15 greatest golfers of last 70 years

[C.W.1]

Curious to read what others think. For me, I didn't want to include golfers before the Hogan/Nelson/Snead era but feel free to if you want. Would probably put Bobby Jones in at 3rd if including that era.

1. Woods
2. Nicklaus

tough call here. Nicklaus played in probably the best era of golf against better players. Still, majors don't mean as much to me as they do to others. Woods has more wins, especially if you include European tour wins.

3. Snead (most wins)
4. Hogan
5. Palmer
6. Nelson (some say Nelson is overrated but he was better than Hogan and Snead when they were all in their prime; Nelson just retired in his prime. Some say Hogan discovered a secret; others says the secret was Nelson retiring).
7. Player
8. Watson
9. Mickelson
10. Seve
11. Trevino (the one player who could stare down Nicklaus)
12. Faldo
13. Casper
14. Norman (missed out on a lot of winnable wins but was the best player for years)
15. Els

 

[Tskware]

Good list, I would suggest Raymond Floyd as possible inclusion.

Among the younger guys still active, have to consider Spieth and McIlroy (8 majors between them already) as potentially being on that list in ten years time.

Total wins is not going to mean the same to the modern player as it did in Snead or even Billy Caspar's time, too many players from all over the world now, twenty wins in a career is now HOF material. Woods and Mickelson are off the charts in that regard.

 

[Catfan in Tn.]

Majors have to matter when looking at the best regardless of your opinion. Jack had 19 2nd place finishes and 9 3rd place in his career. Impressive.

 

[Kaizer Sosay]

GOAT

 

[jameslee32]

 

[cole854]

Tiger played against, and defeated on a regular basis....the "world's best"....Jack didn't do this on nearly the same level. Tiger's WGC wins don't get nearly the credit they deserve as these fields were major-esque.

 

[*CatinIL*]

This is a BS poll. I don't see my name on there...

 

[ZakkW]

Good list. Wasn't sure about Billy Casper being on there, looked up his stats, shocked to see that he won 51 times on tour.

I may prefer Floyd instead of Els.

 

[Real Deal 2]

1. Woods- Best ever, Woods was best at short game, putter, driver, long irons. His best was greatest ever and not close. For Goodness sake he beat everyone by 15 strokes at 2000 US OPEN and did not make one bogey. end of discussion. He will not pass Jack in Majors but he was greatest player.
2.Nicklaus- Greatest winner ever, short game was marginal, great putter maybe the greatest. He was long and great long iron player maybe best of all time. He was crap from 150 yards in comparison to Trevino, Player, Palmer, Miller, Watson. Not very good from Sand.
3. Hogan- greatest ball striker ever, toughest guy, many old timers choose him as greatest ever. Some say he was best ever.
4.Snead- Great ball striker, best swing ever, fluid, played until 80's
5.Palmer- Had to play a young Jack, great putter, great driver of ball and striker. Jack was 10 years younger.
6. Player- Great player, ball striker and greatest bunker player ever. Tough, traveled and beat guys traveling with big family from S Africa. won Grand Slam.
7. Tom Watson- Great player, 5 British opens, great ball striker, should have won another at 59, won masters 2 times, US open had to beat Jack and Johny Miller and then the young guys like Faldo.
8. Lee Trevino- Merry Mex, greatest shot maker of all time, could carve a turkey with his wedge. Won all but Masters. Streaky putter, could hit any shape shot, any condition.
9. Faldo- won 3 Masters and 3 Open Championships, great Ryder Cup record. Enough said.
10. Seve Ballesteros- Won Masters and Open, started modern day Ryder Cup. Flare and game. Some say he hit shots that no one could ever pull off and imagine doing.

