BPTHNWM
The Best Player To Have Never Won a Major.
No one wants this title. It says, "Hey, I'm good, but not that good." Then, one day, yesterday to be exact, one guy reminds us that he might still hold this title while another stakes a claim that he deserves this unwanted title.
The former is Colin Montgomerie. A blazing 65 gave Monty a win at the European Open and gave birth to dozens of stories for the upcoming Open Championship at Carnoustie. The stories would surround the hard-luck Scot even if he hadn't won in the run-up. With this, the frenzy will be greater. His reputation as a Ryder Cup machine and Euro Stud is secure, but can Monty win a big one?
That said, a case can be made for yesterday's winner on this side of the pond, K.J. Choi. Choi claimed his sixth PGA Tour victory in the Inagural AT&T National, hosted by Tiger Woods. Only eight players have more PGA Tour wins than Choi's six without a Major Championship to their credit. Of those eight, only three could realistically win a Major before it's all said and done: Kenny Perry (9 wins), Brad Faxon (8), and Choi's playing partner yesterday, Stuart Appleby (8). I don't see John Cook (11), David Frost (10), Bill Glasson (7), John Huston (7) winning a major at this point in their careers. Joey Sindelar (7) won a tough Wachovia Championship three years ago, but I'm still putting him in the latter category.
So there stands Choi, who this season has won on two tracks that are either worthy of hosting a Major (the Memorial at Muirfield Village, which may be the best course to have never hosted a Major (sorry Sawgrass)), or have hosted Majors (Congressional County Club yesterday, which has held US Opens previously and will again). The two events this season marked a departure from the events Choi had claimed in the past. These lastest wins were in top tier, strong field events. The other wins are nice, but winning Chrylser Championships and Greensboro Opens is a bit lower on the food chain than winning tourneys hosted by the two greatest players of the past 50 years.
Winning, period, is a step in a golfer's development. Winning again is another step. Claiming a prestigious event on a prestigious course is yet one more step. Proving that you can do that more than once (in the same season, no less) is another. Choi has done all of that.
That's why I think that it's Choi, not Monty, not Sergio Garcia (who has six PGA wins as well), not Adam Scott (5 wins), that may just be the BPTHNWM. It's a title no one wants, but having it means you've accomplished something. It also means that there's still something on your to-do list.
