Lightning in a bottle, Who is the Worst Player to Have Won a Major

[GolfLug]

1 hour ago, mchepp said:

Your comment reminds me of the joke my father used to tell me. "What do you call the guy who graduated at the bottom of his class in medical school... Doctor."

There is no doubt that anyone who won a major is in an elite class, but within that class there must be someone at the bottom of it. We are always arguing who the GOAT is, therefore there must be a inverse to that discussion. Who is the bottom of the class. 

It is not shameful to be the bottom of that class, in fact its been shown they likely live life quite comfortably (Ben Curtis has his $13M plus endorsements to count), but it should not be a reason to shy away from the discussion.

But, but, but it, it,it....is just so insensitive (sniff.... sniff...)...

Seriously though, you cannot tell me that the thought that by virtue of them being at the bottom of the class, they are somewhat undeserving or purely luck doesn't cross ones mind. Grossly unfair. It says 'lightening in a bottle' in the thread itself. I have known many doctors on a personal level (my dad is one of them). Yet, to meet he made it out of medical school purely on luck as alluded to by the 'lightening..' comment.

I will continue reading each comment on this thread and shake my head in disgust at every single one of them.

Happy Friday! Carry on then...

 

46 minutes ago, natureboy said:

It's rare for low-ranked golfers to win majors, even in the early days. It's even rarer to have a true 'one hit wonder' without some show  of consistent form across the years at least in the major they won. Micheel's thin results across the years are pretty rare for a major winner.

Looking through the list of early single major winners most of them had significant number of other professional wins or amateur wins or open tournament wins (state / regional open e.g.) as an amateur. Michael Campbell had a number of Australasian and Euro Tour wins, for example even though his only PGA win was a Major.

The players on the far right of this chart are Curtis, Micheel, John Daly, Paul Lawrie, Darren Clarke, YE Yang, John Daly, Keegan Bradley, & Steve Jones. Wins from the top half of a major field are rare, but their collective ~ 10% share isn't insignificant. Chance of being struck by lightning (in one's lifetime) are about 1 in 3,000. In the period of the chart about 4,500 individual player spots are represented.

Other names possibly in the 'over-achiever' group are: Fred Herd, Tom Creavy, Jack White, Walter Burkemo, Jim Turnesa, Orville Moody (late bloomer won a bunch on Champions Tour), George Sargent, Claude Harmon (only 2 tour wins, but dominated Westchester / Metropolitan area while head pro at Winged Foot), Tommy Aaron, Dave Marr, Jack Fleck, Charles Coody, Keegan Bradley (still early in his career).

IMO, the biggest 'overachiever' in Majors was Larry Nelson with 3 Majors and 7 'regular' tour wins.

Except this one... Sort of makes the point that not as much a flash in the pan or lightening colored bottle or whatever the hell else you want to drag down to..

[mchepp]

2 hours ago, GolfLug said:

But, but, but it, it,it....is just so insensitive (sniff.... sniff...)...

I know you're a big boy and you can handle it. 

2 hours ago, GolfLug said:

Seriously though, you cannot tell me that the thought that by virtue of them being at the bottom of the class, they are somewhat undeserving or purely luck doesn't cross ones mind. Grossly unfair. It says 'lightening in a bottle' in the thread itself. I have known many doctors on a personal level (my dad is one of them). Yet, to meet he made it out of medical school purely on luck as alluded to by the 'lightening..' comment.

I will continue reading each comment on this thread and shake my head in disgust at every single one of them.

Happy Friday! Carry on then...

I grant you one point, the lightening the bottle comment. I get it, actually I changed the title of the thread because I wanted it to be more about the worst player to have won a major, but @Wally Fairway started it and he named it Lightning in a Bottle, since he was the starter of the thread I didn't want to get rid of that original title.

[onthehunt526]

How bout the biggest case of catching lightning in a bottle, ever, period?

Orville Moody, has 1 PGA Tour victory.(though I guess he won a few tournaments on the Senior Tour) Yup. 

Orville Moody had to go through both  Local and Sectional qualifying for the 1969 U.S. Open, and he won... only PGA Tour win an it was a major, talk about the worst player to win a major, having to go through both stages of qualifying to even play the U.S. Open and go and win it? He won nothing before it, and nothing after it... ultimate lightning in the bottle story.

[SavvySwede]

3 hours ago, onthehunt526 said:

How bout the biggest case of catching lightning in a bottle, ever, period?

Orville Moody, has 1 PGA Tour victory.(though I guess he won a few tournaments on the Senior Tour) Yup. 

Orville Moody had to go through both  Local and Sectional qualifying for the 1969 U.S. Open, and he won... only PGA Tour win an it was a major, talk about the worst player to win a major, having to go through both stages of qualifying to even play the U.S. Open and go and win it? He won nothing before it, and nothing after it... ultimate lightning in the bottle story.

Moody had a real job though, he was in the army for 14 years and didn't turn pro until 33 and won the U.S Open two years later. My vote is still for Shaun Micheel because he had a full length career and was a pro for 11 years before his big win. Moody demonstrated his longevity with his Senior Tour wins (1 of them being a Major), his real issue was getting too late of a start on his golf career.

