Golf has been around since the 15th century. It started in Scotland and quickly spread all over the world. There are athletes that mastered golf and are deemed to be legends for avid golfers and fans. Having said that, you may be wondering, “Who is the greatest golfer of all time?” We’ll list the top 8:
Jack Nicklaus
The “Golden Bear” is considered the best golfer all over world. He has won 73 PGA tours and also has the highest number of Major Championships. He won it eighteen times. He also holds the most number of Top 10 finishes (73 times) and Top 5 finishers (56 times).
Many fans of the sport often wonder if Tiger Woods is better than Jack Nicklaus. Let me just say that Jack is way more consistent than Tiger and he also has a much better performance than the latter during major tournaments. So while Tiger is also one of the all time greats, Jack is the better golfer.
Tiger Woods
Tiger Woods popularized a lot of things in the modern golf era including the banana shot, the Tiger fist pump, Mr. “Hello world”, the Day 4 Redshirt and many others. He has made so many contributions to the sport; not to mention his very impressive achievements throughout his career. Many see him as the greatest golfer in modern golf history. He is also the most famous.
He has won 82 PGA tours, 11 PGA “Player of the year” awards and 15 major tournaments.
Ben Hogan
Ben Hogan is dubbed the “hardest working” golfer. Even to this day, Ben spends a lot of time developing golf swings and practicing. In 1953, he achieved the “Hogan Slam” wherein he won all 3 majors in one year. The only other golfer who achieved the same was Tiger Woods. This goes to show that golf doesn’t need any natural talent to excel at it. All it takes is dedication and constant effort of proper golf practice to show results.
Walter Hagen
Mr. Hagen is considered one of the greatest golfers of the 20th century and he was the first American to win the British Open (1922). Mr. Hagen, along with Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods, is one of the three greats that have won more than 10 Major wins.
Sam Snead
A World War I veteran who managed to bag 7 major victories – 3 Masters, 3 PGA Championships, and 1 US Open. Sam has been called “Slammin’ Sammy” for having the most career PGA victories (82). He held this title until 2019 when Tiger Woods tied his record.
Arnold Palmer
His fans call him The King and he was one of the reasons golf grew in popularity. Arnold joined the PGA tour in 1955 and earned 62 PGA tour wins. He has won 7 major championships and in 1998 was given the PGA Tour Lifetime Achievement Award. His fans during the 1960s grew significantly when one fan brought a small sign that said: “Arnie’s Army” which stuck with the media when Arnold thanked his “army” during the press conference of the post-Masters tournament.
Bobby Jones
Bobby is the only amateur golfer on this list. And even though his golf career was cut short due to poor health, he won 4 US Opens and 3 Open Championships in a span of 7 years. He is an active participant of the Augusta National and co-founder of the Masters.
Gary Player
Gary Player is dubbed “The Black Knight” as he always wear a black golf attire. He ended his career with 9 major wins including 3 Masters and 3 Open Championship. He has also joined tournaments in 6 continents and won 165 awards in 6 decades.
Watch Jack Nicklaus’ miracle putt in this video: