When Angela Stanford won The Evian Championship 2018 for her first major title at nearly 41 years old, she set a major championship record for being the player with the most major championship starts before their first major win.
Stanford won The Evian Championship in her 76th-career major championship start. Of course, the LPGA has played five major championships -- the ANA Inspiration, the US Women's Open, Women's British Open, Women's PGA Championship and The Evian Championship -- since 2013, so Stanford has made extra major starts compared to a modern top male player, who at most has four major championship starts per year. And, were The Evian not elevated to major status in 2013, Stanford wouldn't have won a major in France, just a tournament with a huge purse. But, this is a major win, and so Stanford enters the record books.
"When I signed up for this tour I think we left the country maybe three times," Stanford said after win. "So 2001 to 2018, first off, if you would have said, You're going to be 40 when you win your first major I would've laughed. I would've though, No way. It's going to happen before. And if you would've said it's going to happen in France, I would have been like, Is there a tournament in France? So that is a testament to this tour, a testament to Mike Whan and his team and to Franck and their team here and how they had a vision."
The previous golfer -- male or female -- to have this distinction was Sergio Garcia. When Garcia won the 2017 Masters for his first major championship win, he did so in his 74th major championship start. That mark surpassed Tom Kite, who won the 1992 US Open for his only major win in his 73rd major start.
On the men's side of things, Jay Haas remains the player with the most major appearances without a win, logging 87 major starts and never recording a victory. Among active players with likely major starts still left in their career, Lee Westwood has the most starts without a win among active major players with 76 appearances.
