All-Time Top 15 Players

[max power]

List put together for no other reason than I can't sleep.  Listing wins (usually PGA) and majors, but many other factors in the final decision, including 2nds, 3rds, top 5s, top 10s, competition, longevity, and plain old personal preference.

1 - Jack Nicklaus 73/18

2 - Tiger Woods 71/14

3 - Ben Hogan 64/9

4 - Sam Snead 83*/7 (gets credit for uncredited North/South win)

5 - Walter Hagen 45/16* (because the Western Open was clearly a major in his day)

6 - Gary Player 24*/9 (PGA wins, but have to count his boatload of worldwide wins)

7 - Arnold Palmer 62/7

8 - Tom Watson 39/8

9 - Byron Nelson 52/5

10 - Lee Trevino 29/6

11 - Seve Ballesteros 50*/5 (Euro wins)

12 - Phil Mickelson 39/4 (more impressed by Phil's 39 PGA wins vs. Seve's 50 Euro wins, but Seve gets the edge for the 5th major and Ryder Cup dominance)

13 - Gene Sarazen 39/7

14 - Bobby Jones 9/7

15 - Bobby Locke 57*/4 (worldwide non PGA wins) -thanks to Stretch for pointing out this blatant omission

I look forward to some discussion and spirited debate.

[saevel25]

Its not about wins and majors really,

Jack

Tiger

Snead

Palmer

Bobby Jones

Hagen

Billy Caper

Gary Player

Tom Watson

Lee Travino

Seve

Byron

Gene Sarezen

Phil

Thats all i got..  Sorry, but i think if Bobby Jones played more regularly, he would have a ton more wins, but he was mostly a major type of guy, and the amount of times he won the majors in a short amount of period can only be rivaled by Tiger.

[deasy55]

1. Tiger Woods

2. Jack Nicklaus (I put Tiger 1st simply because I was too young to see Jack play)

3. Bobby Jones

4. Seve Ballesteros

5. Ben Hogan

6. Gary Player

7. Walter Hagen

8.Tom Watson

9.Arnold Palmer

10.Sam Snead

11.Gene Sarazen

12.Nick Faldo

13.Harry Vardon

14.Greg Norman

15. Young Tom Morris

Complete guess work with the older players obviously. I decided to throw Young Tom in there at the end

[sean_miller]

Bobby Jones was all about the majors because, as an amateur, there weren't too many other events he want to play in - even if he could.

When I was first getting into golf, the careers of Old and Young Tom Morris, Harry Vardon, Henry Cotton, Willie Anderson, and guys from waaaay back then were held in pretty high regard. So to look at these two lists, I'd say that for younger golf fans it is all about PGA Tour wins and majors.

BTW, even though she couldn't beat the men head to head, any list of great golfers that doesn't include Annika Sorenstam is flawed to me.

[max power]

Good point-I didn't think to include women, probably 'cause they just aren't as good as men (at golf).  But...Annika and Patty Berg should probably be somewhere near the top 15.

Originally Posted by sean_miller

Bobby Jones was all about the majors because, as an amateur, there weren't too many other events he want to play in - even if he could.

When I was first getting into golf, the careers of Old and Young Tom Morris, Harry Vardon, Henry Cotton, Willie Anderson, and guys from waaaay back then were held in pretty high regard. So to look at these two lists, I'd say that for younger golf fans it is all about PGA Tour wins and majors.

BTW, even though she couldn't beat the men head to head, any list of great golfers that doesn't include Annika Sorenstam is flawed to me.

[max power]

Man, I got to bump this already?

[bunkerputt]

This debate has already been settled unanimously and unambiguously by the following video.

[saevel25]

What a bunch of crap video that was.. How can a guy from Sweden who only has 6 total victors be in the top 10. Apprently the persion who put that video together has not knowledge of professional golfers

[bplewis24]

My only complaint with that video is that Duval should be a little higher.

Brandon

[sean_miller]

Originally Posted by bplewis24

My only complaint with that video is that Duval should be a little higher.

Brandon

That video is hilarious. I LOL'd at Tiger, Duval (so did Trevino apparently), and a few others. Good stuff.

[Stretch]

Let's not forget a guy who was (arguably) kicked off the PGA tour for being too good. Bobby Locke played 59 tournaments in America over two years or so, winning 11 and finishing in the top three 30 times ! Still holds the record for the largest margin of victory -- 16 shots in the 1948 Chicago Victory National Championship. It is said that the US pros quickly got tired of a foreigner raiding their prize money like that and he was banned in 1949, on the fairly flimsy pretext that he chose to play preseason events in Europe instead. He ended up winning four British Opens, 23 European titles and 38 South African tour trophies before a bad car accident ended his career. May well have been the best putter ever. Sam Snead claimed he never once three-putted during their highly touted matchplay exhibition series in the late 40s, which Locke won 12 to 2, and later said his own famous case of the yips very likely got its start there: "In some of the matches, my ball was inside his from tee to green on 15 holes. But he just dropped 30 and 40 footers without even thinking twice. He made me so nervous that in one match I missed eight putts of less than two feet."

