The 9 Best Golfers Who Never Won The Masters

Rory McIlroy is the best player competing at Augusta National this year who’s never won The Masters, and only time will tell if he’ll finally be able to check that box and complete the career grand slam. He’ll still have plenty of opportunities to get a victory if he can’t pull it off this year, although there’s a chance he could end up on the list of the best players who never managed to secure a green jacket.

The list of the people who’ve won The Masters is filled with members of golf royalty thanks in no small part to their ability to conquer Augusta National, and it’s one of the biggest wins you can get during your career.

However, there are more than a few notable names who were never able to get over the hump and were eventually forced to accept a green jacket just wasn’t in the cards.

It’s worth noting I’m not including current players who still have a shot at getting the victory at some point but rather focusing on guys who have waved the white flag.

Greg Norman

Greg Norman had 20 wins during his time on the PGA Tour, but his two victories at The British Open in 1986 and 1993 were the only times he was able to top the field in a major tournament.

The Shark competed at The Masters 23 times and came in second in back-to-back years starting in 1986; Jack Nicklaus edged him (and Tom Kite) out by a single stroke before he and Seve Ballesteros lost to Larry Mize in the playoff that decided things in 1987.

As most students of golf history know, Norman probably should have won in 1996 after entering the final round with a six-stroke lead over Nick Faldo only to fall victim to one of the most monumental collapses in the history of golf en route to losing to Sir Nick by five strokes.

Lee Trevino

Lee Trevino was a wildly entertaining legend who won The British Open, PGA Championship, and U.S. Open two times apiece, but he’d be the first person to admit Augusta National was his Achilles heel.

Trevino first competed in The Masters in 1969 and pledged not to return after finishing in a tie for 19th. He turned down invitations in 1970, 1971, and 1974, and while he ultimately competed in the tournament 20 times, he never finished better than 10th.

Ernie Els

Ernie Els won both the U.S. Open and British Open on two occasions, and while he had 23 chances to get a green jacket, he wasn’t able to capitalize.

The South African, who had 19 wins on the PGA Tour, hit his stride at Augusta at the start of the millennium with five straight Top Ten finishes starting in 2000, where he finished in second after Vijay Singh beat him by a stroke.

It looked like he was going to have a chance to face off against Phil Mickelson in a playoff in 2004, but he ended up as the runner-up yet again after Lefty hit a clutch birdie putt on the 18th to win it all.

Tom Kite

Tom Kite will always have a place in Masters history as the man who finished in second place in 1997—the year Tiger Woods announced his grand arrival by beating him by a record 12 strokes.

Kite was an accomplished golfer who won 19 PGA Tour tournaments and got his lone major victory at the U.S. Open in 1997.

His second-place finish at Tiger’s expense was one of the three times he was the runner-up (along with 1983 and 1987), and he finished in the Top 10 a dozen times during his 26 appearances at Augusta National.

David Duval

David Duval is best known for the wildly unorthodox swing that didn’t stop him from winning 13 PGA Tour events and his lone major at The British Open in 2001.

Duval was briefly the number one player in the world thanks to a string of stellar performances in the summer of 1999, and he finished in a tie for second at The Masters in 1998 and 2001.

He also had a three-stroke lead over the field heading into the weekend at Augusta in 2000 only to shoot even par over the final two days as he was overtaken by eventual champion Vijay Singh.

Johnny Miller

Johnny Miller had sustained success on the PGA Tour while racking up 25 wins on the circuit, and he got his first major victory at the U.S. Open in 1973 before earning his second (and final) at The British Open three years later.

He did have three second-place finishes at The Masters, but he had to deal with the consequences of playing against some of the best golfers to ever do it.

His most brutal loss came in 1971 when he blew a two-stroke lead on the back nine during the final round before Charles Coody took advantage of a couple of costly bogeys to get the win.

Miller was outfoxed by Jack Nicklaus during a thrilling Sunday showdown in 1975, and both he and The Golden Bear gave Tom Watson a run for his money before finishing in a tie for second in 1981.

 

Davis Love III

Davis Love III had 25 wins on the PGA Tour and won the PGA Championship (his only major) in 1997 but also failed to get a win at The Masters despite a number of impressive appearances.

Love competed in The Masters 17 straight times between 1991 and 2017 and peaked with two second-place finishes; Ben Crenshaw bested him by a single stroke in 1995, while José María Olazábal beat him by two in 1999.

Gene Littler

We’re going to cap things off with a couple of throwbacks, as the last two guys on this list are fairly ancient history compared to most of the competitors I’ve mentioned so far.

The first is Gene Littler, who had 29 victories on the PGA Tour and earned his only major win at the U.S. Open in 1961.

He got the chance to compete in The Masters 26 times and made the cut on 24 occasions, and while he had the chance to get the green jacket by beating Billy Casper in a playoff in 1970, he came up painfully short.

Bobby Jones

Bobby Jones may have been in the twilight of his career when The Masters was played for the first time at Augusta National—the course he designed—in 1934, but he’s still worth mentioning when you consider he was never able to capitalize on the ultimate home-course advantage.

The legendary amateur who won seven majors (three victories at the U.S. Open and four at The British Open) played in the tournament he co-founded 12 times, but his best showing was a tie for 13th during the inaugural edition.