Top Golf Players
The players displayed on this page represent the18thole.com’s picks of the top golf players of our time.
1 – Jack Niclaus (1940- )
Also known as the “golden bear”, he is regarded as the greatest golfer of all time because of his record winnings in major championships. He has a record of 18 professional majors in a PGA tour career which lasted 25 years, 1962 to 1986. On the champions tour, he won 8 of the tours majors from 1990-1996. These records still stand today.
2 – Tiger Woods (1976- )
Tiger Woods (1976- ) – woods has won fourteen professional major golf championships, which is the second highest of any male player and 65 PGA tour events, which makes him the third of all time. He currently has the most major career wins and career PGA tour wins than any other active golfer. Woods is the youngest player to achieve the grand slam. He is also the youngest to win 50 tournaments on tour.
3 – Ben Hogan (1912-1997)
Hogan is best known for his profound influence on the golf swing theory and his ball striking ability. He won 64 PGA tour wins, which makes him the 4th of all time and 9 major championship wins.
4 – Bobby Jones (1902-1971)
Jones was one of the best golfers to compete nationally and internationally. He is best known for his “grand slam” which consisted wins in all four major golf tournaments of his era in both the U.S. and Britain in a single year 1930. He retired from the sport at the age of 28.
5 – Arnold Palmer (1929-2016 )
Palmer was nicknamed “the king”. He is one of golf’s most popular players. In the 1950’s, which was the television age, Palmer was golf’s first television star. He helped popularize the sport around the world. In his career, Palmer won seven major championships. In the masters championship he won four times, the U.S. open once and twice in the open championship.
6 – Sam Snead (1912-2002)
Nicknamed “slammin sammy”, Snead was one of the top golf players for four decades. He won 82 PGA tours, which makes him the 1st of all time, and 70 other events around the world. He never won a U.S. open despite winning so many other championships.
7 – Byron Nelson (1912-2006)
Nelson is best known for winning 11 consecutive tournaments and 18 total tournaments in 1945. In the PGA tour he won 52 which makes him the 6th of all time.
8 – Gary Player (1953- )
Player, a South African, is regarded as one of the best players in golf’s history. He has won numerous tours and championships. He won the PGA tour 24 times, making him the 25th of all time. Player is also a well known golf course architect.
9 – Walter Hagen (1892-1969)
Hagen has won a total of eleven majors, which makes him third behind Jack Nicklaus and tiger woods. He has won the u.s. open twice and was the first american to win the British open and won it four times. Hagen won the PGA championship five times, the western open five times and a total of 45 PGA wins throughout his career.
10 – Gene Sarazen (1902-1999)
Gene Sarazen (1902-1999) – Sarazen is one of five golfers to have won all the major championships in his career which are, grand slam, U.S. open, PGA championship, British open and the masters. He won his first major championship in 1922 which was the U.S. open. At age 20 he won his first PGA championship. It is known that he was a rival of fellow golfer Bobby Jones.
Top Female Golfers
Nancy Lopez
(1957- )
Lopez has been a member of the LPGA tour since 1977 and has won three major championships. In her career she has won a total of 48 LPGA events making her one of the top female golfers.
Babe Zaharias
(1911-1956)
Zaharias was a versatile athlete. She had great success in golf, track and field and basketball. In 1947 she became the first woman to win the British Ladies Amateur golf championship. By 1950, Zaharias had won every golf title, which gave her a total of 82 golf tournaments that she won.
Kathy Whitworth
(1939- )
Whitworth, has won 88 LPGA Tour Tournaments in total. This is more than any other golfer on either the LPGA or PGA Tours. She also became the first woman to receive $1 million earnings during the LPGA Tour.
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