Aaron Rai’s PGA Championship victory last weekend came as a massive surprise.
Rai came into the week with roughly 200/1 odds to take home the title. On a course that rewarded long drives and excellent putting, the victor was a player who is very short off the tee and a well-below-average putter.
That’s why they play the games, folks.
That got me thinking about other surprising major winners we’ve had since the turn of the century.
Here is my list of the top 10 shocking major victors since 2000.
10. Darren Clarke
Odds prior to the tournament: ~100-125/1
OWGR prior to the tournament: No. 111
Darren Clarke had a very fine career, winning 14 times on the European Tour and three times on the PGA Tour.
Having said that, a 42-year-old Clarke capturing the 2011 Open Championship is among the most random results in recent golf history.
Clarke had gone an entire decade without a top-10 major finish. After finishing T3 at the 2001 Open Championship, Clarke had 55 more major starts—and his only top-10 major finish was winning the 2011 Open Championship at Royal St George’s.
The result was never in doubt as Clarke won by three strokes despite a pair of closing bogeys. He dedicated the victory to his late wife, Heather, who passed away in 2006.
9. Keegan Bradley
Odds: ~150/1
OWGR: No. 108
Keegan Bradley has played in 51 majors at this point and is respected as a strong player.
But in his very first major start—back before golf fans knew about him—Bradley came out of nowhere to win the 2011 PGA Championship.
It was a wild final round at Atlanta Athletic Club as Bradley battled Jason Dufner. After making a triple bogey on the par-3 15th, Bradley was down by four strokes with just three holes to play.
But Bradley made birdies at Nos. 16 and 17 while Dufner made bogey on those same holes. After going 1-under in a three-hole playoff, Bradley was suddenly a major champ.
8. Lucas Glover
Odds: ~175/1
OWGR: No. 71
Glover has enjoyed a nice Tour career, winning six times and making more than $41 million.
But his win at the 2009 U.S. Open was a complete anomaly.
Glover has played in 55 majors and has just two top-10 finishes, both of which came in 2009.
The 2009 U.S. Open was a weird major on multiple levels. It was a strange weather week and the final leaderboard is truly bizarre. David Duval, many years removed from his prime, nearly won the tournament with a late rally. Phil Mickelson shared the lead on the back nine but kicked it away. Tiger Woods couldn’t get anything going and ended four shots back.
The man above them all? Glover.
7. Aaron Rai
Odds: ~200-250/1
OWGR: No. 44
We just saw Rai capture the PGA Championship, breaking through a crowded leaderboard that featured Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Xander Schauffele, Ludvig Aberg and other established stars.
As mentioned, Aronimink did not suit Rai’s game on paper but he was able to overcome his lack of driving distance with superb wedge play and a hot putter. In the end, he shot 5-under 65 and separated himself over the last two hours of the tournament.
Rai came into the week as a solid Tour player who had won once before (2024 Wyndham Championship), but his best major finish was T19. Considering his competition at Aronimink, this was a total stunner.
6. Phil Mickelson
Odds: ~250-300/1
OWGR: No. 115
Winning a major championship at 50 years old—the oldest player to ever do it—is one thing.
Winning a major when you were well beyond your prime and not even playing great golf coming into the week is another thing.
Mickelson’s 2021 PGA victory is one of the great mysteries of our game. He was decidedly terrible in 2021, finishing the year with only one top-10 finish to go along with seven missed cuts.
That one top-10 finish was his sixth major title. He won it going away, too.
I still haven’t processed this one. Mickelson’s stock was higher than ever at the time (let’s just pretend nothing has happened since then).
5. Y.E. Yang
Odds: ~125-150/1
OWGR: No. 110
Y.E. Yang will forever be known as the Tiger Killer.
Woods carried a two-stroke lead into the final round of the 2009 PGA Championship, a lead that seemed insurmountable given Tiger’s ability to close the door at majors. He had never surrendered a 54-hole major lead.
Yang and Woods were tied late on Sunday when Yang made an eagle at the drivable par-4 14th, gaining an advantage he would never relinquish. Both players made bogey at No. 17, one of the only moments of Tiger’s career where he faltered down the stretch of a major he probably should have won.
Yang only captured one other PGA Tour title in his career (2009 Honda Classic) and had just two other top-10 finishes in majors. Prior to the victory, his best major finish was T47.
4. Shaun Micheel
Odds: ~200-300/1
OWGR: No. 169
Micheel’s only Tour victory of his career came at Oak Hill during the 2003 PGA Championship.
His only other major top-10 finish was a distant runner-up performance at the 2006 PGA Championship. He has played in 39 majors and missed the cut in 27 of them.
But back at the ’03 PGA, Micheel battled against the likes of Chad Campbell and Tim Clark to find major glory. Nobody will forget his final shot at the 72nd hole when he hit his approach shot to tap-in range.
It’s one of the true underdog stories in the game’s history.
3. Todd Hamilton
Odds: ~400/1
OWGR: No. 56
You might be surprised to see that Hamilton was 400/1 odds prior to the 2004 Open Championship despite being No. 56 in the world and having already won on Tour earlier that year at The Honda Classic.
It’s true that Hamilton wasn’t a total nobody heading into the week—but one look at his major record will have you understanding why he is so high on this list.
The 2004 Open was his only top-10 major finish of his career. And other than a T15 at the 2009 Masters, Hamilton was never even close to getting back near that level in the biggest events.
It was a magical week for Hamilton at Royal Troon when he defeated Ernie Els by making four consecutive pars in a playoff. Hamilton relied on a hybrid from off the green that week, and the strategy paid off with an incredible victory.
Els, the four-time major champ, probably should have had this one (but he would later be gifted an Open Championship by a late Adam Scott meltdown, so the golf gods paid him back).
2. Rich Beem
Odds: ~200-300/1
OWGR: No. 73
Beem shares an almost identical major record with Hamilton. Aside from victory at the 2002 PGA Championship, he only has a T15 at the 2003 Masters. He never got into major contention again.
The biggest shocker of the ’02 PGA is that Beem erased a three-stroke Sunday deficit by chasing down Justin Leonard. Then he held off Tiger, who made birdie on the final four holes in a furious attempt to reach Beem, who was comfortably ahead down the stretch.
Beem did win the 1999 Kemper Open and the 2002 International but the fact he popped up for a major victory is still incredible. It’s the second Hazeltine mention on this list (Yang also won there).
1. Ben Curtis
Odds: ~350-500/1
OWGR: No. 396
Few results in modern golf are as jarring to revisit as the 2003 Open Championship where the final leaderboard reads as follows:
- Ben Curtis (-1)
- Thomas Bjorn (E)
- Vijay Singh (E)
- Tiger Woods (+1)
- Davis Love III (+1)
This was the first major start for Curtis, a completely unknown player barely in the top 400 in the world. He only qualified into the tournament through a T13 at the Western Open, receiving one of the final spots into the field.
This tournament belonged to Bjorn, a far more heralded player who held a narrow lead late in the day before a tragic double bogey on the par-3 16th at Royal St George’s.
In fairness, Curtis would go on to have a solid Tour career that included three more victories and three more major top-10 finishes. He also made the 2008 U.S. Ryder Cup team.
But at the time? Curtis shocked the world.
What do you think of this list? Let me know below in the comments.
Top Photo Caption: Y.E. Yang lifts his golf bag above his head after defeating Tiger at the 2009 PGA Championship. (GETTY IMAGES/Streeter Lecka)
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