Honarable Mentions
Johny Miler- Hit more shots closer than anyone in his prime, 2 majors, was best player for 2-3 year span with Watson and Nicklaus in prime. Not a great putter. He was awesome but was streaky putter
Greg Norman- Greatest driver of golf ball of all time or most accurate and longest combined. Could work left to right or right to left. Underachieved but talent alone was top 10.
Mickelson and Els- are great players and would have more majors if not for Tiger
Rory- still great player and young, he is Tiger but not there or the closest thing.
Raymond Floyd- Won Masters, US Open, 2 PGA's. Tough Hombre, great competitor.
Billy Casper- Shadow of Arnie and Palmer-Nicklaus, he won majors at US Open and Masters.
Next Best
Kopeka, Spieth, O'Meara, Payne Stewart, Nick Price, Hale Irwin, Dustin Johnson

 

[dgtatu01]

Geez 15 is a lot and I am only 38, but here we go (off the top of my head):

1. Nicklaus
2. Tiger
3. Hogan
4. Palmer
5. Watson
6. Mickelson
7. Player
8. Faldo
9. Trevino
10. Ballesteros
11. Norman
12. That's all I can do with my knowledge.

Players now who can climb that list in order of potential imo:

DJ
Rory
Koepka
Rahm
Spieth
Fleetwood

 

[RacerX.ksr]

Tiger played against, and defeated on a regular basis....the "world's best"....Jack didn't do this on nearly the same level. Tiger's WGC wins don't get nearly the credit they deserve as these fields were major-esque.

You went nuclear stupid.

 

[mrhotdice]

Any list that has Jack behind Tiger is bogus. It’s hard to win a tourney in any era against any player.

 

[sluggercatfan]

Metal and steriods vs wood..

 

[nerdcat_rivals308595]

I might sneak Hale Irwin on that list. Great regular career. Senior tour was off the charts.

 

[dgtatu01]

I might sneak Hale Irwin on that list. Great regular career. Senior tour was off the charts.

Yeah my list is only PGA Tour career. Since 1980 (when I was born) there are a lot of guys in kind of a similar bucket for honorable mentions.

Long careers always pretty good not really ever great:
Couples
Els
Singh
Love III
Olazabel

This is a basket I could see Rickie Fowler being in at the end of his career. 1 or 2 majors 10-20 career wins, ton of $'s but not considered all time great.

Some guys that had super hot 2 or 3 year runs where they were great:
Harrington
Price
O'Meara

Could definitely see Spieth ending up being looked at this way.

 

[Tskware]

Yeah my list is only PGA Tour career. Since 1980 (when I was born) there are a lot of guys in kind of a similar bucket for honorable mentions.

Long careers always pretty good not really ever great:
Couples
Els
Singh
Love III
Olazabel

Els had 19 tour wins and four Opens to his credit
Singh won 34 PGA tournaments, + Masters and 2 PGAs and was no. 1 in the world for 32 weeks

I think they qualify as great, not just pretty good

 

[C.W.1]

1. Woods- Best ever, Woods was best at short game, putter, driver, long irons. His best was greatest ever and not close. For Goodness sake he beat everyone by 15 strokes at 2000 US OPEN and did not make one bogey. end of discussion. He will not pass Jack in Majors but he was greatest player.
2.Nicklaus- Greatest winner ever, short game was marginal, great putter maybe the greatest. He was long and great long iron player maybe best of all time. He was crap from 150 yards in comparison to Trevino, Player, Palmer, Miller, Watson. Not very good from Sand.
3. Hogan- greatest ball striker ever, toughest guy, many old timers choose him as greatest ever. Some say he was best ever.
4.Snead- Great ball striker, best swing ever, fluid, played until 80's
5.Palmer- Had to play a young Jack, great putter, great driver of ball and striker. Jack was 10 years younger.
6. Player- Great player, ball striker and greatest bunker player ever. Tough, traveled and beat guys traveling with big family from S Africa. won Grand Slam.
7. Tom Watson- Great player, 5 British opens, great ball striker, should have won another at 59, won masters 2 times, US open had to beat Jack and Johny Miller and then the young guys like Faldo.
8. Lee Trevino- Merry Mex, greatest shot maker of all time, could carve a turkey with his wedge. Won all but Masters. Streaky putter, could hit any shape shot, any condition.
9. Faldo- won 3 Masters and 3 Open Championships, great Ryder Cup record. Enough said.
10. Seve Ballesteros- Won Masters and Open, started modern day Ryder Cup. Flare and game. Some say he hit shots that no one could ever pull off and imagine doing.

