, all four times to Nicklaus.
Currently active: Kirk Triplett, 8 wins
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