11 Greatest One-Hit Wonders in Golf History

Todd Hamilton, Michael Campbell, Paul Lawrie and Birdie Kim have won one major championship in their careers, but other than that, you may not even remember them.

Hoisting the Claret Jug is one of the neatest things a golfer can do, but when that's all you've done and you can't keep up to expectations, people will probably look at you as a one-hit wonder.

So let's find out who are the 11 golfers (male or female) that led some of the toughest tournaments in golf, but never did it again.

Michael Campbell (2005 U.S. Open)

Michael Campbell climbed into the 2005 U.S. Open leaderboard after two rounds (71 and 69). When he teed off on Saturday he was tied for sixth, two shots off the lead.

He posted a 71 in the third round to trail Retief Goosen by four. The New Zealander didn't stop fighting and by Sunday he shot one under 69 and held off Tiger Woods to capture his first major trophy. Campbell finished at even par.

It seemed that the victory was just what his career needed to take off. Two months later he secured the HSBC World Match Play and helped the international team claim the Presidents Cup.

Unfortunately, Michael hasn't won again.

Ben Curtis (2003 Open Championship)

In his rookie season Ben Curtis did what no one had done since 1913: win his major championship debut.

Ben Curtis grabbed the Open Championship held at Royal St George's and he did it in style. The 26-year-old shot 69 on Sunday to defeat Thomas Bjorn and Vijay Singh by one stroke.

Curtis was named Rookie of the Year and received a five-year exemption for the PGA Tour and a 10-year exemption for the European Tour.

However, Ben had to wait three years to win again. In 2006 he secured the Booz Allen Classic and the 84 Lumber Classic.

This season he captured his most recent victory at the Valero Texas Open.

Paul Lawrie (1999 Open Championship)

Paul Lawrie turned professional in 1986 and he had to wait 13 years to have his breakthrough season. In 1999 the Scottish won the Qatar Masters and the Catalan Open—a prelude to his first and only major championship success.

Carnoustie Golf Links saw Jean van de Velde's collapse at the 72nd hole, which meant a three-hole playoff against Lawrie, who eventually won.

Later, Lawrie secured the 2001 Dunhill Links Championship and the 2002 Celtic Manor Resort Wales Open and then he went winless for eight years.

He finally hoisted the 2011 Open de Andalucía de Golf and this season's Commercialbank Qatar Masters (reduced to 54 holes due to inclement weather).

Rich Beem (2002 PGA Championship)

Rich Beem has two great wins as a golfer: one at the 2002 PGA Championship, where he captured his third and last PGA Tour title and the other at the 2007 Nissan Open, he made a hole-in-one and won a car.

Other than that, Beem is one of the greatest one-hit wonders in golf's history. Actually, he never got into a top 10 of any other major championship. His best result after the 2002 PGA Championship was a tie for 15th at the 2003 Masters.

He has played in 30 majors and missed the cut in 17 of them.

Todd Hamilton (2004 Open Championship)

In 2004 Todd Hamilton conquered his only two PGA Tour titles. However, the American golfer was not an outsider to the winners' circle.

Hamilton had had a successful career on the Japan Golf Tour in the '90s—he won seven times in that decade and four in 2003—before joining the PGA Tour in 2004.

He secured his first win at The Honda Classic, which was also his debut tournament. Four months later Todd defeated Ernie Els in a four-hole playoff at the Open Championship.

Hamilton was named Rookie of the Year for his accomplishments, but he never won again.

Wayne Grady (1990 PGA Championship)

This Australian golfer turned pro twice. First at age 16, but decided to go back to amateur status. In 1978, when he was 21 years old, he did it again.

He joined the PGA Tour after getting his card in 1984. Grady also played in the European Tour and the PGA Tour of Australasia.

Once in the PGA Tour, Wayne had to wait four years before becoming a first-time winner. In 1989 he captured the Manufacturers Hanover Westchester Classic (The Barclays) in a playoff.

The next season, Grady posted 72, 67, 72 and 71 rounds in the PGA Championship to defeat Fred Couples by three shots at the Shoal Creek Golf and Country Club.

After that, Wayne added only two more trophies to his case: Australian PGA Championship (1991), Indonesian PGA Championship (1993) and Australian Senior Open (2007).

Steve Jones (1996 U.S. Open)

Steve Jones played for the University of Colorado Boulder Buffaloes and joined the PGA Tour in 1982, just after graduating.

During his days in the PGA Tour, Jones grabbed eight titles, including the 1996 U.S. Open. The trophy came in a moment of need because he had gone winless for six seasons.

Steve shot the last three rounds in the 60s (66, 69 and 69) to pass Tom Lehman and Davis Love III by one stroke.

Shaun Micheel (2003 PGA Championship)

Shaun Micheel played at Indiana University Bloomington before turning pro, in 1992. He joined the PGA Tour a couple years later but he didn't have the success he expected.

His first professional victory came at the Asian Tour; in 1998 he claimed the Singapore Open. A year later he won the Nike Greensboro Open of the Nationwide Tour.

His biggest accomplishment and the reason why he's on this list is the 2003 PGA Championship.

Micheel didn't shoot above par (69, 68, 69 and 70) and finished four-under overall, two strokes better than Chad Campbell.

Shaun couldn't get into the winners' circle again, but in 2006 he posted another top 10 finish at the PGA Championship and four years later he became the second golfer to score a double eagle in the U.S. Open.

Patricia Meunier-Lebouc (2003 Kraft Nabisco Championship)

This Frenchwoman had a successful amateur career that included the title at the French Ladies Championship in 1992. 

Two years later she turned professional and joined the Ladies European Tour (LET). She secured her first title at the Waterford English Open in her rookie season.

Meunier-Lebouc won four more times in the LET before earning her card for the LPGA in 2000. She spent two seasons in the US-based tour before hoisting a trophy.

In her third year she claimed the Kraft Nabisco Championship, where she defeated Annika Sorenstam by one shot to make the famous jump into Poppie's Pond.

Patricia never won an individual event again, but she was part of the European team that secured the 2003 Solheim Cup.

Birdie Kim (2005 U.S. Women's Open)

Ju-Yun Kim joined the Symetra Tour (formerly Futures Tour) when she was 19 years old. In three seasons, Kim won three times and became an LPGA member in 2004.

It was precisely in that year that she changed her first name to Birdie, which she honored at the 2005 U.S. Women's Open.

Kim went low on Saturday with a 69 that put her in the hunt for the title. In the final round Morgan Pressel, an amateur at the time, was hoping to become the youngest champion of the event as she walked through the 18th fairway.

However, Birdie holed a 30-yard bunker shot to get to three-over. Pressel broke down and bogeyed the last hole to finish in a tie for second, along with other amateur Brittany Lang.

After making one of the coolest shots in history and grabbing her first LPGA victory, Birdie has played 18 major championships, but only made four cuts.

She lost her LPGA membership and went back to the Symetra Tour.

Hilary Lunke (2003 U.S. Women's Open)

Hilary Lunke played professional golf for six years. From 2002 to 2008 the former Stanford alumna played 21 major championships and made six cuts.

One of those was at the 2003 U.S. Women's Open. Lunke managed to get into an 18-hole playoff despite shooting a four-over 75 in Sunday's final round.

On Monday, Hillary defeated Kelly Robins and Angela Stanford by one shot. This was Lunke's sole professional victory.