Honarable Mentions
Johny Miler- Hit more shots closer than anyone in his prime, 2 majors, was best player for 2-3 year span with Watson and Nicklaus in prime. Not a great putter. He was awesome but was streaky putter
Greg Norman- Greatest driver of golf ball of all time or most accurate and longest combined. Could work left to right or right to left. Underachieved but talent alone was top 10.
Mickelson and Els- are great players and would have more majors if not for Tiger
Rory- still great player and young, he is Tiger but not there or the closest thing.
Raymond Floyd- Won Masters, US Open, 2 PGA's. Tough Hombre, great competitor.
Billy Casper- Shadow of Arnie and Palmer-Nicklaus, he won majors at US Open and Masters.
Next Best
Kopeka, Spieth, O'Meara, Payne Stewart, Nick Price, Hale Irwin, Dustin Johnson

Great list and comments. Miller almost made my top 15 based upon the 3 year span he had from 1974-76. Won the U.S. Open and the British Open when they were the top two tournaments and had a birdie putt to tie Nicklaus in the 1975 Masters that was greatest Masters year ever.

 

[dgtatu01]

Els had 19 tour wins and four Opens to his credit
Singh won 34 PGA tournaments, + Masters and 2 PGAs and was no. 1 in the world for 32 weeks

I think they qualify as great, not just pretty good

I mean Bubba will probably have the same career as Els. Do you think he's great? Really good, yeah but not great imo. We can disagree though, that makes these conversations fun!!

 

[Dig Dirkler]

1. Woods- Best ever, Woods was best at short game, putter, driver, long irons. His best was greatest ever and not close. For Goodness sake he beat everyone by 15 strokes at 2000 US OPEN and did not make one bogey. end of discussion. He will not pass Jack in Majors but he was greatest player.
2.Nicklaus- Greatest winner ever, short game was marginal, great putter maybe the greatest. He was long and great long iron player maybe best of all time. He was crap from 150 yards in comparison to Trevino, Player, Palmer, Miller, Watson. Not very good from Sand.
3. Hogan- greatest ball striker ever, toughest guy, many old timers choose him as greatest ever. Some say he was best ever.
4.Snead- Great ball striker, best swing ever, fluid, played until 80's
5.Palmer- Had to play a young Jack, great putter, great driver of ball and striker. Jack was 10 years younger.
6. Player- Great player, ball striker and greatest bunker player ever. Tough, traveled and beat guys traveling with big family from S Africa. won Grand Slam.
7. Tom Watson- Great player, 5 British opens, great ball striker, should have won another at 59, won masters 2 times, US open had to beat Jack and Johny Miller and then the young guys like Faldo.
8. Lee Trevino- Merry Mex, greatest shot maker of all time, could carve a turkey with his wedge. Won all but Masters. Streaky putter, could hit any shape shot, any condition.
9. Faldo- won 3 Masters and 3 Open Championships, great Ryder Cup record. Enough said.
10. Seve Ballesteros- Won Masters and Open, started modern day Ryder Cup. Flare and game. Some say he hit shots that no one could ever pull off and imagine doing.

Honarable Mentions
Johny Miler- Hit more shots closer than anyone in his prime, 2 majors, was best player for 2-3 year span with Watson and Nicklaus in prime. Not a great putter. He was awesome but was streaky putter
Greg Norman- Greatest driver of golf ball of all time or most accurate and longest combined. Could work left to right or right to left. Underachieved but talent alone was top 10.
Mickelson and Els- are great players and would have more majors if not for Tiger
Rory- still great player and young, he is Tiger but not there or the closest thing.
Raymond Floyd- Won Masters, US Open, 2 PGA's. Tough Hombre, great competitor.
Billy Casper- Shadow of Arnie and Palmer-Nicklaus, he won majors at US Open and Masters.
Next Best
Kopeka, Spieth, O'Meara, Payne Stewart, Nick Price, Hale Irwin, Dustin Johnson

Thanks for the Wiki-golf history lesson.

 

[Real Deal 2]

Thanks for the Wiki-golf history lesson.

