Jug McSpaden was a 17-time winner on the PGA Tour, who will perhaps be best remembered for not winning.
McSpaden finished runner-up a record 13 times on the PGA Tour during the 1945 season. Despite players like Greg Norman, Vijay Singh and Tiger Woods dominating in recent years, no one has come close to reaching McSpaden’s record. Over the past 30 years, no player has finished runner-up in a single season more than five times.
But Stacy Lewis has them beat. Twice over.
Lewis has six times finished runner-up in a single season, a feat she accomplished the past two years on Tour. In 2014, the close calls were cushioned by three victories but Lewis went winless in 2015, a first since 2010.
The World No.3 started the 2015 season strong, sharing the first round lead in three of the first six events of the season, including the Honda LPGA Thailand where she nearly went wire to wire for the win, only to finish in a share of second behind winner Amy Yang. Lewis didn’t hold a share of the lead at any event following March’s JTBC Founders Cup, her other second place finishes coming after losing in playoffs at the ANA Inspiration and Canadian Pacific Women’s Open. Her final runner-up finish of the season came at the Blue Bay LPGA, where she was one of only four players to finish the week under par in what were extremely windy conditions.
Second to Lewis in runner-up finishes this season was rookie Ha Na Jang, who four times finished second in 2015. Both Lydia Ko and Yani Tseng finished runner-up three times in 2015.
Stacy Lewis' Career Victories and Runner-Up Finishes on Tour
| Year | Victories | Runner-Up Finishes |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | - | 6 |
| 2014 | 3 | 6 |
| 2013 | 3 | 3 |
| 2012 | 4 | 3 |
| 2011 | 1 | 2 |
| 2010 | - | 1 |
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