British Open Ranking: The Top 10 Current Golfers Without A Major

By Alex Myers

Victories by Sergio Garcia at the Masters and Brooks Koepka at the U.S. Open ran the streak of first-time major winners to seven, which raises the question of who is next in line for a big breakthrough at this year's British Open at Royal Birkdale? And thanks to our new formula, we've come up with a ranking of the 10 best golfers without a major on their resume right now. We only used results from the past two-plus years, so a heartbreak veteran like Lee Westwood took a hit. Not that he should mind. If you're on this list for too long, the last thing you want is to be reminded about it. And we stress right now* because with the way things have gone lately, this list is constantly changing by people taking their names off it.*FORMULA: PGA Tour/European Tour wins since start of 2015 (WGC, Players, and FedEx Cup Playoff events weighted more) + Average Official World Golf Ranking Points + Top 10s in majors the past two years (top 5s weighted more).

Photo by Nick Laham

Just missed the cut

There are more great players without a major title on their resume than you think. That's why guys like Matt Kuchar, Patrick Reed, Bill Haas, Daniel Berger, and Matthew Fitzpatrick didn't even crack our top 10. Hey, it's just how the complicated basic math worked out. Again, here's the formula we used: PGA Tour/European Tour wins since start of 2015 (WGC, Players, and FedEx Cup Playoff events weighted more) + Average Official World Golf Ranking Points + Top 10s in majors the past two years (top 5s weighted more). OK, now you're really getting antsy to see who did make the list. Here we go. . .

10.) Paul Casey (6.58)

A solo sixth at the Masters helped Casey climb into the top 10. The man who was once ranked as high as No. 3 in the Official World Golf Ranking would be higher, but all of his 14 combined PGA/European Tour came before 2015. He also had a disappointing finish to the 2017 U.S. Open with a T-26 after having a share of the 36-hole lead.

9.) Brandt Snedeker (6.77)

Snedeker vaults onto this list on the strength of a T-5 at the 2017 U.S. Open. The two-time Ryder Cupper's two closest calls in a major were T-3s at the 2008 Masters and 2012 British Open.

8.) Thomas Pieters (7.6)

The breakout star at the 2016 Ryder Cup showed his performance on that big stage was no fluke at the 2017 Masters. Making his Augusta National debut, the long-hitting Belgian finished T-4.

7.) Tommy Fleetwood (8.04)

The young Brit joins the list following a T-4 at the 2017 U.S. Open, his first career top-10 finish at a major. Having grown up just down the road from Royal Birkdale, Vegas has made Fleetwood one of the betting favorites for the 2017 British Open at 20-to-1 odds.

6.) Branden Grace (9.11)

Of all non-major winners, Grace is one of only two players (Paul Casey) with four top-five finishes in those four events since the start of 2015. The South African's closest call came at the 2015 U.S. Open when he stood on the 16th tee in the final round tied -- but then hit his tee shot out-of-bounds onto railroad tracks.

5.) Justin Thomas (10.08)

Thomas seemed primed to win a first major at the 2017 U.S. Open when he shot a third-round 63 to break a U.S. Open record for score in relation to par, and earn a Sunday tee time in the final pairing. A disappointing 75 dropped him to T-9, but there will be plenty more chances for this 24-year-old, who won three events early in the 2016-2017 season, including a Sony Open title that consisted of a 59.

4.) Rickie Fowler (10.49)

Fowler checks in lower than expected, but keep in mind that no one is hurt by our criteria as much as the 2015 Players champ. His four top-five finishes in majors in 2014 don't count. Yes, our cut-off date is arbitrary, but if you don't like it, you're welcome to come up with your own formula. Fowler's T-5 at the 2017 U.S. Open counts, but it was somewhat of a disappointing finish considering he flirted with the lead for most of the week at Erin Hills.

3.) Alex Noren (11.26)

The Swede's red-hot finish to 2016 (Four European Tour titles from July-November) wasn't enough to earn him a spot on the European Ryder Cup team, but it did pull him near the top of this list. Noren added the European Tour's flagship event, the BMW PGA, to his resume in May, giving him five wins since mid-July of 2016.

2.) Jon Rahm (13.02)

OK, so here's where we cheated a bit. The numbers didn't put Rahm, the youngest player to make our list, in the top 10, but because that's ridiculous (Again, we're talking about the best golfers right now), we made an adjustment. Since Rahm has only played in 27 events that count for Official World Ranking Points -- and everyone else has played in at least 40, the minimum divisor that's also used to calculate Rahm's rank -- we pro-rated his points to make up the difference. Deal with it.

1.) Hideki Matsuyama (14.08)

Despite some recent struggles, Matsuyama leads our list with the best balance of wins, World Ranking points, and high finishes in majors. At 25, he already has top 10s in all four majors and when it comes to winning a big one, it seems like it's not a question of if, but when, especially after a T-2 at the 2017 U.S. Open. Then again, everyone said the same thing about a 19-year-old Sergio Garcia. It finally happened for Garcia at the 2017 Masters, but it took nearly two decades.