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The decade in golf: NCG’s biggest disappointment

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Which players have failed to hit the heights in the past 10 years, be it not living up to their hype or those who have just crashed on the big stage?

decade in golf

Plenty was expected of these four players from our Fourball team but things haven’t, relatively speaking, quite worked out in the past decade. Who is your biggest disappointment in golf in the ’10s?

Dan: I tend towards cynicism when it comes to pronouncing the next great talent but I must admit that I thought Matteo Manassero was destined for great things.

Not only has he failed to win a major or play in a Ryder Cup but he ends the decade without even a tour card. That’s desperately sad. 

Steve: For a former World No. 1, Ryder Cup hero and demolisher of Pinehurst, it’s been sad to see Martin Kaymer struggle to find any consistency. 

Mark: In October 2010 Westwood reached the World No. 1 spot and he seemed to be edging closer to that breakthrough major. The driving and ball striking was always going to be imperious, the chipping woes were long gone and if he could hole a few then we could finally get rid of the Best Player To Never… well, you know the rest.

I’ve got a lot of time for Westwood and, these days, particularly his longevity – imagine being near the top of your sport for around 20 years – and the way he’s made himself a force again but to not have that elusive major is faintly ridiculous when you look at all those who have got over the line since 2010.

It’s a nonsense, given their particular skills, that he and Monty will likely end their careers without one.

Andy: In terms of not fulfilling potential, I think DJ has disappointed massively. On the face of it, he’s super consistent and a serial winner. But with all the attributes you’d want to create a golfing superpower, one lone major win is nowhere near a good enough return.

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It remains to be seen if he’ll add to his tally but the list of challengers grows every year and time is running out.

Which player has disappointed you the most in the past decade? Let us know in the comments below or you can tweet us.

About the author

Dan Murphy
Dan Murphy

Dan is a lifelong golfer. He had the great fortune to grow up within 200 yards of the 5th fairway of his local 9-holer, Rawdon, in Leeds.

Dan attended his first Open Championship in 1988 at Royal Lytham. The first action he saw, peering through the crowds behind the 8th green, was Paul Broadhurst holing out from the fairway below for an eagle. Which seemed perfectly normal at the time.

Since then, he has attended a further 27 Opens. Tragically, he can recite a phenomenal number of arcane statistics about The Open – whether you ask him to or not.

Dan has a post-graduate diploma in print journalism and is an experienced writer and editor. He is also a director of NCG’s parent company.

Dan specialises in the golf courses of the British Isles and heads up NCG Top 100s course rankings. He is not unacquainted with links golf and is closing in on a lifetime tally of 700 courses played.

In a former life, Dan was NCG’s equipment editor. Currently in his bag are: Ping G440 Max driver, Ping G440 Thriver, Ping G440 4-wood, Ping iDi 3-iron, Ping Blueprint-S irons, Ping S259 wedges and a Ping Scottsdale Tec Ketsch Onset putter.

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