The Best Golfers of All Time

Most people must have heard about Tiger Woods, even if he/she is not a fan of golf. Woods is one of the best golfers of all time, thanks to the number of his victories, his dominance in the sport and long career which still continues. But we had a look on all the other great golfers in history, from the very beginning to the most recent times. 

Golf is played all around the world but it is most popular in the US, where the PGA Tour, the organizer of the main professional tours is also working. Almost half of the golf courses are located in the US, just like the major tournaments from The Masters to the US Open. You have to win these championships to get to the top but to be in the best golfers of all time you need other qualities as well. 

Champions from early times in the best golfers of all time

In the Golden Era of golf a young golfer ruled the field, American Bobby Jones, who started to play at the age of only 14. He won his first major tournament, the US Open in 1923 and in his short career he managed to win 12 more. His 13 major wins was a record for 40 years. What’s more he was an amateur golfer, as he was working as a lawyer by profession. He retired early, at the age of 28, but stayed around the sport. He designed equipment and co-founded the Masters Tournament and the Augusta National Golf Club. The Masters has been postponed to November this year, all odds are available on Unibet. 

Before Jones started Walter Hagen, who won 11 Majors in his career between 1912 and 1942, He could have won even more, but many tournaments were not born yet, like the Masters. The first World War also reduced the number of tournaments he could take part. Still Hagen tried to win on every occasion, he achieved 45 PGA wins in total. Beside his PGA, British and US Open victories he also won the Western Open five times which was the fourth major at that time. He was also the world’s first full-time tournament professional in an era when amateur golfers still dominated the sport. 

Great golfers from the following decades

Between 1946 and 1953 Ben Hogan ruled the sport. He won 9 major championships, including all current four majors. During his years, he finished in the top 10 forty times out of the 58 major tournaments he took part, which is an amazing 69 percent. He also had to face some disruptions, like the Second World War and a car accident where he almost died with his wife in 1949. Hogan was one of the best ball strikers, though he wasn’t that good at putting. He also studied every course he played thoroughly. He retired at the age of 58, in 1971 when he wasn’t able to play on the level he was used to. 

The player with the most PGA victories is a player who belonged to the sports’ elite for almost four decades, Sam Snead. He won 82 PGA Tour events between 1936 to 1965, including seven majors. The US Open is the only major, where he could never succeed, though he was the runner-up four times. In this year’s US Open a current American golfer, Brooks Koepka is the favorite with the odds of 9.00.  Snead is also the oldest player to win a PGA Tour Event. He won the 1965 Greater Greensboro Open at the age of 52. 

Woods vs Nicklaus 

In every list of the best golfers of all time, two names will be on top. Either Jack Nicklaus, the player with 18 major wins or the most dominant golfer of the previous decades, Tiger Woods. Both of them are great golfers, though Woods only has 15 major wins. Between 1997 and 2008 he won 14 of them. While in the 2000/01 season he became the first and only player to hold all four major titles at the same time. Then in 2008 he suffered from injuries and scandals and had a long break.

But last year he returned back successfully and won the Masters again. Online sportsbooks in the US are considering him as a favorite in most coming majors. He has the odds of 13.00 to defend his title at the Masters. To find all the odds visit Unibet. And for more information read our review about Unibet sportsbook. 

The best golfer of all time

Hopefully Woods can continue in his top form for a few more years. But even that might not be enough to catch Jack Nicklaus and his number of victories. ‘The Golden Bear’ took part in 164 major tournaments and finished on top in 73 occasions. He started on amateur tournaments at the end of the 1950s.

Then switched to be a professional in 1961, at the age of 21. He won his first professional major in the following year, the US Open. But he reached his biggest successes in the 1970s. He won his last major in 1986, but continued to win in the Senior PGA Tour.

Nicklaus is also the head of one of the world’s biggest golf course design companies. While his book, Golf My Way is considered one of the best golf books of all time. So he really  deserves the title of the best golfer of all time.  

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