Twenty years ago, golf was a sport on a budget that catered to a small group of fans. Fans of that era barely realized all the glitz, environment, and money surrounding today’s beautiful games. Much of the reason for the boom in professional golf in the new millennium can be attributed to one man: Tiger Woods. He is a man who has truly grown to be greater than his own sport, and fans all over the world are watching his every shot.
Over the past century, golf has become one of the most respected sports in the world. Golfers are respected all over the world, and playing golf also improves one’s financial situation because the total prize pool is huge compared to other sports. Today’s golfers are grateful to the pioneers for paving the way for today’s young stars. Over time, many great golfers have emerged, from the likes of Vijay Singer, Arnold Palmer and Phil Mickelson, to more recent names like Rory McIlroy and Colin Morikawa. Out of the hundreds of people who have played the game, we’ve narrowed down the list to what we believe should be the best in PGA Championship history. Everyone has a different opinion on who is at the top of the golf world, and here’s our list.
1. Arnold Palmer
We could have expected Palmer to rank higher on the list, as Arnie could be on the next list when you start naming some of the most famous golfers after Gary Plair and Tiger Woods. That’s right, because this player ended up being one of the greatest and most famous golfers of all time. Palmer’s fan base grew with each round he played. He has won seven majors, including four Masters, but he has never won a PGA Tournament and ended his career without completing a major.
Even now, Arnold Palmer is very popular in Canada, which is not shocking. The late legend won the 1980 Canadian Championship, and the people of this country still love him to this day. While the sport is not particularly popular in North American countries, some have accepted Arnie’s offer to pursue a career in golf. Its impact can be seen in different verticals. We have already mentioned the drink that bears his name, and moreover, the gaming industry, which is gaining popularity and gaining a foothold in the country, has also suffered. To this day, various casino promotions in Canada still bear the Palmer name. Some call them “Arnie promotions” and they are very popular.
2. Tiger Woods
In 1997, Tiger began a straight trajectory to the top of the list. He rules golf’s oldest and most legendary league. We all remember Woods’ total of less than the Masters record of 18 in the first Masters of his career. We remember his incredible 15-shot winning percentage. We remember how his huge shots turned par into pitches and putts. What many people don’t remember about the 1997 Masters was how badly the Tigers started the tournament.
The rest of the journey, as they say, is historic — 15 Grand Slam titles, 82 PGA Tour titles, the highest professional average in PGA history, 10 Player of the Year awards, and more. Therefore, the impact and magnitude of the achievements is undeniable and unprecedented. When he was at his best, Woods was playing better than ever.
3. Bobby Jones
Bobby Jones has the potential to be the greatest golfer of all time, and he never showed off winning a game. Jones never became a professional player in his career and was therefore unable to make money from the sport. He just plays for fun. Jones has won 13 Grand Slam titles during his career and remains the only golfer to win all four Grand Slam titles in one year. This list could have added another Grand Slam player, but at the 1925 PGA Championship, Jones earned himself a free throw when he saw his ball move, which cost him the championship.
Jones retired at 28 and we may never know how many Grand Slam titles he may have won as he entered his prime, but we will never forget his spirit.
4. David Duval
In the late ’90s and early 2000s, few people won more golf tournaments than David Duval. He soon became Tiger Woods’ first opponent, rising to world number one in 1998 and finishing three consecutive firsts on two award lists from 1997 to 1999. Duval eventually won the 2001 Open, but it was the last of his 13 PGA Tour games Won. Since then, his game has reached a dead end. He began to miss wounds, like tons of wounds. Although he occasionally appears in the rankings, he was a finalist at the 2009 US Open, but he has never been more like this. After that strange week in 2009, Duval hasn’t competed in any other event and barely competed these days. Many fans and experts have come up with advanced theories to explain Duval’s sharp decline. Duval himself tried to explain this. The truth is, no one really knows why things came the way they did, but Duval’s legacy was secured through his open wins at Real Latham and St. Anne’s. A Grand Slam champion and a double-digit PGA Tour champion, he is undoubtedly one of the finest players of his generation.
5. Zach Johnson
The Iowa native has been a regular on the PGA Tour for years — unfortunately, he’s underrated for most of the time. Johnson rose to fame after his surprise victory over Tiger Woods at the 2007 Masters, and while it was still a career highlight, he has since won 10 more PGA Tour titles. Earlier this summer, it was Johnson’s era again. He defeated Louis Oosthuizen and Marc Leishman in the knockout stage to win the Open, the second major event of his career.
In an era when power and length dominated the game, Johnson’s main source of money for years had been the short and his irons. Fans are certainly happy to see someone who is not good at distance achieve such great success in the PGA Championship – it’s like a dream we’ve all had all of you, isn’t it?
6. Vijay Singh
Before Tiger Woods won his first Masters title, Singh had already won three PGA Tour titles. However, in the 18 years since that week, he has established himself as one of Woods’ main rivals, winning 33 tournaments and three majors. The 2004 season was the highlight of Singer’s career. The Fijian won nine races, including a PGA title in Wuthering Strait, thus taking first place from Woods. Four years later, Singh dominated the first two rounds of the FedEx Cup and forced PGA Tour bigwigs to change the scoring system with only three-quarters of the annual tournament lock-up period left.
Singer topped the earnings list three times during his career: in 2003, 2004 and 2008. He was one of only two people to reach the top of the list in that decade — and Woods was the other. From 1998 to 2008, Singh never outpaced the top five. Over the years, he continues to improve – the 52-year-old has just played at Barclays and is 119th in the Federal Cup standings.
Most Majors Win
Considering Grand Slam tournament victories, the greatest golfer of all time may be Jack Nicklaus, who has won 18 Grand Slam tournaments six times in his career, including the Masters. Tiger Woods currently has 15 big wins and he is expected to win more. Winning all four major competitions is considered a big battle. At any one point in their careers, only five golfers have won all four majors. They are Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Gene Sarazen, Jack Nicklaus, and Tiger Woods. Not only have they done it once, Woods and Nicklaus have also won Grand Slams three times.
Conclusion
While some people don’t like golf, it is arguably one of the most famous sports in the world. It is a club sport where players must hit the ball with a club. The goal of the sport is to hit the ball into as many holes as possible with as few strokes as possible, which may seem easy, but can actually be complicated, especially in some cases. Unlike most other sports that can be played in a standard area, golf is unique because every course is different. Some of them have more holes than others, and you can often find things like sandboxes or even small pools. Still, the PGA Championship remains one of the most coveted achievements in golf history.
