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Stonham Barns Golf Centre Stonham Aspal, Suffolk, IP14 6AT |
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Greatest Golfers EverGolf Direct has complied a list of the 10 Greatest Golfer Ever. Here is a summary of there positions and performances: 1. TIGER WOODS Eldrick (Tiger) Woods, now 33 years of age, has had an unprecedented career since becoming a professional golfer in the late summer of 1996. He has won 92 tournaments, 71 of those on the PGA Tour, including the 1997, 2001, 2002 and 2005 Masters Tournaments, 1999, 2000, 2006 and 2007 PGA Championships, 2000, 2002, and 2008 U.S. Open Championships, and 2000, 2005 and 2006 Open Championships. With his second Masters victory in 2001, Tiger became the first ever to hold all four professional major championships at the same time. He is the career victories leader among active players on the PGA Tour, and is the career money list leader. We think he is the most exciring player ever and deserves to be at No.1 2. JACK NICKLAUS (USA) Won 18 majors between 1962 and 1986 After winning the 1962 US Open at the age of 22 in a play-off with Arnold Palmer, the Golden Bear amassed 18 majors, surpassing the combined total of his great rivals - Palmer and Gary Player - throughout the next two decades. Originally a power merchant, he added guile and supreme course-management to his repertoire, and was acknowledged as the greatest 'clutch' putter of all. His total of six Masters - the last in 1986 at the age of 46 - four US Opens, three Opens and five US PGAs seemed unsurpassable until Tiger Woods burst on the scene. It remains a formidable total. 'God never gives it all to one person - except maybe Jack Nicklaus' - Lee Trevino 3. GARY PLAYER (SA) Won nine majors, 1959-1978 Only 5'7", Player compensated for his size with a determination that was second only to Hogan's in its intensity. Never a natural golfer, the South African made himself a worldbeater by an incredible will to win, dedication and an iron nerve. Tongue in cheek, Player credited his huge haul of wins to such inspirations as peanuts, bananas and lifting weights. He is the only player to lift the Open in three different decades and in 1965 became only the third player to complete the game's Grand Slam. 'No player I can think of has made more of his gifts than Gary' - Arnold Palmer. 4. SAM SNEAD (USA) Won seven majors, 1942-1954 Slammin' Sam's fluid, God-given swing gave his career an incredible longevity. At the 1974 PGA, aged 62, he was still good enough for third place behind winner Lee Trevino and Jack Nicklaus - 28 years after winning the Open at St Andrews. Still tops for the most number of US tour victories, the one blot on Snead's copybook was his inability - unlike his rival Ben Hogan - to win the US Open. The Freddie Couples of his era - and then some - Snead's perfect swing combined great power with textbook tempo. But putting became his Achilles heel. 'Everybody who ever saw him swing a golf club knew they'd seen something to remember' - Ted Williams, baseball star and Snead's friend. 5. BEN HOGAN (USA) Won nine majors, 1946-1953 The Hawk searched for golfing perfection and probably came closer than anyone to finding it. He toiled in obscurity for years before restructuring his game and rewriting the record books. Hogan manufactured and then perfected a swing that brought him almost pinpoint accuracy, and also became a master student and tactician of the game. His great season of 1953 saw him sweep the Masters, US Open and Open. 'In my book, the greatest golfer that ever lived' - Byron Nelson. 6. ARNOLD PALMER (USA) Won seven majors, 1958-64 At a time when golf attracted similar media coverage to chess, the swashbuckling Palmer reached out to blue-collar America and made it a dynamic sport for all. The 'Palmer charge' became the stuff of legend, such as his final round 65 in the US Open of 1960, when he started seven strokes back. He was gorgeously incapable of being dull. Palmer lashed at the ball with a vengeance and his unique, cavalier follow-through ruined the game of many imitators. It was a style all of his own, a power game allied to solid all-round skills, a great putting touch at his peak, strength and incredible self-belief. 'Palmer was the player whose game most appealed to me. I liked his 'go for it' attitude and the way he always generated excitement' - Craig Stadler. 7. GENE SARAZEN (USA) Won seven majors, 1922-35 In only the second Masters played, in 1935, the diminutive Sarazen wrote one of its greatest chapters by holing for an albatross two at the par five 15th and going on to win. Just 5ft 5in, and never a master swinger, Sarazen was neverthless a powerful player, had a superb short game, and was tenacious and persistent in much the same way as Gary Player, winning all four majors. Sarazen was 71 when he holed in one at Troon's 'Postage Stamp' eighth in the 1973 Open. The following day, he holed his bunkered tee shot for a two at the same hole. His invention of the sand wedge added a new dimension to the game, and he was one of its finest exponents. 'He was one heck of a golfer for his size... probably the most combative of all the great champions' - Jack Nicklaus. 8. TOM WATSON (US) Won eight majors, 1975-83 Forever linked with Nicklaus for their famous Duel in the Sun at Turnberry in 1977, Watson captured the first of his five Open wins in that epic contest and became an all-time great in his own right. He held off Nicklaus again to win his only US Open at Pebble Beach in 1982. The Kansas City Kid was also a two-time Masters champ, but shared Palmer's fate of never being able to capture the PGA. With a brisk and wonderfully compact swing, Watson frequently outclassed his rivals at his peak and never seemed to lose his composure. He lost his golden putting touch in later years. 'The one aspect of Watson's play that makes all the difference is his patience' - Tony Jacklin. 9.WALTER HAGAN (USA) Won 11 majors, 1914-29 The supreme matchplay exponent, the flamboyant Hagen was also a master of psychology. Once told that his next day's opponent had retired to bed early, Hagen replied: 'Yeah, but he ain't sleeping.' Too early for the Masters, Hagen more than made his mark in the other majors, including a record-equalling total of five PGA wins, four Opens and two US Opens. Hagen was breathtakingly confident in his ability and possessed an outstanding short game. When he was bunkered off the green, one of his favourite matchplay ploys was to get his caddie to remove the flagstick before he played. 'Hagen consistently beat the best professionals of his time - and he wasn't afraid of Bobby Jones' - Paul Runyan. 10. BYRON NELSON (USA) Won five majors, 1937-45 Nelson's run of 11 straight wins in his golden year of 1945 continues to serve as 'Tiger bait' for commentators whenever Woods starts a winning streak. Nelson's swing was considered revolutionary and copied by millions. With a full shoulder turn, straight left arm and a dominant left side, he was arguably the first of the truly modern golfers. 'Nobody kept the ball on the clubface longer through impact than Byron did' - Ken Venturi.
Web Sites for some other great golfers Aaron Baddeley Seve Ballesteros Michael Campbell Paul Casey Darren Clarke Fred Couples |
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