Golf is one of the toughest sports to rank, as it has gone through various format and equipment changes over the years. The competition level has also had its ups and downs, and some of the greatest golfers weren't getting 30 to 40 opportunities to win tournaments like they do nowadays in the modern era. Despite that, we will give it our best shot to rank the 25 greatest golfers of all time.
25. Greg Norman
Greg Norman is one of the most polarizing golfers in history. His celebrity in the golf world mostly comes from blowing leads down the stretch of big tournaments and his recent partnership with LIV golf. However, it is worth remembering that Norman won 91 times professionally (20 PGA and 71 Internationally) and was second place 31 times on the PGA tour. He won The Open Championship twice and spent a record 331 weeks as the top ranked golfer in the world.
24. Billy Casper
Billy Casper was the forgotten fourth man of the 1960s. In a decade where Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, and Gary Player dominated the headlines, Casper also had a great run. He earned three Major championships and won 51 PGA Tour events. If Casper had played in any other decade, he would likely be regarded much higher. His greatest triumph was at the 1966 U.S. Open when he went head-to-head with Palmer and emerged victorious.
23. Nancy Lopez
Nancy Lopez was one of the first highly-publicized LPGA tour players. She won nine tournaments in her first year on tour, earning her an appearance on the cover of Sports Illustrated for her efforts. She won another eight times in her second season but began a family life which hindered her from continuing her success. When all was said and done, Lopez totaled 51 professional wins, including three Majors, and she is the only woman to win LPGA Rookie of the Year, Player of the Year, and the Vare Trophy (lowest scoring average) in the same season.
22. Vijay Singh
Vijay Singh has a career marred with cheating allegations and performance-enhancing drug use. However, in his prime, Singh was one of the only obstacles standing in Tiger Woods' way. Most times, Singh found himself on the losing end to Tiger, but he earned his share of victories and time on top. Singh has amassed 66 professional wins on various tours, including three Major championships. He also eclipsed Tiger as the top golfer on the world rankings for 32 weeks in 2004 and 2005.
21. Ernie Els
Another contender for the second-best player in the Tiger era, Ernie Els managed to win four Major championships in his career, most recently at The Open in 2012. He has 75 professional wins, including 28 on the European Tour, which ranks him seventh all-time, and is made even more impressive considering he spent the most time competing on the PGA Tour. He held the top spot on the world rankings for nine weeks in 1997.
20. Old Tom Morris/Young Tom Morris
It is only fitting that Old Tom Morris and his son, Young Tom Morris, be recognized in the same section. They were born in the “home of golf” in St. Andrews, Fife, and played at St. Andrews Links. Old Tom's crowning achievement was winning The Open Championship four times in 1861, 1862, 1864, and 1867. Young Tom started playing golf at a young age and beat his father for the first time when he was 13 years old. He still holds the record as the youngest Major champion, winning his first title when he was 17, and he went on to win four straight Open Championships. The Father and son duo started teaming up for challenge matches until Young Tom tragically died at the age of 24.
19. Rory McIlroy
Rory McIlroy is the first golfer on our list who has the potential to climb the rankings, as he is still contending for Major championships. However, McIlroy has been snake-bitten as of late, failing to win a Major since 2014. He won four Majors at the beginning of his career and will need the Masters to complete the career grand slam. He has 37 professional wins thus far and has spent 122 weeks as the world's highest ranked player.
18. Nick Faldo
Most present-day golf fans may know Nick Faldo as the voice of television coverage, but he was a successful golfer in his own right. Faldo was the benefactor to most of Norman's failures at the professional level, as the two were famous rivals in the 1990s. Faldo won 41 times professionally, including six Major championships. He was also a factor in the Ryder Cup for Team Europe, as he won four cups in his career, and racked up 23 total wins in Ryder Cup matches, which is the second most all time. As a result, Faldo is highly regarded as one of the best Ryder Cup performers in the history of golf.
17. Kathy Whitworth
The winningest golfer in the history of the PGA, Kathy Whitworth won 88 times in her career. No other PGA or LPGA player has won as many times as her, with the closest being Mickey Wright, Sam Snead, and Tiger Woods, who all have 82. She was the LPGA Tour Player of the Year seven times between 1966 and 1973, and Golf Magazine named her “Golfer of the Decade” from 1968 to 1977. The one knock on Whitworth's career is that she only won six Major championships.
