Charlotte, NC. When Rory McIlroy claimed this year’s Masters he won his first green jacket and joined a very elite grouping of just five other players to have won the career Grand Slam.
The second major championship will commence this Thursday with each golfer in the field looking to host the famed Wannamaker Trophy – emblematic of the winner of the PGA Championship.
The history of the PGA Championship dates back to 1916. Up to 1957 the event was conducted in match play. Since then, the championship is conducted at 72-holes of stroke play. Should there be a tie among players the format calls for an aggregate three-hole playoff to determine the winner.
The roster of champions includes many of the game’s greatest players. Walter Hagen and Jack Nicklaus share the record for most wins with five. Tiger Woods has reached victory lane four times. Among the most recent winners Brooks Koepka has three triumphs – the most recent coming in 2023.
The five men listed below won multiple major championships but good fortune never prevailed for them to snare the Wannamaker Trophy during the stroke play era.
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Arnold Palmer
The golf career of Arnold Palmer featured an array of captivating moments. The final round 65 at the 1960 U.S. Open epitomized The King’s capacity to charge from behind and win.
But the losses were no less debilitating.
Palmer finished in the runner-up position three times in the PGA Championship – 1964, 1968 and 1970.
A win in the event would have completed a career Grand Slam and would have been most fulfilling since Palmer’s father Deacon was a golf professional.
Tom Watson
The arc of Tom Watson’s career went through different phases. When arriving on the PGA Tour after a collegiate career at Stanford, Watson demonstrated talent but an inability to close out key events.
He led after 54 holes at the 1974 U.S. Open before collapsing with a final round 79. The next year at Medinah he tied the first 36-hole scoring record with a total of 135. However, his weekend play was abysmal and he tumbled down the leaderboard.
Matters changed that same year when winning The Open in a playoff against Jack Newton.
In 1977 Watson outdueled Nicklaus at the Masters and in their epic “Dual in the Sun” confrontation at Turnberry at The Open.
When Watson came to the 1978 PGA Championship at Oakmont the world’s top player appeared ready to cement his legacy with a win that would elevate him to membership in the career Grand Slam club.
After 54 holes Watson commanded a five-shot lead. Unfortunately, victory eluded the Missourian as he limped home with a 73. The score pushed Watson into a playoff against Jerry Pate and John Mahaffey. Mahaffey would make-up seven shots over the final round with a score of 66 and then sealed the win with a birdie on the second hole of sudden death on the par-4 2nd hole.
Watson would finish in the top ten six other times following his meltdown at Oakmont but none would ever come as close as his effort in 1978.
Greg Norman
The one word that best describes the talented Aussie is — almost. The Shark was world-ranked number one for 331 weeks – a total only surpassed by Tiger Woods.
In 1986, Norman held the lead after 54 holes in all four majors – a feat no one had accomplished previously or since. Unfortunately, Greg could only garner one of the four — The Open Championship.
Norman did win two Opens but he also lost each of the majors in playoffs – something only done previously by Craig Wood.
Remarkably, Norman almost won the PGA Championship twice at the same host course. In 1986 and 1993 Inverness in Toledo, OH was the host venue and Norman suffered a cruel fate when Bob Tway holed out for birdie from the front bunker at the 18th hole. Greg has himself only to blame for that miraculous shot as he led after 54 holes by four shots over Tway and limped home with a woeful 76 in the final round.
Seven years later the event returned and Norman was again the leader after three rounds. The same ending happened but this time in a two-hole playoff with winner Paul Azinger, Norman’s ending was a cruel one – missing a four-foot par putt to extend the playoff.
The sum of Norman’s career in golf’s biggest events was what might have been. His peers — Seve Ballesteros and Nick Faldo each won more majors than Greg. Good fortune at the most opportune moments was an element lacking in an otherwise quality career that should have been stellar.
Nick Faldo
Faldo was a dominant player on the world golf scene between 1987 and 1996. The talented Englishman won six majors — three green jackets at Augusta and three Claret Jugs.
Faldo also lost in an 18-hole playoff against Curtis Strange in the 1988 U.S. Open. He nearly made it into a playoff in the same event the year after at Medinah but his 12-foot birdie putt barely missed.
Between 1988 and 1994 in the PGA Championship Faldo had five finishes in the top 10 with four of those being in the top five.
Jordan Spieth
The selection of the Texan for this listing is primarily because Spieth has won three of the four major championships. In 2015 he won the Masters and U.S. Open and nearly made the playoff in The Open and was runner-up to Jason Day at that year’s PGA Championship.
Spieth added The Open title in 2017.
In the years that followed his triumph at Royal Birkdale, Spieth has won only twice on the PGA Tour. In addition, he’s only had one other top three finish in the PGA Championship and that came in 2019 at Bethpage.
Should Spieth win at Quail Hollow he would piggyback on the feat Rory McIlroy accomplished when joining the super elite career Grand Slam club.
