Stick A Fork In 'Em They may not know it, but a bunch of majors winners are already washed up

Golf Plus recently asked its readers whether they thought Greg
Norman would ever win the Masters. Amazingly, 39% answered yes.
O.K., here is my question: Do you think Norman, Fred Couples,
Tom Lehman, Mark O'Meara or Nick Price will ever again win one
of the majors? Trust me, the answer is no.

All five had their names engraved on at least one major
championship trophy in the '90s. But though it is not yet
obvious, all have embarked on the same downhill trail as the one
taken recently by Nick Faldo and Corey Pavin, two other majors
winners of the '90s whose careers are toast.

I can hear you now: O'Meara washed up? He won two majors only
last year. My response: Remember Curtis Strange. Ten years ago
he walked up the 18th fairway at Oak Hill, waving to the crowd
with a big grin on his face. He had just won his second straight
U.S. Open, something no player had done since Ben Hogan in 1951.

Strange was 34. He had won 17 tournaments in 13 years on Tour
and had been No. 1 on the money list for two seasons running.
Yet, unimaginable as it seemed at the time, he never won again,
not even a Quad Cities. His career plummeted, and today he is a
TV analyst in the ABC tower at 18. He still plays a bit, 16
tournaments last year, but making the cut has been cause for
celebration. Strange is living proof that a career can disappear
as fast as a ball in a water hazard.

Faldo and Pavin can vouch for that. When Faldo beat Norman at
Augusta in 1996 for his third Masters title, he was 38 and one
of the top players in the world. Who would have dreamed that his
game would unravel so quickly that in his last nine majors he
would miss the cut five times and place no better than 44th? At
this year's Masters, Faldo opened with an 80. His two-round
nine-over-par total put him two strokes behind 61-year-old
Charles Coody.

Pavin was the grittiest of players, the go-to guy on the Ryder
Cup team. He was 35 when he won the '95 Open at Shinnecock with
his funny little swing. But since then he has won only once. He's
still gritty and his swing is still funny, but nothing is working
right.

Winning a major, much less two in one year, can raise hob with a
player's game. In February, O'Meara, the winner of the 1998
Masters and British Open, took a hefty appearance fee to play in
Dubai before the World Match Play. He returned to lose in the
first round at La Costa and has not threatened to win since.
Strange made the same mistake after his second Open victory,
taking big appearance fees to play in Japan.

Norman and Lehman are joined at the hip, both in their 40s and
coming off shoulder surgery. Jerry Pate might tell them how
difficult that can be. Pate, who won the U.S. Open at 23, was
only 29 when he required surgery on his shoulder. He was never
the same player.

The most amazing story out of Augusta this year was not so much
Norman's losing still another Masters but that he was even in
contention. The man is 44, and because of the surgery he had been
essentially out of golf for a year. He is in remarkable
condition, but like an aging prizefighter, he has taken a lot of
punches over the years--Tway, Mize, Faldo, Olazabal--and should he
ever again contend in a major, those memories will hurt him.

Lehman, too, has had his share of disappointments. For the last
four years he has been in the final group at the U.S. Open, and
four times he has come up empty. Add to that near misses at
Augusta in 1993 and '94. Good as he has been--he was ranked No.
1 for a week in 1997--he has not won in 2 1/2 years and has only
four career victories on the Tour. The desire is there, but age
and injury are working against him.

Desire, or lack of it, is hurting Couples, who will soon turn
40. No one has more talent, but his personal life has been in
turmoil in recent years, and his aching back prevents him from
staying in top form.

Price? Recently turned 42, he has begun to have trouble with
six-footers. Since his glory year, 1994, when he won the British
Open and the PGA, his record in the majors has been ordinary.
Like the others, he has no chance.

So here's the bet: None of these guys will win another big one.
Years ago I would have said you can reach me in New York, down
the block from the Time & Life Building at the bar in the Ho Ho
restaurant, where, if I lose, I'll buy you a beer. Today you can
find me at cnnsi.com/golf.

COLOR PHOTO: JIM GUND Five who won't Count (from top) Price, Couples, O'Meara, Norman and Lehman out in the majors.

COLOR PHOTO: JOHN BIEVER [See caption above]

COLOR PHOTO: JIM GUND [See caption above]

COLOR PHOTO: JOHN BIEVER [See caption above]

COLOR PHOTO: JOHN BIEVER [See caption above]