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Although not officially known as such until Super Bowl III, in January, 1969, the Super Bowl was inaugurated, as the ‘AFL-NFL World Championship Game’ in 1966. Early in their history, the Buffalo Bills won the American Football League (AFL) Championships twice, in 1964 and 1965, but, following the merger of the AFL and the National Football League (NFL) in 1971, did not appear in the Super Bowl until 1990. Nevertheless, they hold the record for the most consecutive Super Bowl appearances – four, between 1990 and 1993 – albeit that they lost on all four occasions and are still yet to win the NFL championship.

On their first attempt, at Super Bowl XXV at Tampa Stadium in Tampa, Florida in January, 1991, the Bills were seven-point favourites against New York Giants, but lost 20-19 after placekicker Scott Norwood missed a field goal attempt in the dying seconds. Super Bowl XXVI, at the Metrodome in Minneapolis, Minnesota, also ended in disappointment for the Bills, with quarterback Jim Kelly sacked four times and throwing four interceptions in a 37-24 defeat by Washington Redskins.

The 1992 season was famous for the wildcard playoff game, which became known as ‘The Comeback’ after the Buffalo Bills recovered from a 35-3 deficit against Houston Oilers at Rich Stadium in Orchard Park, New York to win 41-38 in overtime. The Bills subsequently won their divisional playoff against Pittsburgh Steelers and conference championship against Miami Dolphins to make Super Bowl XXVII, but lost an error-strewn encounter with Dallas Cowboys at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California 57-12. The Bills met the Cowboys again in Super Bowl XXVIII at the Geogia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia in January, 1994, but failed to cope with Super Bowl Most Valuable Player (MVP), running back Emmitt Smith, who scored two touchdowns in a 30-13 victory for the Dallas Cowboys.

Peter Oosterhuis was the ‘Colin Montgomerie’ or ‘Lee Westwood’ of his day. He won the Harry Vardon Trophy – awarded to the winner of the ‘Order of Merit’ and, more recently, to the winner of the ‘Race to Dubai’ on the European Tour – four years running between 1971 and 1974, but never won a major championship.

Despite his Dutch surname, Oosterhuis was born in London in 1948. He turned professional in 1968 and initially competed on the European circuit, the forerunner of the European Tour – which was officially created in 1972 – before playing on the PGA Tour from 1975 onwards. Stateside, Oosterhuis won just once, withstanding late challenges from Jack Nicklaus, Andy North and Bruce Lietzke to win the 1981 Canadian Open by a single stroke. Congratulating him on his maiden victory, Nicklaus said, ‘You’ve been very patient, Peter, and now you’ve won one.’

As far as major championships were concerned, Oosterhuis played 44, made 34 cuts and finished in the top ten eight times, but never won one. At Augusta in 1973, he shot 73-70-68 in the first three rounds to lead the Masters Tournament by three strokes after 54 holes, but 74 in the rain-delayed final round to finish tied third behind Tommy Aaron. The following year, he finished runner-up to Gary Player in the Open Championship at Royal Lytham & St. Annes, albeit by a respectful four strokes.

Fast forward eight years to the 1982 Open Championship at Royal Troon and Oosterhuis came as close as he ever did to victory in a Major. Tied sixth, four strokes off the lead, after 54 holes, he shot a two-under-par 70 in the final round, which was good enough for tied second, a single stroke behind Tom Watson, who was winning his fourth Open Championship.

As is often the case with sportsmen, or sportswomen, who reach almost, but not quite, the pinnacle of their profession, labelling Colin Montgomerie a ‘nearly man’ may seem a little harsh. After all, in his heyday, in the Nineties, the Scotsman was a force majeure in European golf. He won total of 31 European Tour events, more than any other British golfer, and the season-long Order of Merit a record eight times, including seven years running between 1993 and 1999. Indeed, Montgomerie is still active on PGA Tour Champions, which he joined in June, 2013, where he is a three-time senior major champion.

However, the ‘nearly man’ tag stems from the fact that, despite several near-misses, Montgomerie never won a tournament, of any description, on the regular PGA Tour and never won a major championship. At the peak of his powers, ‘Monty’ was eliminated in an 18-hole playoff for the 1994 US Open, eventually won by Ernie Els, and again lost in a playoff, this time sudden-death, to Steve Elkington at the 1995 PGA Championship. At the 1997 US Open, he again lost out to Els, by a single stroke, having bogeyed the penultimate hole. At the 2005 Open Championship, Montgomerie finished second in a major championship again, albeit five shots behind wire-to-wire winner Tiger Woods.

Sadly, one more dramatic capitulation was to follow. At the 2006 US Open, Montgomery stood in the middle of the fairway on the final 450-yard par-4 requiring a par to win his maiden major. However, his poorly struck 7-iron approach shot finished short and right of the putting surface and, a pitch and three putts later, he carded a double-bogey six. Montgomery eventually finished co-second of three, alongside Jim Furyk and Phil Mickelson – both of whom also failed to par the seventy-second hole – a shot adrift of Australian Geoff Ogilvy.

The late George Douglas ‘Doug’ Sanders was known as the ‘Peacock of the Fairways’ because of his colourful, flamboyant dress sense. All told, he won 20 events on the PGA Tour and was runner-up in four major championships. He finished tied second in the PGA Championship in 1959, tied second in the US Open in 1961 and tied second in the Open Championship in 1966, but owes his ‘nearly man’ tag primarily to that putt on the seventy-second green of the Open Championship, on the Old Course at St. Andrews, in 1970.

On Saturday, July 11, in blustery conditions, Sanders saved par by getting up-and-down from the infamous Road Hole Bunker, off the left front of the green on the penultimate hole. He hit the final green in regulation, thus leaving himself with two putts from thirty feet, downhill, to beat Jack Nicklaus by a single stroke and win the Open Championship.

After an indeterminable wait for Sanders to strike his first putt, during which he stepped away from his ball after being disturbed by crowd noise, BBC commentator Henry Longhurst said, ‘ You can see yourself going into the history books as the man who had only to get down in two putts to win the Open, and took three, and lost in a playoff.’ Sanders’ initial effort pulled up three feet short of the hole, leading Longhurst to exclaim, ‘Oh Lord! That’s not one I’d like to have.’

By this stage, Sanders was clearly a bag of nerves and, having examined the line of his putt from both sides, finally settled over his ball. However, having looked ready to ‘pull the trigger’, he hesitated again, bending down to remove a loose impediment, real or imagined, from his line. His subsquent stroke was weak and, as his ball missed on the right side of the hole, he motioned towards it, involuntarily, as if to try again. The following day, Sanders lost the resulting playoff to Nicklaus by a single shot.