Clarke clinched his maiden major title with a three-shot victory at Royal St George's in Kent.
England's Westwood, a later starter, made a superb start in his bid for a first major title.
Relatively new names on the course are also threatening to disrupt Garcia's plans to secure a Major title.
Meanwhile, Trey Hardee of the United States won his first major title with victory in the men's decathlon.
Only Kaymer has won a major title with the 2010 PGA Championship crown.
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Federer will go into London 2012 seeking the one major title that eludes him -- Olympic gold in the singles.
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It sounds easy, but it took Murray and Djokovic years to master it as Federer and Nadal piled up major title after major title.
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The outlook wasn't helped by the retirement of Andy Roddick, whose 2003 U.S. Open championship is the most recent major title by a U.S. male.
Hunter turned professional at the age of 16 in 1995 and won his first major title, the 1998 Welsh Open, at the age of 19.
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Li, who also was chasing a second major title, found herself in early control of the first set, which alone included seven breaks of serve.
But Cash believes the 2009 winner, now 31, faces a huge task to claim an 18th major title with age beginning to catch up with him.
Ms. Li, who also was chasing a second major title, found herself in early control of the first set, which alone included seven breaks of serve.
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None of the nine leading players has won a major title, with two-time US Open champion Retief Goosen the most decorated of the contenders at five under.
The 28-year-old Rubio had won nine straight fights since moving up from junior middleweight but he was clearly outclassed in his first challenge for a major title.
Montgomerie, 47, emphasised the value he placed on guiding Europe to victory when he was asked if he would swap the experience for a maiden Major title.
Espino was rated the number three contender by the WBC, but few gave the Californian much of a chance in his first tilt at a major title.
Serena Williams can also win double gold, which her older sister Venus achieved at Sydney 2000, as she seeks the only major title to elude her so far.
The oldest boxer to win a major title, the 48-year-old Hopkins said he could retire a champion if he's no longer inspired and the right bout doesn't materialize.
His three-tournament run comes in the lead-up to the Masters, where the former world No. 1 will seek to win his 15th major title but first since 2008.
Murray has stuttered a little since landing his first major title at Flushing Meadows, wasting five match points before losing in the Shanghai Masters final to Serbian Novak Djokovic.
Hopkins became the oldest boxer to win a major title, extending the record he set by beating Jean Pascal for the WBC light heavyweight title on May 21, 2011.
Andy Murray joined the group last year, when he won a gold medal in singles at the London Olympic Games and his first major title at the U.S. Open.
But he acknowledged that coming down the stretch in contention for a first major title would be a sterner test of his emotions in the wake of his father's passing.
Westwood lost two shots on his front nine as he struggled with his putting but picked up three strokes coming home to keep alive his hopes of a maiden major title.
But with a second major title so close, and the fact she needed to reach the final to retain the No. 1 ranking, she desperately didn't want to quit this time.
Greg Norman carded a course-record 64 to secure his place in the play-off with Calcavecchia and Wayne Grady, but the Australian's luck ran out and Calcavecchia claimed his only major title.
World number one Woods, gunning for his 13th major title, Australian Ogilvy and Briton Ramsay are set to tee off on the first hole at 0806 (1306 BST) in Thursday's opening round.
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The Swiss third seed, whose last major title came in Australia in 2010, had been due to play away from the main Rod Laver Arena court for the first time in 52 matches.
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