15 Best Golfers of All Time

Hey, which player comes to your mind when you think of golf? Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus? 

Golf may not be as exciting as Football, Cricket, or Basketball to some people, but being played since the 15th century it is just as popular as any other sport.

If you are curious to find out who the topmost 15 golfers of all time are, here’s the compilations.

Let’s read on to learn about the people who changed the history of golf and are deemed to be the best Golfers of all time.

Quick View

Name of Golfers	Career Statistics
15. Seve Ballesteros	International Tournaments= 90 European Tour= 50 PGA Tour= 9
14. Vijay Singh	European Tour= 13 PGA Tour= 34 Other Championship= 24
13. Lee Trevion	PGA Tour Championship= 29 European Tour= 5 PGA Tour= 29
12. Nick Faldo	Professional Victories= 41 European Tour= 30 PGA Tour= 9
11. Walter Hagen	PGA Tour= 45 Other Championship= 13
10. Byron Nelson	PGA Tour= 52 Other Championship= 12
9. Tom Watson	Professional Career= 71 European Tour= 8 PGA Tour= 39
8. Bobby Jones	Walker Cup= 5 PGA Tour= 9
7. Gary Player	International Victories= 119 PGA Tour Championship= 22 PGA Tour= 24
6. Gene Sarazen	International  Victories= 1 Major Championship= 7 PGA Tour= 38
5. Ben Hogan	PGA Tour= 64 Other Victories= 7
4. Sam Snead	International Victories= 6 Professional Victories= 165 PGA Tour= 82
3. Arnold Palmer	PGA Tour Champion=10 European Tour= 2 PGA Tour= 62
2. Tiger Woods	Worldwide Victories= 108 European Tour= 41 PGA Tour= 82
1. Jack Nicklaus	Professional Victories= 118 European Tour= 9 PGA Tour= 73

Best Golfers of All Time

Let’s have a quick look at the best golfers and their career statistics.

All the information is collected from the trusted websites like ESPN, Forbes, and Wikipedia.

15. Seve Ballesteros

Seve Ballesteros was the world’s number one professional golfer from Spain who was one of the best sport’s leading figures from the 1970s to mid-1990s.

Born in a family of golfers, Seve learned golf at a very young age and gained attention in the golfing world in 1976.

However, Ballesteros was famous for his tee shot. He won his first Open Championship in 1979.

Similarly, he won 90 international tournaments in his career, with a record of 50 European Tour titles,  9 PGA Tours, and 6 Japan Golf Tours.

14. Vijay Singh

Vijay Singh is a professional golfer known by the nickname ‘The Big Fijian.’

He began to play golf at a very young age. He was inspired by his father, Mohan Singh, who was an airplane technician.

Similarly, in 1993 he won his first PGA Tour event; Buick Classic named him PGA Tour Rookie of the year.

Some other titles won by Vijay include 34 PGA Tours, 13 European Tours, 5 Asian Tours, 4 PGA Tour Champions, and 15 others.

13. Lee Trevino

One of the best professional golfers in the history of golf is Lee Trevino, who is nicknamed ‘The Merry Mex’ and ‘Supermex.’

He won his first U.S Open at Oak Hill Country Club in 1968.

Similarly, he has won 29 PGA Tours, 5 European Tours, 29 PGA Tours Champions, and 22 other titles in his career.

He quickly cemented his name as one of the best golfers of all time.

12. Nick Faldo

Nick Faldo is an English golfer who is also a television commentator.

The top player of his Era, Faldo, was ranked as the No. 1 player on the Offical World Golf Ranking for a total of 97 weeks.

Faldo is well known for his dedication to the game. Similarly, at the age of 20, he played in the Ryder Golf Cup and became the youngest player to participate.

In 1998 he was inducted into the World Golf Hall Fame.

Faldo has won 9 PGA Tours, 30 European Tours, 12 Ryder Cup Appearances, and 41 Professional wins, which is enough to make him one of the best golfers of all time.

11. Walter Hagen

Hagen was one of the best golfers ever and is known as the ‘Father of Professional Golf.’

His playing techniques and the way he dressed made him one of the stylish and reputable golfers.

Similarly, Hagen has won 45 PGA Tours and 13 other titles.

He was the 1st golfer to earn more than one million dollars in his career.

Likewise, Hagen became the first native-born American to win The Open Championship in 1992.

10. Byron Nelson

John Byron Nelson Jr. was one of the greatest professional golfers of all time.

He began his professional golf journey in 1932.

Byron is widely remembered for his 11 consecutive Tournaments and 18 total Tournaments.

