4. Sam Snead, 1947 U.S. Open
The great Slammin' Sam won a record 82 PGA Tour events in his long and glorious career, including 7 majors. But he never won the U.S. Open, and his his 1947 playoff loss is just one of four runner-up finishes in the event for Snead.
In 1939, Snead needed to par the final hole to win the U.S. Open, but made a triple-bogey. In 1947, Snead needed a birdie to get into a playoff, and snaked in an 18-footer to do just that.
The 18-hole playoff was with Lew Worsham, and Snead had a 2-stroke lead with three holes to play. But he gave both those strokes back and the pair approached No. 18 tied.
Both Snead and Worsham reached the No. 18 green in two and were faced with very short putts of similar lengths for birdies. Snead's putt was only 2 1/2 feet in length, and he took his address to putt first.
But as Snead was about to putt, Worsham interrupted and stopped play. He wasn't sure whether Snead was away and wanted a measurement to determine who should putt first.
Was it gamesmanship, or a genuine concern over order of play? I haven't read any accounts that make that clear. But regardless, after measurements were taken, it was ruled that Snead was away after all.
The Slammer took his putting stance again ... and missed. Worsham made his putt for the victory. Snead had blown a 2-stroke lead with three holes to play, a 2 1/2-foot putt on the final hole, and another chance to win the U.S. Open.
3. Greg Norman, 1996 Masters
No other golfer of his generation - perhaps no other golfer, period - had a career that combined bad luck with sometimes bad nerves in critical situations. Norman seemed snakebit, and he'd also blown his share of tournaments. Still, his career was stellar: 20 wins and two majors. A definite Hall of Famer.
The Masters was the tournament he wanted more than any other. Jack Nicklaus was his hero, and Nicklaus had six green jackets - beating Norman by a stroke for one of them. Norman had come close at Augusta before, and 1996 seemed like his year to finally win it.
Norman played great all week - he shot a course-record 63 in the first round - and entered the final round with a 6-shot lead over Nick Faldo.
But from the start, Norman's game was off, and Faldo's was on fire. Norman's lead disappeared quickly, and he never regained it. While Faldo was en route to a 67, Norman was on his way to five bogeys and two double-bogeys. When he put his tee shot in the water on No. 12, Norman's fate seemed sealed, and the remaining holes had the feeling of a funeral procession.
When it was over, Norman had shot 78 to Faldo's 67, turning a 6-shot lead into a 5-stroke deficit. Norman was never again a serious contender in a major.
"I made a lot of mistakes today," Norman said afterward, gracious and honorable in defeat. "I put all the blame on myself. You pay the price. That's all there is to it." He later added, "All these hiccups I have, they must be for a reason. All this is just a test. I just don't know what the test is yet."
2. Jean Van de Velde, 1999 British Open
Van de Velde was a journeyman player on the European Tour, not a golfer who had much experience playing near the top of major championship leaderboards.
But any Tour golfer who needs only a double-bogey on the last hole to win should be able to do better than Van de Velde did on Sunday on No. 18 at Carnoustie in 1999.
Trying to become the first Frenchman to win the Open Championship since 1907, Van de Velde reached the 18th tee with a 3-stroke lead. It seemed as if the tournament was already over.
Then Van de Velde compounded bad shots with bad decisions and the rest, as they say, is history.
Along the way to a triple-bogey, Van de Velde found the rough, the sand, the water and even the grandstands.
Following a mediocre drive that rolled into the rough, the smart decision would have been to lay up in front of Barry Burn, which crossed in front of the green.
Instead, Van de Velde went for the green. And instead, he found the groundstands. The ball caromed off the grandstands, bounded onto rocks along the edge of Barry Burn, and bounced into thick rough short of the water hazard.
Van de Velde tried to hack the ball out of the rough and over the burn to the green, but the ball plopped down into the burn. Then came the enduring image of this meltdown: Van de Velde, shoes off, climbing down into the flowing water of the burn, considering trying to hit the ball out.
He ultimately thought better of that and dropped behind the burn. This time he scooped the shot and the ball wound up short, in a greenside bunker. Van de Velde blasted out, then sank the putt for triple-bogey. He'd blown the Open Championship, and made the meltdown complete by losing the playoff to Paul Lawrie.