16. Walter Hagen
A champion in the early 20th century, Walter Hagen won 11 Majors throughout his illustrious career. He was also a champion at five Western Opens, which is considered just as prestigious as Majors. There is a much-acclaimed race to see who will finish with the most career Majors between Tiger and Jack Nicklaus, but Hagen is the man sitting in third place. Hagen also totaled 45 PGA wins and was a Ryder Cup captain for the USA six times. He is regarded as the first known star of golf back when the sport wasn't all that popular.
15. Byron Nelson
Byron Nelson is regarded as one of the game's gentlemen, gathering acclaim throughout his career for superior sportsmanship. He won five Major championships during the 1930s and 40s, including 52 professional wins. He is most known for his performance in the summer of 1945, winning a record-breaking 11 consecutive tournaments. Nelson was the Associated Press Athlete of the Year, an unprecedented honor for a professional golfer.
14. Annika Sorenstam
Annika Sorenstam is close to passing Wright as the greatest female golfer, but Wright finishes a spot ahead due to her Major record. Sorenstam won 72 times on the LPGA Tour and 17 times on the European ladies tour, totaling 97 professional wins. She was a Major champion ten times and a runner-up once. When Sorenstam was in contention, she had a knack for closing it out. She was also the first woman since 1945 to play in a PGA Tour event, competing in the Bank of America Colonial in 2003.
13. Mickey Wright
Mickey Wright was one of the first stars of the LPGA tour. After turning pro in 1955, Wright won 82 events on the LPGA tour, placing her second on the all-time wins list. Thirteen of her wins were in Major championships, which also ranks second on the all-time list. She is the only player in LPGA history to hold all four Major titles simultaneously, and she topped the money list on tour for four consecutive seasons from 1961 to 1964. Given all she accomplished, Wright was ranked among the top ten best golfers in the world throughout all 14 seasons of her career.
12. Lee Trevino
Lee Trevino is just as much a legend off the course as he is on it. Trevino brought humor to the golf course, something lacking in the sport with its stuffy country club culture. He has won 29 times on the Champions Tour, matching his number of wins on the PGA tour. He also won six Major championships during his career. Trevino went head-to-head with Jack Nicklaus for four of his Major victories, becoming one of a few golfers that was able to get the better of Nicklaus.
11. Gene Sarazen
Gene Sarazen was an innovator and a champion as a professional golfer. He won 38 times in his career, winning his first title at 19 years old. He was the first member of golf's modern Career Grand Slam club, which only includes Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, and Tiger Woods. Sarazen also invented the sand wedge, a club every golfer has in their bag today.
10. Seve Ballesteros
Widely regarded as Europe's greatest golfer, Seve Ballesteros was known for being able to play in all conditions. A self-taught player from his homeland of Spain, Ballesteros used unorthodox methods but generated great success in his time. He is a driving force in the popularity of the Ryder Cup and is a role model for some of the game's best current players in Spaniards Jon Rahm and Sergio Garcia. Ballesteros won 65 times professionally, including five Majors.
9. Phil Mickelson
Taking away all the negative publicity as of late, it's hard to ignore Phil Mickelson as one of the greatest golfers ever. The lefty has excelled since college, becoming one of a few golfers to win a PGA Tour event while still being classified as an amateur. Phil has 57 professional wins, including six Major championships. His Career Grand Slam has evaded him, finishing second at the U.S. Open twice. While never spending time as the world's top ranked golfer, there's no shame in coming in at second behind Woods, which is what Mickelson has done for much of his career.
8. Gary Player
A renowned golfer and course architect, Gary Player has made a mark on the game of golf in more ways than one. He has 159 professional wins in various tours, including nine Major championships, and he was the third golfer in history to complete the Career Grand Slam. Player stayed active in the golfing community even as he got older, playing in his 52nd Masters in 2009. Player is renowned as the most well-traveled athlete in history, winning tournaments on six continents.
7. Tom Watson
Tom Watson's biggest strength was his longevity, dominating golf in the 1970s and 80s but sticking around long enough to make a run at Major championships as late as 2009. Watson has 70 professional wins under his belt, including eight Majors, and he was also the PGA Player of the Year six times between 1977 and 1984. Watson almost made history by winning a Major championship 26 years after his last one when he finished in second place at the 2009 Open Championship. He entered the final round in the lead but fell apart on the 72nd hole, and eventually lost to Stewart Cink in a playoff.
