Most PGA Tour wins without a major is 29 by Harry Cooper. Mac Smith, Doug Sanders, Bill Mehlhorn and Dutch Harrison also make the list.
PGA Tour hosts 47 official golf events yearly, including four major golf tournaments; Masters Tournament, PGA Championship, U.S. Open, and the Open Championship.
Winning a major tournament is considered to be a landmark achievement for golfers. Tiger Woods tops the chart of most PGA tour wins active players with 82, with his last triumph coming at the 2019 Zozo Championship.
There have been several players in history who have not won any major tournament despite their impressive number of wins in the entire tour.
Here are 7 golfers who have most PGA wins without a major.
Harold McSpaden - 17
Harold McSpaden, also known as Jug bagged 17 wins in the PGA Tour from 1933 to 1945. The veteran linksman passed away on April 22, 1996.
Despite relishing a pretty successful career, the late PGA America Hall of Famer could not get his hands on any major title during his lifetime.
McSpaden once finished as a runner-up thirteen times in one season, making him the ultimate "Mr. Runner-Up." He obtained the runner-up title in 1945 when he finished second to Byron Nelson seven times and thrice in a row that season.
His greatest accolade in a major was finishing second in the 1937 PGA Championship. Garold was working as a golf course architect after bidding adieu to his playing days.
Bobby Cruickshank - 17
The Scottish legend Bobby Cruickshank shares the same record of 17 PGA wins but 0 major titles. Meanwhile, Booby lived from 1894 to 1975.
He moved to the United States in the 1920s and played in the PGA of America till 1936. His real name was Robert Allan Cruickshank.
Bobby is one of his nicknames, while the others are "Wee Rob," "Wee Scot," or "Wee Bobby." He registered a total of 29 professional wins.
Cruickshank twice finished as the runner-up of the U.S Open in 1923 and 1932, buy sadly could not fulfill the dream of lifting the major.
Dutch Harrison - 18
Harrison enjoyed a long pro golf career spanning from 1930 to 1975. The late golfer was eminent by his nickname The Arkansas Traveler.
Dutch bagged 18 victories on PGA Tour but missed out on majors. Harrison finished nine times in the top 10 at major championships.
His best results at the major golf tournaments include finishing in third position at the PGA Championship in 1939 and the U.S. Open in 1960.
Harrison enjoyed a total of 26 professional wins in his life, with his last victory coming at the 1958 Tijuana Open Invitational. He passed away in 1982 due to heart failure.
Bill Mehlhorn - 19
Bill Mehlhorn turned professional in 1920 and registered a total of 21 professional wins in his career, with 19 of them coming in the PGA Tour.
However, he was unable to win any major tournaments despite finishing 14 times in the top 10 at majors. His best result was second in the 1925 PGA Championship.
Also known as Wild Bill, he is notable for competing on the first Ryder Cup team in 1927 and later in the inaugural Masters Tournament in 1934.
Besides PGA Tour, Bill won the 1924 and 1926 Miami International Four-Ball with Macdonald Smith. He later became a golf coach at Florida International University in Miami.
Mehlhorn and Bob Shave published "Golf Secrets Exposed" in the early 1980s to summarize the techniques and golf secrets of the Wild Bill.
Doug Sanders - 20
The late Doug Sanders from Cedartown is notable for his triumph in 20 PGA Tour events. He earned the nickname Peacock of the Fairways.
Sadly, the veteran American linksman could not bag a single win at the majors. He had four runner-up finishes at major championships.
His second-place finishes occurred at the 1959 PGA Championship, 1961 U.S. Open, 1966 Open Championship, and 1970 Open Championship.
Doug had 13 top-ten finishes in the majors, including a remarkable feat of finishing in the top 10 of all four majors in a single season in 1966.
Apart from his iconic golfing career, Sanders was equally known for his stylish and flamboyant dress-up choices on the golf course.
In 1972, Esquire magazine named him one of America's Ten Best Dressed Jocks. Doug passed away on 12 April 2020, USA Today confirmed.
Macdonald Smith - 25
Mac Smith ranks second on the list of most PGA wins without a major with 25 wins. His first PGA win came at the Western Open in 1912.
Despite earning highly esteemed status as one of the best golfers of his time, Smith never won a major championship tournament in his career.
However, he knabbed the top ten positions in majors 17 times. His best returns include finishing second in the 1930 US Open and the Open Championships in 1930 and 1932.
Smith passed away due to a heart attack in 1949. The legendary Scottish golfer was later inducted into the PGA Hall of Fame in 1954.
Harry Cooper - 29
Harry Cooper aka "Lighthorse" was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1992. Cooper boasts an impressive 29 PGA tour victories.
However, none of those wins are of any major championship. His best results in majors include 2nd position in the 1936 and 1938 Masters alongside the same results in the 1926 and 1937 U.S Open.
Despite the lack of major titles in his phenomenal career, Harry nabbed other notable wins including the RBC Canadian Open in 1932 and 1937.
After his retirement from pro golf, Cooper became an instructor around the U.S. He first taught at the Metropolis Country Club, Westchester Country Club, and Home Lines.
The English veteran golfer passed away at the age of 96 on 27 October 2000 in a hospital in White Plains, New York.