[dbuck]

I can't argue too much with the OP's beginning list, but would move Bobby Jones to the top 5, maybe bumping Hagen, and also assuming this is an all male list.

Agree with Sean's point about including Annika if you are not limiting to males, and also Babe Zaharias and maybe Nancy Lopez. I am not sure I would knock anyone off the OP's list with these ladies except Vijay, but they would have to be in the top 25 for impact on the game and dominance on their tour.

Golf Digest did a top 50 or 100 back in about 2000, before the Tiger slam, and it is hard to argue with their choices.  Nicklaus was first and Tiger was about 9th and obviously today, you'd put Tiger in the top 3 - 1,2, or 3 depending on your point of view.

[uttexas]

Prior to let's say 1940, golf was only played by a few rich guys. Today's golfers are stronger, more flexible, and better conditioned, so my rankings have a bias toward golfers of the last 50 years. I also favored golfers with relatively brief periods of brilliance. Jack Woods Hogan Snead Nelson Player Palmer Casper Trevino Watson Hagen Jones Seve Norman Vijay

[max power]

I totally overlooked Bobby Locke-you can probably bump off my 3 way tie at 15 and put him right there.

Originally Posted by Stretch

Let's not forget a guy who was (arguably) kicked off the PGA tour for being too good. Bobby Locke played 59 tournaments in America over two years or so, winning 11 and finishing in the top three 30 times! Still holds the record for the largest margin of victory -- 16 shots in the 1948 Chicago Victory National Championship. It is said that the US pros quickly got tired of a foreigner raiding their prize money like that and he was banned in 1949, on the fairly flimsy pretext that he chose to play preseason events in Europe instead. He ended up winning four British Opens, 23 European titles and 38 South African tour trophies before a bad car accident ended his career. May well have been the best putter ever. Sam Snead claimed he never once three-putted during their highly touted matchplay exhibition series in the late 40s, which Locke won 12 to 2, and later said his own famous case of the yips very likely got its start there: "In some of the matches, my ball was inside his from tee to green on 15 holes. But he just dropped 30 and 40 footers without even thinking twice. He made me so nervous that in one match I missed eight putts of less than two feet."

[turtleback]

By category, within which no special order

Clearly greatest of their eras

Tiger Woods

Jack Nicklaus

Ben Hogan

Harry Vardon

In the discussion for greatest of their era

Byron Nelson

Sam Snead

Walter Hagen

Bobby Jones

Arnold Palmer

Tom Watson

Gene Sarazen

Gary Player

Outstanding but not best of era

Phil Mickelson

Vijay Singh

Nick Faldo

Seve Ballesteros

Lee Trevino

Raymond Floyd

Edited to add: Billy Casper (thanks iacas)

Deserve a mention but too tough to evaluate

Bobby Locke

James Braid

John Henry Taylor

Peter Thompson

Willie Park Sr.

Old Tom Morris

Young Tom Morris

[Chilli Dipper]

With all due respect to the ancient legends of the game -- Tom Morris, old and young, Willie Anderson, the Great Triumvirate of Vardon, Braid, and Taylor -- I think any attempt to rate the greatest players of all-time has to exclude any history before World War I. The PGA Tour was founded in 1916, and the first PGA Championship was also held that year; the first American to win the Open Championship was Jock Hutchinson in 1921. Only after the Great War did we see a well-organized professional circuit emerge, and the best players from either side of the Atlantic play in each others' championships.

15. Peter Thomson, Australia

• five-time major champion (British Open: 1954-56, 1958, 1965)
• 69 professional victories (6 PGA Tour)
• World Golf Hall of Fame (1988)

Thomson never played even a partial schedule in the United States, so he is doomed to be overlooked in the annals of golf history. However, at the oldest championship of them all, the Aussie's reign was was undisputed. Between 1951 and 1972, Thomson won the British Open five times, and finished in the top ten on 18 of 22 appearances. From 1952 until 1958, his worst result in the Open was second; his victories in 1954, '55, and '56 make him the only player since World War II to win any major championship three years in a row. Only Harry Vardon won more Open titles, and only Tom Watson has matched his total since the First World War.

