13 to watch for 2013: No. 10 Mark Calcavecchia

Chris Condon/PGA TOUR

Mark Calcavecchia will continue to chase an elusive major title in 2013.

TOP 13 FOR 2013: No. 11 Wood | No. 12 Mediate | No. 13 Montgomerie | MORE: Rookies in 2013

Is this the year Mark Calcavecchia finally wins a Champions Tour major?

He’s been close but majors have eluded him despite some outstanding performances.

Calcavecchia posted 11 top 10 finishes in 2012 and finished sixth on the money list, topping the $1 million mark again. Always a birdie machine, Calcavecchia continued to make more than anybody else on the Champions Tour. His total birdies (323) and birdie average (4.49) made him No. 1 in both categories.

Calcavecchia won the Montreal Championship in 2012, where he rallied with a course record-tying 8-under-par 64 to win the title. It came after Calc’s longest drought of the season. Calcavecchia had opportunities to win that elusive major title at the Constellation SENIOR PLAYERS Championship before finishing T4. He also had a T10 at the Senior Open at Turnberry and a pair of T12s at the U.S. Senior Open and the Senior PGA Championship. He had three top 5 finishes in Champions Tour majors in 2011.

Calcavecchia’s signature moment of 2012 came at the Open Championship at Royal Lytham and St. Annes, England, where he tied for ninth. Calcavecchia won the Claret Jug in 1989 at Royal Troon and proved again, at age 52, that he still had the magic on the other side of the pond. Calcavecchia got into contention with rounds of 68-69 before a final round 72.

“I kind of ran out of gas,” he said. “But you've got to look at the whole week. And that's pretty good for me, so I'm happy with that. Proud of my effort. I was hitting it good enough that if I didn't lose my mind, I'd have a chance to make the cut. But that was about my only expectation. If I could pick off a top 10, that was certainly way higher than what I was planning on, for sure.”

2012 QUICK REVIEW