Who has the most major championship runner-up finishes?

Most people - players and non-players alike - agree that major championship victories are the yardstick for 'greatness'. But equally, all would admit that winning majors, or for that matter any tournament, requires not just great skill, but a little luck at the right time. They don't always come together and the win slips away, into other hands.

Perhaps 'contending', which we will here define as 'finishing second', is the next best yardstick, and a sign of consistently strong performances. It may also go some way to answering the eternal question: "Who is the best player never to have won a major?" (By this yardstick, it's Colin Montgomerie.)

So who is the most frequent contender, or runner-up, in major history? Greg Norman springs to mind, perhaps because his missed opportunities at majors are so well known, and sometimes - like the 1996 Masters, when he led by six shots going into the final round, but wound up five shots beind Nick Faldo - so spectacular. But no, The Shark doesn't even come close.

It's Jack Nicklaus who, alongside his 18 professional major championships, had an incredible 19 runner-up finishes. And Tiger Woods? Just 6 so far.

November 2010