Best player without a major win: Paul Casey

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Paul Casey has a well-rounded game that he earned him victories all over the world, including his first one on the PGA TOUR in 2009.

Who is the best active golfer who has yet to break through with a major victory? We asked eight PGATOUR.COM writers to each pick a different player and make the argument why that player deserves (or perhaps is stuck with) the label as best player without a major. Read the argument below and click here to see the arguments for seven other players.
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We don't know if Paul Casey's rib injury will keep him out of the last major of 2009.

We do know, when he's healthy, the 32-year-old Englishman with a warped sense of humor and a need for speed should be on anyone's major short list.

Casey's only won once in the U.S. -- this year's Shell Houston Open -- but he's won nine European Tour events, including this year's Abu Dhabi Golf Championship in January. And he's been bouncing around the top 10 in majors since a tie for sixth at the 2004 Masters.

How does three top-11s in his last five Masters sound? A tie for seventh in that gale of an Open Championship at Birkdale? A tie for 10th at the 2007 U.S. Open at Oakmont?

Try No. 3 in the world behind Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson. And just ahead of a pack of others without majors -- Kenny Perry, Sergio Garcia, Steve Stricker and Henrik Stenson.

Yet he's always lost in those best-player-who-hasn't-won-a-major conversations that begin with Sergio and Adam Scott and wind through Anthony Kim, Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter. He shouldn't be.

Casey's compact, but his game is full of power and finesse and he's gritty. Until he injured himself at the U.S. Open, he was on an up-tick. A tie for 20th at the Masters the week after winning a draining wind-blown event in Houston was no small thing.

If he doesn't play the PGA -- his best finish in the event is a tie for 15th last year -- don't move him down the conversation. He's knocking. He just needs a few more chances.