6. Sam Snead
While Tiger chased Jack as the all-time leader in Major wins, Sam Snead was the man he chased for PGA Tour victories. Snead won 82 times on the PGA Tour but had 142 wins in his professional career. The mark of 82 wins is currently tied with Tiger, and with the uncertainty of Woods' career, there's a chance Snead's record will stick forever. He was the first golfer to win an event in six different decades and to win the same event 17 times, his home West Virginia Open.
5. Ben Hogan
While Ben Hogan only landed fifth on our rankings of the greatest golfers, some outlets regard him as the greatest golfer of all time. This list is based primarily on success and accolades, but it is worth noting that a car accident and his service in World War II took time off of Hogan's career. If it hadn't been for these unfortunate factors, he would have undoubtedly found himself higher on the list. Hogan's career didn't take off until 12 years after his debut when he won the 1942 Hale America Open. Shortly after, World War II caused Hogan to be unable to play until 1945. Hogan then won 21 tournaments from 1946 to 1948, but a head-on collision with a bus caused him to be hospitalized with the fear that he would never be able to walk again. Against all odds, Hogan returned to win six Majors in nine starts between 1950-1953, cementing himself one of the greatest comeback stories in sports history.
4. Bobby Jones
One of golf's most influential pioneers, the modern golf we know wouldn't be possible without Bobby Jones. He played in 21 Major tournaments, winning 13 of them. He was the first golfer ever to win “The Double”, both the U.S. Open and British Open in the same year. Jones was also the first person ever to win the “Grand Slam”(pre-masters era), a feat only accomplished by a select few since then. Jones changed the face of modern golf when he co-designed the Augusta National Golf Club in 1933. He created a new tournament to put at his course every year, and just like that, the Masters was born. He came out of retirement to play in the Masters 12 times but never won the event.
3. Arnold Palmer
Arnold Palmer was a part of one of the most competitive eras of golf in the 1960s, competing with Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player at every tournament. He had a career that spanned six decades, winning professionally 95 times. Seven of those tournaments were Major tournaments, as he couldn't get past Nicklaus to win more. It is a testament to how good he was as a golfer that Palmer was ranked third while being in Nicklaus' shadow for most of his career. While he didn't experience the same success as Nicklaus at Majors, it's worth arguing that Palmer was the better golfer. The gap between the two isn't as big as the Major total would have you believe.
2. Jack Nicklaus
The debate will never get old for golf fans. Who is the better golfer: Jack Nicklaus or Tiger Woods? Nicklaus earned 117 professional wins and a record 18 Major championships. He was the first golfer to win the triple career slam, winning each tournament three times. He went on to win the Masters Tournament seven times and the PGA Championship five times. Nicklaus struggled from 1968 to 1970, and people believed it may be the end of his success. However, he had a resurgence and went on to dominate for another decade. He won his last Major 16 years after his supposed “downturn.” For a top-25 ranking, we had to decide who was No.1 and who was No.2. However, for most golfers, the debate between Jack and Tiger is more of a 1A and 1B scenario, as both are simply too good to pick between.
1. Tiger Woods
What can you say about Tiger Woods? He is a man who changed golf in the 21st century, making it a global phenomenon and setting up fellow golfers to make more money than they could ever imagine. The story of Tiger has been told countless times. Woods was a child prodigy who dominated Amateur golf, winning 3 U.S. Amateurs to become the only three-time winner in the event's history. He turned professional in 1996 and immediately became the face of Nike and Titleist. He went on to win 82 PGA tour events, sharing the record with Snead for most wins all-time. Woods has also won 15 Major championships as he continues to chase Nicklaus for the record in that category.
Sadly, despite being one of the most decorated golfers, Woods' career is also a case of what could have been. Through many unnecessary swing changes, off-course controversies, and debilitating injuries, Woods has persevered. How many wins could he have had if his career had gone more smoothly? We will never know. The golf fan in all of us would love to see him make a triumphant return and chase the Major record, but unfortunately, that scenario isn't likely. Instead, we will have to appreciate the greatness that was Tiger Woods.
Follow Us
Subscribe