Best player without a major win: Kenny Perry

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Kenny Perry saw two majors slip through his grasp: the 1996 PGA Championship at Valhalla and the 2009 Masters.

Who is the best active golfer who has yet to break through with a major victory? We asked eight PGATOUR.COM writers to each pick a different player and make the argument why that player deserves (or perhaps is stuck with) the label as best player without a major. Read the argument below and click here to see the arguments for seven other players.
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We shouldn't be talking about Kenny Perry, at least not when the conversation turns to best players never to win a major. His name should already be crossed off this list. But he bogeyed the 72nd hole at the 1996 PGA Championship, and then went bogey-bogey in regulation at the Masters in April, forcing playoffs -- which he lost, of course -- both times. Thus, instead of two majors, he's left with two versions of the same nightmare.

Outside of those two instances, however, it's easy to forget about Perry when discussing the majors. Partly that's due to his age -- he turned 49 on Monday -- and the fact that he's a late bloomer, having won 11 of his 14 victories after turning 40. We've only recently started to appreciate Perry's skills and competitive nature on the PGA TOUR.

Partly it's due to his spotty participation in majors. Last year, you'll recall, he didn't play in the first three majors, then he withdrew from the PGA Championship due to a scratched cornea. He has played the British Open just six times, the Masters just nine.

Now consider this comparison: In the last 12 years, Perry has played in just 27 majors while Sergio Garcia has played in 43. In other words, Perry just hasn't had as many opportunities to win majors as has Garcia or Lee Westwood, who has played in 47 majors but has never finished better than third. Perry doesn't automatically get four cracks at a major every year.

Despite his after-40 productivity, Perry is running out of time when it comes to legitimately contending in a major. History suggests he's already reached the expiration point; the older winner of a major was Julius Boros at age 46. While it wouldn't be a Tom Watson fairytale this week, a Perry win at Hazeltine certainly would be one for the record books.

And yet would any of us really be surprised? After all, Perry has two wins this year, five in the last two years. He continues to exceed our expectations about what a golfer can accomplish as he nears 50.

Just because his shelf life on the TOUR isn't as long as, say, Garcia's or Paul Casey's doesn't mean Perry isn't the best player without a major. After all, none of the other players who are mentioned in our argument have finished second in a major this year.