It's a fraternity no golfer wants to join. Its members' names are remembered with a measure of respect and a touch of pity.

They are the one-miss wonders. Certainly not the greatest players to never win a major, they are the modest players who nearly won a major.

Ed Sneed ... Dan Pohl ... Mike Donald ... Brian Watts ... Jean Van de Velde ... Bob May ... Len Mattiace (Stats | Bio) ...

Hear one of their names, and a common thought leaps to mind: "Isn't that the guy who almost won the ..."

"You can't get away from it," said Donald, who suffered a heartbreaking playoff loss to Hale Irwin in the 1990 U.S. Open at Medinah. "I hear people fairly often who say, 'That's Mike Donald.' It wears on you. You think how you would be looked at, the difference it would make."

For every Ben Curtis (Stats | Bio) , Shaun Micheel, Orville Moody and Jack Fleck who pull off the most unlikely major upsets, there are many more Donalds, Mays and Mattiaces deprived of the glory. Gary Player (Stats | Bio) says nobody remembers the guy who finished second, but these men might tell you their great curse is to be never forgotten.

"I got some great letters, probably close to a thousand," Mattiace said after losing the 2003 Masters Tournament in a playoff to Mike Weir (Stats | Bio) . "When people write in and they feel a connection to you, it's pretty amazing and pretty special."

Mattiace, a 10-year tour veteran with two career wins, takes his near miss at Augusta well.

"Ninety-nine percent pride and accomplishment and 1 percent that it was unfortunate that it didn't come out my way and I didn't win the playoff," Mattiace said.

Members of the near-miss fraternity always hope for another chance to contend, but the reality is that major opportunities are rare for most. More often than not, it's a once-in-a-lifetime chance.

Most losers eventually reflect and wonder, "What if?"

"I didn't ever dwell about it," said Donald. "But not a day goes by that I don't think about the experience. Not in a bad way. It's just part of my life."

The highlight footage of Irwin's 45-foot, playoff-inducing putt and his celebratory romp around the green is a familiar sight on television. Donald, who didn't see Irwin's miracle putt for the first time until three days after the tournament, gets an eyeful of it often.

"I see the putt all the time," said Donald, who had a one-shot lead with nine to play when Irwin finished. "I say to myself, 'Geez, if he doesn't make that ... .' Maybe I was a little hard on myself saying it came down to me and I blew it. I played fabulous golf. ... I was almost an Open champion."

It's a familiar refrain in the fraternity. If Weir didn't drain a six-foot par putt on 18, Mattiace's Sunday 65 might be considered one of the great major rallies of all time.

"It was disappointment to be that close and not to win, but you can't feel sorry for yourself," Mattiace said.

His frustration isn't unique.

May lost a spellbinding head-to-head duel with Tiger Woods (Stats | Bio) in the 2000 PGA Championship, sharing the all-time scoring record despite losing by a shot in a three-hole playoff.

Pohl rallied from six down to force a playoff with Craig Stadler (Stats | Bio) in the 1982 Masters, only to lose when his six-foot par putt missed on the first playoff hole.

Sneed bogeyed the final three holes in the 1979 Masters, his potential winning putt hanging painfully on the lip at 18. Fuzzy Zoeller (Stats | Bio) won the three-man playoff.

Watts, a journeyman surviving on the Japan Tour, held a two-shot lead entering the final round of the 1998 British Open. But Mark O'Meara (Stats | Bio) caught Watts and beat him in a four-hole playoff.

Van de Velde will be known forever as the Frenchman who blew a three-stroke lead on the final hole before losing the 1999 British Open to Paul Lewrie (Stats | Bio) in a three-man playoff at Carnoustie.

"Sometimes that happens; guys do great and they come up a little short and some guys play bad and fall into it with a bogey on the last hole," Mattiace said. "It's all what's given to you at the time."

The past 18 months have been unusual, with five consecutive first-time major winners, including three who were relative novices.

Rich Beem (Stats | Bio) won his fourth major start at the 2002 PGA Championship. Micheel made the 2003 PGA Championship his first career victory in his third major appearance. Curtis trumped them all by winning his major debut at the 2003 British Open.

"That's pretty amazing what they did," Mattiace said. "That's not the norm. Everybody's got their own deal, but it shows you now more than ever that guys can do that. I think it's great when guys do that because it shows you that can happen any week."

Curtis rolled in a 10-footer for par on his final hole that ended up being the winning putt when Thomas Bjorn (Stats | Bio) later collapsed. Would he have been able to sink it if he knew how high the stakes were?

"I didn't try to think that 'This is just a normal putt,' " he said.

"I thought that 'This is the most important putt of your life, it could win you the Open.' Even though I didn't know if it mattered or not, I took it that way. To win at this level you have to think that way. You're going to have putts to win tournaments, and you've got to step up and make them."

Curtis says the biggest thrill of winning the British Open isn't the $1.1 million check or the five-year exemption or the assorted perks and notoriety. Just seeing his name on the silver Claret Jug with golf's greatest legends is the best reward.

"It's something special to look at," he said. "Going back to the 1870s, the great players like the Morrises and Vardon, Nicklaus, Palmer, Bobby Jones. The history of that event is unbelievable. There's no other tournament like it. It's the most prestigious event in the world because it's the first true event there ever was. That's where golf started. It's something special, and to have that trophy for a year is unbelievable."

Others only wish they knew how Curtis feels.

"It's not the money or the other stuff," Donald said of what he missed. "To have your name on that trophy and be known as the U.S. Open champion is a lot different than being known as a U.S. Open runner-up."

"From time to time I think about what tournaments I'd be exempt for and how different that would be," Mattiace said. "The financial gain and all of that. Just to be a champion there at the Masters."

Members of the fraternity have another thing in common.

They all believe that because they nearly did it once, they can do it again. That the window remains open for them to write a better ending.

"I have to believe that, that they'll come again," Mattiace said. "I'm trying over the next couple years to be more prepared and a better overall golfer so I can be in more of those positions. So I can have more chances, and chances are I'll be ahead at the end."

Reach Scott Michaux at (706) 823-3219 or scott.michaux@augustachronicle.com.