But Colin MacGillivray noticed. That's because for more than 20 years, MacGillivray - a New Zealander living in Malaysia - has tracked what he calls the Majors Aggregate Championship. Take a golfer's four-round stroke totals in each major of the season, add them up, and see who needed the fewest strokes. The winner is crowned.
In 2009, 12 golfers made the cut in all four majors, and of those 12, Fisher used the fewest strokes.
MacGillivray has built a Web site - golf-majors-champion.com - around his pet project. He's paid for the creation of a trophy. And one year, he even managed to present Tiger Woods with the trophy during a ceremony at the World Cup.
Here is how the standings looked in 2009 (scores are listed in the order the majors are played - Masters, U.S. Open, British Open, PGA Championship):
Ross Fisher, 287-279-282-290--1138
Henrik Stenson, 289-281-282-287--1139
Lee Westwood, 291-285-279-285--1140
Graeme McDowell, 284-284-286-288--1141
Rory McIlroy, 286-282-288-285--1141
Camilo Villegas, 282-287-282-295--1146
Vijay Singh, 287-286-286-289--1148
Kenny Perry, 276-290-289-294--1149
Angel Cabrera, 276-294-283-298--1151
Jim Furyk, 281-289-285-298--1151
Sean O'Hair, 281-285-292-302--1160
Kevin Sutherland, 294-287-290-292--1163
One thing you'll notice about the 2009 list is that only one golfer on it, Cabrera, actually won a major last year. That happens sometimes, and sometimes the winner is a big surprise (Jodie Mudd in 1991, for example). But usually, the winner is one of the biggest stars in the game. That becomes obvious when you look at the list of golfers who've most often won MacGillivray's trophy:
10 wins - Jack Nicklaus
5 wins - Tiger Woods
4 wins - Arnold Palmer, Tom Watson, Nick Faldo
Visit the award's Web site to read more about the Majors Aggregate Championship and its history.
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