- Ask Steven
Major heartbreak
Rickie Fowler finished in the top five of all four majors last year but didn't win one - has anyone done this before? asked Ken Sanderson
The short answer is no: Rickie Fowler's four top-five finishes without a win were unique. He tied for fifth at the Masters, second at the US and British Opens, and third in the PGA. Tiger Woods finished in the top five in all four in 2000 - but won three of them. In 2005 Woods again produced four top-five finishes, and this time won two. Jack Nicklaus finished in the top five of all four in 1971 and 1973, and won one each year.
Eleven golfers apart from Fowler have finished in the top ten of all four majors in the same year without winning one: Ed Dudley in 1937, Gary Player in 1963, Arnold Palmer and Doug Sanders in 1966, Miller Barber in 1969, Jack Nicklaus in 1974 and 1977, Hale Irwin in 1975, Ben Crenshaw in 1987, Sergio Garcia in 2002, Ernie Els in 2003, and Vijay Singh in 2005.
Dudley, Sanders, Barber and Garcia never did win a major, although there's still time for Garcia, who even now is only 35.
