Ochoa in Good Company in Major Chase

A day after the conclusion of the U.S. Women's Open, and there are plenty of stories from news organizations and chatter on golf blogs and forums about another missed opportunity by Lorena Ochoa in a major championship.

I'm sure that the best-yet-to-win-a-major tag wears on Ochoa, just as it did on Phil Mickelson before he finally got his first. But keep some perspective: Lorena is only 25 years old. She's the best player in women's golf, but her 12 wins without a major aren't even close to the record in that category.

Players with Most Wins Who Never Won a Major
"Lighthorse" Harry Cooper, 31
Jane Blalock, 27
Judy Rankin, 26
Macdonald Smith, 23

Cooper and Rankin are Hall of Famers, Blalock and Smith will probably join them someday. But nobody expects Ochoa to finish her career on this list. Like Mickelson, she's just too good not to win a major (so was Judy Rankin, but Rankin had major back problems throughout her career; in some of her best years there were only two majors on the LPGA Tour; and she did win the Dinah Shore - but before it was considered a major).

Sergio Garcia and Adam Scott are fighting it out to avoid being tarred with the "best yet to win a major" label on the PGA Tour. So Ochoa is in pretty good company there, too.