Biggest golf majors shocks of all time
The Majors are the pinnacle of golf. Every year, four tournaments grab the attention of the golf world and attract the very best to compete for glory.
Each Major attracts enormous hype and publicity, from fans clambering for tickets to golf betting experts checking out the latest golf betting odds and making their picks. While the Majors have seen some of the greatest ever players record their names in history, they have also produced some dramatic and memorable shocks. Here are just a few of the very best.
John Daly, 1991 US PGA
After a series of withdrawals, Daly was given a spot in the field at the US PGA, held at Crooked Stick in 1991. He had to drive through the night to get there. Nobody had ever heard of him before, but after four days of incredible golf, that had changed! With a massive backswing, Daly hit the ball a mile and at that tournament, he putted as if he were a god. Daly would win The Open four years later, but Crooked Stick was his crowning achievement, and his victory astonished the golfing world.
Shaun Micheel, 2003 US PGA
Remarkably, Micheel only ever won one PGA Tour event, but that just happened to be the 2003 US PGA Championship. His odds were 250-1 for his 164th PGA Tour start, but he fired 69-68 in the opening two rounds to grab a two-shot lead over Billy Andrade and Mike Weir. With a third-round 69, he was still level for fourth place with Chad Campbell and three shots ahead of Weir, but he went on to win by two shots after shooting a par 70 in the final round.
Michael Campbell, 2005 US Open
The New Zealander had come close to winning The Open at St Andrews a few years before, but he was more known for a career marked by amazing highs and terrible lows. The highlight of his career was undoubtedly his triumph at the 2005 US Open, which no one saw coming.
He reached the tournament through sectional qualifying, holing a six-foot birdie putt to clinch his spot. After three rounds of the tournament, Campbell was four strokes behind Retief Goosen, the defending champion. Yet in the final round, the South African shot an 81. On a day of historic scoring, Campbell scored a 69 to hold off Tiger Woods’ challenge. He won by two shots with a score of 280.
Y E Yang, 2009 US PGA
Tiger Woods was in the lead heading into the final round of the year’s last major championship. After winning the US Open at Torrey Pines the year before, he had undergone leg surgery but was getting back to his best and seemed to be on course again. Whenever Woods was leading heading into the final round of a major, he usually won, but not this time. Instead, YE Yang of South Korea, who kept his cool on the last day, became the first player from Korea to win a Major.
Todd Hamilton, 2004 Open
Hamilton was 38 years old in 2003, when he received his PGA Tour card, although he had been a successful player in Japan. His PGA victory came at the 2004 Honda Classic, but later that year he was a huge underdog at the Open at Royal Troon. After carding a 71 in the first round, he hit 67 in the second, which was enough to tie for fifth with Ernie Els and three other players. In the third round, he added another 67 to extend his lead over Els to one shot. However, that lead had turned around by the time that Els lined up a putt on the 18th hole in the fourth round. Els needed the 12-foot birdie putt for the win, but he missed. Els and Hamilton then advanced to the four-hole playoff. Thanks to four solid pars, compared to Els’ three pars and bogey, Hamilton pulled off the Major upset.
Ben Curtis, 2003 Open
Everyone loves an underdog, and at the 2003 Open, Ben Curtis was the ultimate underdog. Ranked 396 in the world at the start of the tournament, he was quoted at odds of 300-1 for his Major debut, yet consistent rounds of 72, 72 and 70 set up a thrilling final day and his final round of 69 enabled him to claim the title, making him the first man to win on his Major debut since 1913.