He retired in 1946 at the age of 34 to become a commentator. He also lent his name to the HP Byron Nelson Championship, which is the first PGA Tour event to be named after a golfer.

Similarly, he has won 52 PGA Tours and 12 other Championships, which is enough to make him one of the best golfers in history.

9. Tom Watson

Tom Watson was one of the leading golfers in the world from 1972 to 1982.

He was born on 4th September 1949 in Kansas City, Missouri. He was introduced to golf by his father, Ray.

Similarly, from the beginning of his professional career, Tom Watson was a member of the Kansas City Country Club.

Watson has won 39 PGA Tours, 71 Professional Career wins, 14 PGA Tour Championships, 8 European Tours, and 8 major championships.

8. Bobby Jones

Bobby Jones is one of the most acclaimed and influential figures in the history of golf. Similarly, Jones is one of the successful golfers to participate in national and international tournaments.

Interestingly, he was also a lawyer by profession.

Only at the age of 14, he won his first major golf event.

Throughout his professional career, the golfer has won 9 PGA Tours and 5 Walker Cups. Jones also served as the team captain of the US National Golf Team.

7. Gary Player

One of the greatest professional golfers of all time, Gary Player is widely known by his nickname as ‘The Black Knight.’

He became the only non-American player to win Career Grand Slam and also became the youngest player.

Similarly, in 1974 he was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame.

He has won more than 150 Professional Tournaments, which makes him one of the best golfers of all time.

The Player has won 24 PGA Tours, 22 PGA Tours Championship, and 119 International Victories.

Gary was also awarded as Presidental Medal of Freedom by President Donald Trump in 2021.

6. Gene Sarazen

Gene Sarazen winner of seven major golf championships was one of the world’s top players in the 1920s.

Similarly, he is also one of five players ever to win each of the four major titles at least once. They were Masters Tournament in 1935, Career Grand Slam: US Open in 1922 and 1932, The Open Championship in 1932, and lastly PGA Championship in 1922, 1923, and 1933.

Even in old age, he was well recognized as a Professional golfer because, at the age of 71, he made it at the Open Championship.

Sarazen has won 38 PGA Tours, 7 Major Championships, and 1 International victory.

5. Ben Hogan

Ben Hogan was born on 13th August 1912 in Stephenville, Texas. He was the youngest among his siblings, child of Chester Hogan and Clara Hogan.

He is mostly known for his influence on golf swing theory and his ball-striking ability.

He’s one of the five players to win all four major championships. Hogan even established the Ben Hogan company for golf gears.

In Addition, Hogan has won 64 PGA Tours and 7 other victories, making him one of the best golfers of all time.

4. Sam Snead

Samuel Jackson Snead is widely known as one of the best professional golfers in the world.

He was nicknamed ‘The Slammer’ because of his playing tactics and for having a perfect swing.

He was also the 1st ever player to have recorded 17 wins in one event.

In Addition, he has won 82 PGA Tours, 165 Professional Victories, and 6 International Victories.

Also, Sam was inducted into the Golf Hall of Fame in 1974.

3. Arnold Palmer

Arnold Daniel Palmer is regarded as one of the greatest and charismatic golfers of all time.

He is also famous for the nickname ‘The King”.

He was awarded the Presidental  Medal of Freedom in 2004, Congressional Gold Medal in 2009, and also was induced into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1974.

Likewise, he has won 62 PGA Tours, 2 European Tours, 10 PGA Tour Champions, 2 PGA Tours of Australasia, and 21 others.

2. Tiger Woods

Tiger Woods is widely known as the greatest golfer of all time and also one of the famous athletes in history.

Moreover, he became a professional golfer at the age of 20.

He broke the record by performing best with 3 PGA Tour Events within less than a year of turning a professional.

Woods became the number one player in the world for most consecutive weeks.

He has won 108 worldwide victories, 82 PGA Tours, 41 European Tours, 199 Top Ten Finishes, and 3 Japan Golf Tours.

Read About: Tiger Woods Net Worth, Career and Achievements

1. Jack Nicklaus

Finally, here comes the ‘Golden Bear.’

Jack Nicklaus is the greatest golfer of all time. He is also known for his outstanding golf course designs.

He became one of the best golfers by defeating “The King” Arnold Palmer in the US Open.

This victory of Nickalus made him the hero of the Era.

Similarly, he has won 118 Professional Victories, 73 PGA Tours, 10 PGA Tour Champions, 9 European Tours, and 3 PGA Tour of Australasia.

Jack owns one of the largest golf course design and construction companies.