These Are The Greatest Golfers in History
By NCG
The list of impressive golfers is long. Golf has a long and incredible history that has fostered some of the greatest sportspeople of all time.
On this list, you’ll find some of the absolutely greatest golfers in history from the beginning of the last century to a young Norwegian player at the beginning of his career. Get to know them better right here.
Throughout history, there have been many legendary golfers. Golf is one of the sports that have developed quite a bit in the last fifty years and beyond.
It makes it hard to compare the older golfers to contemporary players. The equipment today is extraordinary, just as the top players are.
On this list, you’ll find some of the greatest golfers in history – golfers who are known and loved on a global scale. You can learn more about some of the legendary golfers who have a long career behind them.
The Legend – Tiger Woods
There’s no question that one of the figures who have shaped golf as we know it is American golfer Tiger Woods.
He has no less than 82 PGA Tour wins behind him – which makes him tied with Sam Snead for most wins. He has won 15 major titles, five of them at the Masters.
In total, he has earned no less than 108 wins. The list of professional achievements goes on and on when looking into the extraordinary career of Tiger Woods with an astounding 18 World Golf Championships wins.
Besides all the wins, he has played a major role in diversifying the sport. As an African American, he has played a major role in changing this quite white-male-defined sport.
When describing why Tiger Woods is one of the most legendary golfers, you could go on describing his achievements, which truly goes on and on.
The Norwegian Talent – Viktor Hovland
One of the superstars of contemporary golf is the young Norwegian golfer Viktor Hovland.
He is without a doubt the most successful Norwegian golfer of all time and has truly demonstrated his place in the global golf scene (quickly becoming a truly impressive golfer and one of the most searched Norwegian sportspeople with a long career ahead of him).
He has broken plenty of Norwegian golf records even though he’s only 25 years old. He won on the PGA Tour in 2020, becoming the first Norwegian golfer ever to do so.
In 2021, he won the BMW International Open as the first Norwegian ever. These are just some of the achievements that have made him one of the best players of all time, even though he has a long career ahead of him.
He has already played a massive role in making golf much more popular in his home country.
The Golden Bear – Jack Nicklaus
Jack Nicklaus, also known as The Golden Bear, is another legendary golfer who is at the absolute top of any list of the best golfers of all time. He has the third most PGA Tour wins with 73 wins.
In total, he has won no less than 18 majors during his career.
When his career was peaking, he was one of the most defining golfers in the world, winning six green jackets.
He is known as a highly consistent player who always performed at an impressive level. Even though it’s been quite a few years since Nicklaus retired from golf, he’s still one of the best players ever.
Ben Hogan
Another American golfer to make this list is the legendary Ben Hogan. He is widely known as one of the best ball strikers in history.
During his career, he won an impressive 64 PGA Tour titles and nine major championships. It’s more than 50 years since Ben Hogan retired from golf, but he’s still one of the golfers that are studied when learning golf.
There’s quite an impressive story to Hogan besides all his other achievements. He was in a car accident where he was seriously injured.
But this didn’t stop him from returning to golf. He was a steadfast and tenacious golfer who went on to win another six majors after his accident. This is just one of the things that made him a true inspiration for generations to come.
Sam Snead
This list would be incomplete without American player Sam Snead. He is, without a doubt, one of the most successful golfers in world history. He is tied with Tiger Woods for the most PGA Tour wins with 82 wins.
There’s no denying how impressive a player he was, even though it’s been many years since he played. Besides the impressive amount of PGA Tour wins, he won seven major tournaments.
He was active in no less than five decades, where he was at the very top of golfers in the world. He is truly one of the players that made golf look effortless.
Arnold Palmer
Arnold Palmer is one of the most popular players of all time. He was a top favorite among fans – and still is.
He won a total of seven majors during his career and played among the best of the best in his long career. He also played a major role in increasing the prize money for golfers all over the world which truly gave him a spot in golf history.
He was a true superstar because of his status as a fan favorite. This popularity gave him the nickname “The King”.
Bobby Jones
When going way back in golf history, there are few golfers that can be compared to Bobby Jones. He is one of the first golf legends.
In the 1930s, he was the only golfer that made the achievement of winning all four majors – a true grand slam.
During his career, he won a total of 13 major championships. He was also a part of the founding of the Masters Tournament and the creation of Augusta National Golf Club.
The list goes on…
These seven players are clearly some of the best golfers in history. They have broken records and won the biggest golf tournaments plenty of times.
They’ve also played a massive role in changing and developing the game of golf into what we know and love today. These many achievements combined make them absolutely legendary – not just in golf history but sports history overall.
But there are many more amazing players that could also have been selected for this list. The list of amazing and defining golf players is very long.
The game of golf is still highly popular worldwide, and some of the greatest talents of all time are making history as we speak.
Besides Viktor Hovland, some of the defining players right now are Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm and Xander Schauffele, just to name a few.
These are some of the golfers that are going to shape the golf of tomorrow. Hopefully, they will break all the records of the old masters and take golf in a new and contemporary direction that makes the game even more exciting and legendary than it already is.