That is just my amazing brain. Not much anyone or anything gets past the Real Deal. You may want to and you may try but as Jackie Gleason said in Smokey and the Bandit "Don't Do IT"

 

[KRJ1975]

Man, 15 is a lot. It gets pretty cluttered after the top several.

1a. Woods
1b. Nicklaus
3. Hogan
4. Palmer
5. Nelson
6. Player
7. Mickelson
8. Snead
9. Watson
10. Faldo
11. Casper
12. Els
13. Singh
14. Middlecoff
15. Seve

 

[KRJ1975]

I mean Bubba will probably have the same career as Els. Do you think he's great? Really good, yeah but not great imo. We can disagree though, that makes these conversations fun!!

Bubba would need Retief Goosen's entire career (7 wins and 2 majors) to tie Els' PGA tour accomplishments. I don't see it.

 

[Tskware]

Plus Els played and won all over the world, Bubba in majors has been a one trick pony

 

[KRJ1975]

Plus Els played and won all over the world, Bubba in majors has been a one trick pony

Right - Ernie is 7th all time with 28 Euro tour wins. Bubba has 14 professional wins total. Ernie has 71. They aren't close. If anything, I am tempted to move the Big Easy up a few notches on my list.

Damn - Ernie is much better than I originally gave him credit for. Moved him ahead of a few guys.

One guy who is really a head scratcher is Duval. He won 13 times in his 5 big years including a major then just lost it. Extrapolate that out for 15 years and he's got 39 wins and 3 majors. Golf is hard.

 

[Real Deal 2]

Plus Els played and won all over the world, Bubba in majors has been a one trick pony

How many majors does Ernie have if not for Tiger, how many does Phil have if not for Tiger. I would say each would have conservatively 2-3 each, Els was second to Tiger at Pebble Beach in 2000, Phil lost a US Open in New York to Tiger, Masters probably 2 apiece, Phil beat Els on his 1st major at Augusta. Not to mention if no Tiger and the scar tissue accumulated then easily see them winning 2-3 more conservatively.

 

[cawoodsct]

You went nuclear stupid.

He’s talking about the World Golf Championships getting the best of the best together 4 more times a year, not the level of comp in the era. Basically saying Tiger went up against the best his era had to offer more often than Jack was able to. Not Jack’s fault but probably a valid statement.

 

[RacerX.ksr]

He’s talking about the World Golf Championships getting the best of the best together 4 more times a year, not the level of comp in the era. Basically saying Tiger went up against the best his era had to offer more often than Jack was able to. Not Jack’s fault but probably a valid statement.

I was referring to him downplaying Jack's competition which routinely consisted of legends of the game. Look at some of the other names on these lists and see how many Jack played against.

Not even gonna talk about equipment. Jack has 46 top 3's in majors. Tiger was the best in his day. Jack was the best in his. Best ever is dependent upon the criteria you choose to use. It's not a slam dunk for either.

 

[vhcat70]

Roy McAvoy. End of story.

 

[willyclyde]

Ben Hogan was the greatest of all time, idc what you hacks say.

 

[KRJ1975]

I was referring to him downplaying Jack's competition which routinely consisted of legends of the game. Look at some of the other names on these lists and see how many Jack played against.

Not even gonna talk about equipment. Jack has 46 top 3's in majors. Tiger was the best in his day. Jack was the best in his. Best ever is dependent upon the criteria you choose to use. It's not a slam dunk for either.

Good post here. Equipment I see as a wash because they both competed against guys with the same equipment. Agree with the rest though. A good case can be made for both.

 

[Lexie's Dad]

Roy McAvoy. End of story.

The dude from Bagger Vance was salty too.

 

[rick64]

Tiger was more dominant in his prime. But Jack is the GOAT. 18 majors and finished second 19 times.

 

[WKBlu]

 

[UK 82]

Not on the list and probably shouldn't be is Tom Kite but damn that guy always seemed to be in contention back in the day.

 

[KRJ1975]

Looked at career win %. Tiger has won about 23% of his career starts, Jack won about 12%. Tiger for the majority of his career has cherry picked events with the best fields too.

I think the bottom line is this - Jack is the best major winner of all time, Tiger is the best golfer of all time - he made a mockery of the tour during his prime.