Masters of the Course: The 25 Best Golfers in History
By Bradley Turner Keiser University College of Golf Director of Online Golf Instruction – MBA, PGA
The masters of the golf course, the great players in history, is a difficult list to create. Comparing eras in sports has become a common endeavor for sports pundits and the fans who read or listen to the experts. In this article, I have established various eras of golf that identify the great players of the time. While these eras do overlap each other, I believe this is a good representation of the top 25 golfers in the history of the game, past and present.
The Early Days in American Golf
There were only about 350,000 golfers in America when the amateur Francis Ouimet won the 1913 US Open. His victory inspired many to pick up that game, resulting in about 2,000,000 golfers playing by the early 1920s. Gene Sarazen was inspired by the Ouimet victory and set his goal of becoming a professional golfer. Sarazen was the first golfer to achieve the modern-day career grand slam by winning the Masters, US Open, Open, and PGA championship. Walter Hagen was the golf entertainer and showman of the early days of American golf. Hagen won 5 PGA titles, 4 US Open’s, and 2 Open championships. His 11 major championship victories put him third behind the two biggest names in golf history, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods. Bobby Jones was the Tiger Woods of his era. Bobby Jones was a lifelong amateur player, never competing against the professionals unless it was in an Open championship. Jones won 7 major professional championships plus 5 US Amateur Championships, and his only British Amateur title was in 1930 when he won the original grand slam: British Amateur, Open Championship, US Open, and US Amateur.
- Gene Sarazen (7 majors and 38 PGA wins)
- Walter Hagen (11 majors and 45 PGA wins)
- Bobby Jones (7 majors and 6 Amateur majors)
Great Depression through World War II
The great triumvirate of Snead, Hogan, and Nelson escorted golf through the Great Depression and World War II. All three were born in 1912, with Hogan and Nelson caddying together as youngsters. Byron Nelson established some unbeatable records, including 11 victories in a row. Nelson retired early from golf to become a rancher in his home state of Texas. Sam Snead was known for his smooth and powerful golf swing that enabled him to win 82 PGA Tour titles, which is still a record. Ben Hogan may be the best ball striker of all time. His golf swing has been studied by more golf instructors and professional players than any other golf swing in history. Hogan was a machine on the golf course and was the third player to complete the career grand slam.
- Sam Snead (7 majors and 82 PGA wins)
- Byron Nelson (5 majors and 52 PGA wins)
- Ben Hogan (9 majors and 64 PGA wins)
Celebrities, Presidents, and Television
The era of the big three (Palmer, Nicklaus, and Player) was largely influenced by the birth of televised golf tournaments. It helped when celebrities and presidents wanted to play with the new superstars of golf. Arnold Palmer might be the most significant single golfer in the history of the sport. Arnold became the face of the sport on television across the country. He enjoyed playing with celebrities and US Presidents while accumulating 4 Masters, 2 Open Championships, and a US Open victory. Gary Player has won over 170 international professional events, including nine majors, and became the third professional to achieve a career grand slam. Jack Nicklaus is arguably the greatest champion golfer the game has ever known. With 18 career major championships, he has achieved the career grand slam three times, meaning he has won each of the four major championships at least three times.
- Arnold Palmer (7 majors and 62 PGA wins)
- Gary Player (9 majors and 24 PGA wins)
- Jack Nicklaus (18 majors and 73 PGA wins)
Overshadowed Greatness
These three hall-of-fame golfers were overshadowed by the greatness of Palmer, Nicklaus, and Player. Yet, all three had incredible careers with plenty of major championships and PGA Tour wins. Lee Trevino was a former US Marine turned club professional; Trevino started his professional career playing challenge matches in his home state of Texas. He qualified for the US Open in 1967 and finished 5th, earning him enough money and status to stay on the PGA Tour. He won the 1968 US Open the next year, a start to a hall-of-fame career. Billy Casper might be the most underrated member of the World Golf Hall of Fame. He competed the majority of his career against the big three, yet won 51 PGA titles and three major championships. His 1966 US Open playoff victory over Arnold Palmer solidified him as a true villain in the minds of Arnie’s Army. Tom Watson arrived at the end of this era and proved his greatness by winning The Open championship five times. He nearly won a 6th Open, which would have tied the great Harry Vardon’s record of six championships. At the age of 59, Watson bogeyed the 72nd hole and eventually lost in a playoff. Watson won 2 Masters and a US Open, cementing his place in the World Golf Hall of Fame.
- Billy Casper (3 majors and 51 PGA wins)
- Lee Trevino (6 majors and 29 PGA wins)
- Tom Watson (8 majors and 39 PGA wins)
International Invasion
The mid to late 1980s was the coming out party for international golfers. The best players in the world were not American professionals. Seve Ballesteros was the European version of Arnold Palmer and was instrumental in the growth of the European Tour and the Ryder Cup. The charismatic Spaniard was known for his incredible short-game skills, as well as turning a sure bogey into a spectacular par. Ballesteros started the international invasion into professional golf, and Nick Faldo and Greg Norman escalated the international presence. The Englishman was knighted by the Queen of England in 2009 after retiring from professional golf. Sir Nick won 3 Masters and 3 Open Championships and was a pillar of excellence on the European Ryder Cup team. The Shark, as Norman was known, stayed atop the Official World Golf Rankings for over 350 weeks. Only Tiger Woods has been number 1 in the world longer than the Australian superstar.
- Nick Faldo (6 majors and 9 PGA wins – 43 World Wide Professional victories)
- Greg Norman (2 majors and 20 PGA wins – 88 World Wide Professional victories)
- Seve Ballesteros (5 majors and 9 PGA wins – 93 World Wide Professional victories)
The 21st Century and the Modern Game
This era was dominated by Tiger Woods. What else can be said about Tiger? In the entire history of the game, nobody has played better golf than Tiger. He was the complete package in all aspects of the game. The Tiger Slam of 2000-2001 was the greatest feat in golf history when he won four consecutive major championships, beginning with the 2000 US Open and culminating with a Masters victory in 2001. When the most famous athlete in the world is a golfer, that tells you something. Unfortunately, Phil Mickelson and Ernie Els competed against the best golfer that has ever played the game. Mickelson is one of the top 10 greats of all time, winning six major championships, and, at the age of 50, became the oldest player ever to win a major. Els hails from South Africa and played a large portion of his career as an international player. He won the US Open twice and The Open Championship two times. With 19 PGA Tour wins, he is a world golf hall of fame player, without his international record of over 70 victories.
- Phil Mickelson – (6 majors and 45 PGA wins)
- Ernie Els – (4 majors and 19 PGA wins)
- Tiger Woods – (15 majors and 82 PGA wins)
Present – 2024 and Beyond
The final list includes only active players with multiple major championship victories. The likes of another Tiger dominating the professional tours appear very unlikely. Of course, most golf pundits in the 1990s would never have believed that any PGA Tour play was going to touch Sam Snead’s record of 82 PGA Tour victories. It remains to be seen if any of the young stars can continue to amass major championship wins and continue their legacy as one of the top 25 best golfers in history.
- Brooks Koepka (5 majors and 9 PGA wins)
- Rory McIlroy (4 majors and 24 PGA wins)
- Jordan Spieth (3 majors and 13 PGA wins)
- Jon Rahm (2 majors and 11 PGA wins)
- Justin Thomas (2 majors and 15 PGA wins)
- Dustin Johnson (2 majors and 24 PGA wins)
- Collin Morikawa (2 majors and 6 PGA wins)
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