14. Greg Norman, Australia

• two-time major champion (British Open: 1986, 1993)
• 88 professional victories (20 PGA Tour, 14 European Tour)
• World Golf Hall of Fame (2001)
• number one player in World Golf Ranking for 331 weeks (1986-1998)

From an Australian whose dominance is overshadowed by his absence on the American stage, to an Australian whose dominance is overshadowed by his inability to close out majors. Since the world ranking's inception in 1986, Norman spent 331 weeks recognized as the world's best player. To put that figure into perspective: Tiger Woods (623 weeks) has spent roughly twice as long at number one than Norman, but the Shark held the top ranking for over three times as long as the next-most prolific golfer of the OWGR era, Nick Faldo (97 weeks). By the end of Norman's last reign at number one, he had more weeks at the top of the rankings than anyone else combined. Since Seve Ballesteros' death, we've heard stories about how today's professionals spent their youths imitating the Spaniard, but they all wanted the Aussie's power off the tee. Still, Norman had to wait until 2001, at the age of 46, to be inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame; Faldo and Ballesteros both were inducted at age 40, the earliest they could be selected.

13. Gene Sarazen, United States

• seven-time major champion (US Open: 1922, 1932; PGA: 1922, 1923, 1933; British Open: 1932; Masters: 1935)
• 43 professional victories (39 PGA Tour)
• World Golf Hall of Fame (1974; charter member)

Tiger Woods won his first major championship at the age of 21; Sarazen won two majors at the age of 20. He traveled to the British Isles in 1932 with a secret weapon; his secret was out after his five-stroke victory, and his sand wedge has been in the bag of every serious golfer since then. His double-eagle at the 1935 Masters may be the most-folklored golf shot in history. Yet, despite the immeasurable impact Sarazen left on the game of golf, he was only the third-best player of his era.

12. Nick Faldo, United Kingdom

• six-time major champion (British Open: 1987, 1990, 1992; Masters: 1989, 1990, 1996)
• 40 professional victories (9 PGA Tour, 30 European Tour)
• World Golf Hall of Fame (1997)
• number one player in World Golf Ranking for 97 weeks (1990-1994)

Faldo wasn't the most spectacular player of his generation; he lacked Ballesteros' theatrics and Norman's power game. What Faldo did have, though, was pure ballstriking talent and a knack for maintaining composure in the clutch. On a windy Sunday at Muirfield in 1987, when all of the other players at the top of the Open leaderboard were giving up strokes, Faldo made 18 pars to claim his first major. Faldo came from behind on Sunday for all three of his Masters victories; the first two weren't decided until the second hole of sudden death, and he played arguably the best round of his life to claim the third, as his greatest rival, playing alongside, had the worst round of his.

11. Lee Trevino, United States

• six-time major champion (US Open: 1968, 1971; British Open: 1971, 1972; PGA: 1974, 1984)
• 50 professional victories (29 PGA Tour)
• World Golf Hall of Fame (1981)

Golf's appeal depends in large part on the emergence of a working-class hero who can bring color and personality to a game that can be drab and elitist. Trevino may be the greatest embodiment of a blue-collar icon golf will ever see: a wise-cracking son of immigrants who went from working in cotton fields to becoming one of the world's best players. But Trevino didn't earn the love of the masses simply because he was Mexican-American, or because he had a sense of humor; he was also the only person capable of matching Jack Nicklaus, shot-for-shot, when the Golden Bear was at his absolute peak. Between 1968 and 1974, the Merry Mex won five major titles -- the same as Nicklaus during that span. At four of those victories, Nicklaus finished second. For those seven years, Lee was Jack's equal.

Those are the first five players on my all-time top 15 list. I'll post the remaining ten later on this weekend.

[iacas]

Any top 20 list that doesn't include Billy Casper is suspect. Easily one of the most overlooked great careers in golf. Whether he should crack everyone's top 15 I don't know. It's close. He makes my top 15 pretty easily. 7th all time in PGA Tour wins? Three majors competing against Palmer, Nicklaus, Player, Trevino, etc. in their hey day? C'mon.

My list of men only:

1. Nicklaus
2. Woods
3. Hogan
4. Jones
5. Snead
6. Nelson
7. Palmer
8. Watson
9. Player
10. Trevino
11. Hagen
12. Casper
13. Sarazen
14. Faldo
15. Ballesteros
16. McIlroy

Joking on the last one...

[deasy55]

People should really rate Young Tom Morris higher. He basically changed the way golf was played before dying at 24. He basically invented the sandwedge and was the first to use backspin.

On the first hole of the 1870 British Open he recorded a 3 on a 578 yard hole. That must have been about a par 6-7 in those days (no par back then).