7. Mark Calcavecchia, 1991 Ryder Cup
One of the more painful collapses to watch, with the Ryder Cup pressure appearing to almost suffocate Calcavecchia's game.
Known as the "War on the Shore," this Ryder Cup was intense from the start. The Americans had failed to gain the Cup in the three previous competitions, something Team USA wasn't used to (at this time, anyway) and didn't like. A lot of tough rhetoric preceded this Ryder Cup, and tension was heavy throughout.
Calcavecchia's singles match was against Colin Montgomerie, and Calc looked in great shape: he was dormie, 4-up with four to play. A win on any of the final four holes and he'd win the Cup for America.
You know what happened: Calc lost all four holes and halved the match. The stretch included a tee shot on the par-3 17th at Kiawah Island that was very close to a shank, Calcavecchia's ball plopping into the water.
Thinking he had lost the Ryder Cup for Team USA, Calcavecchia walked away from the 18th green, down onto the beach, sank into the sand and cried.
But he was saved from permanent goat status when Bernhard Langer missed a 6-foot par putt on the final hole of the Cup, halving with Hale Irwin and allowing the U.S. to win back the Cup.
6. Doug Sanders, 1970 British Open
Sanders was a very good and successful PGA Tour player from the mid-1950s to the early-1970s, winning 20 times, including five times in 1961. But he never won a major.
The 1970 British Open was his best chance. Playing at St. Andrews, in the final pairing with Jack Nicklaus, Sanders had a one-shot lead on No. 18 after a saving par on No. 17 from the Road Hole bunker.
His approach to the No. 18 green left him 30 feet above the hole. If Sanders two-putted, he'd win.
Sanders' lag putt stopped less than three feet from the cup. But it was a downhill slider, left-to-right, and Sanders was distracted at the last moment by what he thought was sand in the line.
"Without changing the position of my feet I bent down to pick it up," Sanders said later, "but it was a piece of brown grass. I didn't take the time to move away and get re-organized."
Without backing off the putt, he went back into the address position and struck the ball. It slid just over the right lip. As soon as he struck the ball, Sanders' body began moving forward, and he reached out to the ball as if to try to bring it back for a do-over.
There was no do-over, and Sanders fell into a tie. He played well in the 18-hole playoff the next day, but Nicklaus won by a stroke.
5. Scott Hoch, 1989 Masters
Like Sanders, Hoch was an excellent player for a long time but one without a major championship. He should have won the 1989 Masters, but didn't.
Hoch led Nick Faldo by one at No. 17, but missed a relatively short par putt and fell back into a tie. Hoch's and Faldo's scores matched on No. 18, so they went to a sudden-death playoff.
On the first hole of the playoff - No. 10 at Augusta - Faldo struggled to a bogey 5. Hoch was left with a birdie putt - he could two-putt and win the Masters.
Hoch three-putted. His birdie putt rolled a short distance past the cup, a distance variously reported as from 18 inches to 30 inches. The par putt Hoch had left was definitely no more than 2 1/2 feet, however.
But Hoch might have worked himself into "paralysis by analysis." For this little putt, he spent two minutes looking at it from every side, studying every possible break. When he finally stepped up to the ball, he wound up backing off, unable to decide if he should hit it firm and straight or softly to play a small amount of break.
Finally, he hit it firm - but also played the break. A bad combination. And on a 2 1/2-foot putt, he rapped the ball five feet past the hole.
Hoch made that comebacker to keep the playoff going, but he missed his chance to win the Masters. Faldo sank a 25-footer on the next hole for the victory.
