Golf Spotlight: The 5 Most Obscure Major Winners of All Time
While there are several well-known professional golf tournaments worldwide, there are four that are more prestigious than others. These events, known as the majors, are the PGA Championship, U.S. Open, The Open Championship, and the Masters Tournament. Greatness in the sport, more than anything, is determined by major championship victories. Jack Nicklaus is the all-time leader with 18 major championship titles and Tiger Woods is second with 15. Many other golf legends, including Walter Hagen (11), Ben Hogan (9), Gary Player (9), and Arnold Palmer (7), have won at least five majors.
Generally, the best players in the world rise to the occasion in majors, although it isn't uncommon for a relatively unknown or unheralded player to get on a hot streak and win. Only 86 of the 232 major championship winners have won at least two majors. The following five players, meanwhile, are among the most obscure one-time major champions.
Shaun Micheel (2003 PGA Championship)
Shaun Micheel might be one of the most unlikely major championship winners of all time, but he hit one of the best shots in the sport's history en route to winning the 2003 PGA Championship. Micheel, ranked No. 169 in the world at the time, hit a 7-iron from 174 feet to within inches of the hole and tapped in for a birdie on the 18th hole at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, New York. He finished four-under par, two strokes ahead of second-place finisher Chad Campbell. It was Micheel's first and only win on the PGA Tour.
Micheel had 397 starts on the PGA Tour following the 2018-19 season, which is more than any other golfer whose only career victory was a major. He did, however, come close to winning at the 2006 PGA Championship, finishing runner-up to Woods at Medinah Country Club. He also made the first-ever albatross (three-under par) in U.S. Open history on the par-5 sixth hole at Pebble Beach in 2010.
Orville Moody (1969 U.S. Open)
Orville Moody, like Micheel, won his only PGA Tour event at a major. Moody shot one-over par to win the 1969 U.S. Open at Champions Golf Club in Houston Texas, finishing one stroke ahead of Deane Beman, Al Geiberger, and Bob Rosburg. He was three shots back of the lead heading into the final round, when third-round leader Miller Barber shot a 78 and fell to 6th place.
Moody won just once in 266 starts on the PGA Tour, but was among the best ball strikers in the world. His problem was that he couldn't putt well relative to his peers. He might have won more tournaments had he not spent 14 years serving in the military. Moody didn't begin playing professional golf until he was 33 years old. He was much more successful on the Senior PGA Tour, winning 11 events, including the 1989 U.S. Senior Open.
Paul Lawrie (1999 Open Championship)
Paul Lawrie was the benefactor of one of the most surprising choke jobs in major championship history at the 1999 Open Championship at Carnoustie Golf Links in Angus, Scotland. Jean van de Velde led the field by five strokes after the third round and was 10 shots ahead of Lawrie, but shot a final round 77 to finish six-over par. Lawrie, meanwhile, shot a 67 in the final round, earning a spot in the championship playoff with van de Velde and Leonard. Even worse, van de Velde had a three-stroke lead with just one hole to play, but made a triple bogey.
Lawrie won the four-hole playoff by three strokes, securing the victory with his eighth birdie of the day in the final hole. Ranked No. 159 in the world at the time, Lawrie, a native of Scotland, was the first qualifier to win the Claret Jug and still holds the record for the largest fourth-round comeback in PGA Tour history. He didn't win again on the PGA Tour, but is an eight-time winner on the European Tour.
Rich Beem (2002 PGA Championship)
Rich Beem is a three-time winner on the PGA Tour, but was a surprising champion at the 2002 PGA Championship at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minnesota. Beem was three shots back of Leonard for the tournament lead through three rounds, but shot a final round 68 to finish 10-under, one stroke ahead of Woods. Leonard shot 77 in the final round to finish six strokes behind Beem in fourth place.
Beem didn't win again on the PGA Tour after the 2002 season and never recorded another top-10 finish at a major. He's still involved in the sport, most recently serving as a color commentator for the video game PGA Tour 2K23.
Ben Curtis (2003 Open Championship)
Ben Curtis won four times on the PGA Tour, but his first victory at the 2003 Open Championship was one of the biggest surprises in tournament history. Curtis had 300-to-1 odds to win the event and was ranked No. 393 in the world at the time. He trailed leader Thomas Bjørn by two strokes after three rounds, but shot a final round 69 to beat Bjørn by one stroke. This was his first PGA Tour top-10 result.