[onthehunt526]

Just now, SavvySwede said:

Moody had a real job though, he was in the army for 14 years and didn't turn pro until 33 and won the U.S Open two years later. My vote is still for Shaun Micheel because he had a full length career and was a pro for 11 years before his big win. Moody demonstrated his longevity with his Senior Tour wins (1 of them being a Major), his real issue was getting too late of a start on his golf career.

Moody was in the army for 14 years, his nickname was "Sarge" on tour. He was a good player on what is now the Champions Tour he's one of a short list to win both the U.S. Open and Senior Open... even still being a late bloomer. He was still on the regular tour for 16 years and only won once...

Rich Beem comes to mind as well as catching lightning in a bottle for a couple tourneys in a row ( He won the International and PGA in back-to-back starts, then nada)... 

Shaun Micheel is probably the modern "Lightning in a bottle" major winner... but the fact Moody's only tour win was the 1969 U.S. Open, and he had to go through both stages of qualifying, that's lightning in a bottle... that would equivalent to like Erik winning at Oakmont this year. Moody's win was completely out of nowhere. So was Micheel's for that matter.

 

[SavvySwede]

2 minutes ago, onthehunt526 said:

Moody was in the army for 14 years, his nickname was "Sarge" on tour. He was a good player on what is now the Champions Tour he's one of a short list to win both the U.S. Open and Senior Open... even still being a late bloomer. He was still on the regular tour for 16 years and only won once...

Rich Beem comes to mind as well as catching lightning in a bottle for a couple tourneys in a row ( He won the International and PGA in back-to-back starts, then nada)... 

Shaun Micheel is probably the modern "Lightning in a bottle" major winner... but the fact Moody's only tour win was the 1969 U.S. Open, and he had to go through both stages of qualifying, that's lightning in a bottle... that would equivalent to like Erik winning at Oakmont this year. Moody's win was completely out of nowhere. So was Micheel's for that matter.

 

On average Tour player's peak around 31-33 and wins quickly drop of after age 35. Moody missed his best years.10 of those 16 years he was in his 40's. 

[onthehunt526]

5 minutes ago, SavvySwede said:

On average Tour player's peak around 31-33 and wins quickly drop of after age 35. Moody missed his best years.10 of those 16 years he was in his 40's. 

 

5 minutes ago, SavvySwede said:

 

I'll buy that.

My point is "Lightning In A Bottle" is when a player comes out of absolutely nowhere and unexpectedly wins a major.

I agree Micheel is a definite example of that, as is Steve Jones, Rich Beem, Mark Brooks, John Daly, Andy North, etc... 

But the ultimate lightning in the bottle has to go to Moody, Micheel's is 2nd in my opinion.

[SavvySwede]

11 minutes ago, onthehunt526 said:

 

I'll buy that.

My point is "Lightning In A Bottle" is when a player comes out of absolutely nowhere and unexpectedly wins a major.

I agree Micheel is a definite example of that, as is Steve Jones, Rich Beem, Mark Brooks, John Daly, Andy North, etc... 

But the ultimate lightning in the bottle has to go to Moody, Micheel's is 2nd in my opinion.

Trevino picked him to win so it couldn't be completely out of nowhere. I'll bet nobody picked Micheel for his win.

[onthehunt526]

4 minutes ago, SavvySwede said:

Trevino picked him to win so it couldn't be completely out of nowhere. I'll bet nobody picked Micheel for his win.

I just looked and compared Micheel and Moody's careers.

Micheel: 1 PGA Tour win (2003 PGA Championship), really no other form to go on... He only has 1 other top-5 in a major, and a second in the match play.

Moody: 1 PGA Tour win (1969 U.S. Open) Had a couple other top-10s in majors, and was a pretty consistent player in his later years on the tour, just couldn't get any wins, Did win 11 times on the Champions tour including the 1989 Senior Open.

@SavvySwedeI reevaluated my position, and you are correct, Micheel's win in the long haul is more of a lightning in a bottle win than Moody's...

So Micheel is number 1 and Moody number 2.... but you'd have to agree with me, if Chad Campbell won have won that PGA, Moody would be #1 on the lightning in a bottle major wins... Micheel has done next to nothing since his surprise win at Oak Hill 13 years ago. 

The worst player to win a major: Shaun Micheel by far.

Orville Moody was really good tee to green, he struggled with the putter, and lost a few playoffs in his day, and was actually the player of the year in 1969.

[SavvySwede]

6 minutes ago, onthehunt526 said:

I just looked and compared Micheel and Moody's careers.

Micheel: 1 PGA Tour win (2003 PGA Championship), really no other form to go on... He only has 1 other top-5 in a major, and a second in the match play.

Moody: 1 PGA Tour win (1969 U.S. Open) Had a couple other top-10s in majors, and was a pretty consistent player in his later years on the tour, just couldn't get any wins, Did win 11 times on the Champions tour including the 1989 Senior Open.

@SavvySwedeI reevaluated my position, and you are correct, Micheel's win in the long haul is more of a lightning in a bottle win than Moody's...

So Micheel is number 1 and Moody number 2.... but you'd have to agree with me, if Chad Campbell won have won that PGA, Moody would be #1 on the lightning in a bottle major wins... Micheel has done next to nothing since his surprise win at Oak Hill 13 years ago. 

The worst player to win a major: Shaun Micheel by far.

Orville Moody was really good tee to green, he struggled with the putter, and lost a few playoffs in his day, and was actually the player of the year in 1969.

@iacas Had Moody as number one back in this article from 2005.
http://thesandtrap.com/b/trap_five/worst_players_to_have_won_a_major

I'm curious Erik, would you put Micheel at the top of the list now that enough time has passed and his career is at a close?

[Broke100Once]

If you want to go old-school, Sam Parks Jr. (1935 US Open champ) may be it.  Local amateur who knew Oakmont like the back of his hand, and used that knowledge to shock the world in the 1935 Open.  That was his only PGA win, and he only won a few other state pro events in his career.

For modern major winners, it's hard to argue with Micheel.  As others have noted, even the other 'lightning in a bottle' major champs have won at least one other time on Tour.

[onthehunt526]

2 minutes ago, Broke100Once said:

If you want to go old-school, Sam Parks Jr. (1935 US Open champ) may be it.  Local amateur who knew Oakmont like the back of his hand, and used that knowledge to shock the world in the 1935 Open.  That was his only PGA win, and he only won a few other state pro events in his career.

For modern major winners, it's hard to argue with Micheel.  As others have noted, even the other 'lightning in a bottle' major champs have won at least one other time on Tour.

Hey, the Open is at Oakmont this year, nice touch with Sam Parks, Jr.

[natureboy]

1 hour ago, Broke100Once said:

If you want to go old-school, Sam Parks Jr. (1935 US Open champ) may be it.  Local amateur who knew Oakmont like the back of his hand, and used that knowledge to shock the world in the 1935 Open.  That was his only PGA win, and he only won a few other state pro events in his career.

For modern major winners, it's hard to argue with Micheel.  As others have noted, even the other 'lightning in a bottle' major champs have won at least one other time on Tour.

Reason I didn't have him on my list, though is the fairly strong / consistent showings in several Majors plus his state / regional wins. Those were bigger deals when travelling was more difficult and expensive.

[onthehunt526]

50 minutes ago, natureboy said:

Reason I didn't have him on my list, though is the fairly strong / consistent showings in several Majors plus his state / regional wins. Those were bigger deals when travelling was more difficult and expensive.

It wasn't really until the 1960s when top American pros even played the Open Championship... because of your point, travel was expensive.

[boogielicious]

16 hours ago, GolfLug said:

But, but, but it, it,it....is just so insensitive (sniff.... sniff...)...

Seriously though, you cannot tell me that the thought that by virtue of them being at the bottom of the class, they are somewhat undeserving or purely luck doesn't cross ones mind. Grossly unfair. It says 'lightening in a bottle' in the thread itself. I have known many doctors on a personal level (my dad is one of them). Yet, to meet he made it out of medical school purely on luck as alluded to by the 'lightening..' comment.

I will continue reading each comment on this thread and shake my head in disgust at every single one of them.

Happy Friday! Carry on then...

 

Except this one... Sort of makes the point that not as much a flash in the pan or lightening colored bottle or whatever the hell else you want to drag down to..

 

14 hours ago, mchepp said:

I know you're a big boy and you can handle it. 

I grant you one point, the lightening the bottle comment. I get it, actually I changed the title of the thread because I wanted it to be more about the worst player to have won a major, but @Wally Fairway started it and he named it Lightning in a Bottle, since he was the starter of the thread I didn't want to get rid of that original title.

That's point I was trying make too. "Worst" may be insensitive, but that not the point. I think it is not really correct. They are excellent players compared to the rest of us but they overachieved to beat players better than them. They played "So far above their heads that their noses bled a week to ten days" to quote Bill Murray. We even have a trophy named after one of them, Francis Ouimet, the ultimate golf dark horse winner. We could argue that Ben Curtis is much better than Quimet ever was.

So I guess the answer to the thread title is Francis Quimet. 

[onthehunt526]

I don't think that "worst" is a great adjective here. These "lightning in a bottle" major champions, were good players, if they weren't they wouldn't have been on the tour... 

Considering the amount of one-hit wonder major champions there have been, it's hard to not use the word "worst"...

Here's another one for you, Wayne Grady, he won the 1990 PGA Championship at Shoal Creek, then just disappeared off the face of the earth.

The thread could've also been titled "Lightning In A Bottle: One-Time Major Champions With Disappointing Careers", but that is a bit wordy for a thread title. Just my $0.02 :)

[ScouseJohnny]

Ian Baker-Finch.

[ppine]

Anyone that has won a major event should never be reffered to as the worst at anything in golf.