Sam Snead

About Sam Snead

Samuel Jackson "Sam" Snead (May 27, 1912 – May 23, 2002) was an American professional golfer who was one of the top players in the world for most of four decades. Snead won a record 82 PGA Tour events, including seven majors. He never won the U.S. Open, though he was runner-up four times.

Career Highlights:

Ryder Cup: 1937 (winners), 1947 (winners), 1949 (winners), 1951 (winners, playing captain), 1953 (winners), 1955 (winners), 1959 (winners, playing captain), 1969 (tied, non-playing captain)

Canada Cup: 1954, 1956 (winners), 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960 (winners), 1961 (winners, individual winner), 1962 (winners)

Vardon Trophy:Snead won the Vardon Trophy for lowest scoring average four times: 1938, 1949, 1950, and 1955.

1937-In 1937, Snead's first full year on the Tour, he won five events, including the Oakland Open at Claremont Country Club in California.

1938-In 1938, he first won the Greater Greensboro Open. He won that event eight times, the Tour record for victories of a single tournament event and tied by Tiger Woods in 2013 when Woods won his eighth Arnold Palmer Invitational. 

1947-At the U.S. Open in 1947, Snead missed a 30-inch (76 cm) putt on the final playoff hole to lose to Lew Worsham.

1950-In 1950, he won 11 events, placing him third in that category behind Byron Nelson (18, in 1945) and Ben Hogan (13, in 1946).

1962-On February 7, 1962, Snead won the Royal Poinciana Plaza Invitational. He is the only man to ever win an official LPGA Tour event.

1971-In 1971, he won the PGA Club Professional Championship at Pinehurst Resort.

1973-Inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame in 1973

He shot a final round 68 at the 1974 PGA Championship to finish tied for third, three strokes behind winner Lee Trevino.

1978-In 1978, he won the first Legends of Golf event, which was the impetus for the creation two years later of the Senior PGA Tour, now Champions Tour.

1979-In 1979, he was the youngest PGA Tour golfer to shoot his age (67) in the second round of the 1979 Quad Cities Open. He shot under his age (66) in the final round.

1983-In 1983, at age 71, he shot a round of 60 (12-under-par) at The Homestead in Hot Springs, Virginia.

1997-In 1997, at age 85, he shot a round of 78 at the Old White course of The Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia.

1998-In 1998, he received the PGA Tour Lifetime Achievement Award, the fourth person to be so honored.

1962-Snead wrote several golf instructional books, and frequently wrote instructional columns in golf magazines. His 1962 autobiography was titled The Education of a Golfer.

2000-In 2000, he was ranked the third greatest golfer of all time, in Golf Digest magazine's rankings, behind only Jack Nicklaus and Ben Hogan.

Sam Snead Achievements

Records:

Most PGA Tour victories: 82

Most PGA Tour victories at an event: 8 at the Greater Greensboro Open (1938, 1946, 1949, 1950, 1955, 1956, 1960, 1965);tied by Tiger Woods at the 2013 Arnold Palmer Invitational and 2013 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational

Oldest player to win a PGA Tour event: age 52 years, 10 months, 8 days at the 1965 Greater Greensboro Open

Oldest player to make the cut at a major: age 67 years, 2 months, 7 days at the 1979 PGA Championship

First PGA Tour player to shoot his age: 67 in the second round of the 1979 Quad Cities Open

Oldest player to make a cut on the PGA Tour: age 67 years, 2 months, 21 days at the 1979 Manufacturers Hanover Westchester Classic.

Professional wins:

PGA Tour wins (82)

1936 (1) West Virginia Closed Pro

1937 (5) Oakland Open, Bing Crosby Pro-Am, St. Paul Open, Nassau Open, Miami Open (Dec.)

1938 (8) Bing Crosby Pro-Am, Greater Greensboro Open, Chicago Open, Canadian Open, Westchester 108 Hole Open, White Sulphur Springs Open, Inverness Invitational Four-Ball (with Vic Ghezzi), Palm Beach Round Robin

1939 (3) St. Petersburg Open, Miami Open, Miami Biltmore International Four-Ball (with Ralph Guldahl)

1940 (3) Canadian Open, Anthracite Open, Inverness Invitational Four-Ball (with Ralph Guldahl)

1941 (6) Bing Crosby Pro-Am, St. Petersburg Open, North and South Open, Canadian Open, Rochester Times Union Open, Henry Hurst Invitational

1942 (2) St. Petersburg Open, PGA Championship

1944 (2) Portland Open, Richmond Open

1945 (6) Los Angeles Open, Gulfport Open, Pensacola Open, Jacksonville Open, Dallas Open, Tulsa Open

1946 (6) Jacksonville Open, Greater Greensboro Open, The Open Championship (not counted as a PGA Tour win at the time, but designated as such in 2002), World Championship of Golf, Miami Open, Virginia Open

1948 (1) Texas Open

1949 (6) Greater Greensboro Open, Masters Tournament, Washington Star Open, Dapper Dan Open, Western Open, PGA Championship

1950 (11) Los Angeles Open, Bing Crosby Pro-Am (tie with Jack Burke, Jr., Smiley Quick, Dave Douglas), Texas Open, Miami Beach Open, Greater Greensboro Open, Western Open, Colonial National Invitation, Inverness Invitational Four-Ball (with Jim Ferrier), Reading Open, North and South Open, Miami Open

1951 (2) PGA Championship, Miami Open

1952 (5) Masters Tournament, Palm Beach Round Robin, Inverness Invitational Four-Ball (with Jim Ferrier), All American Open, Eastern Open

1953 (1) Baton Rouge Open

1954 (2) Masters Tournament, Palm Beach Round Robin

1955 (4) Greater Greensboro Open, Palm Beach Round Robin, Insurance City Open, Miami Open

1956 (1) Greater Greensboro Open

1957 (2) Dallas Open Invitational, Palm Beach Round Robin

1958 (1) Dallas Open Invitational

1960 (2) De Soto Open Invitational, Greater Greensboro Open

1961 (1) Tournament of Champions

1965 (1) Greater Greensboro Open

LPGA Tour wins (1)

1962 Royal Poinciana Plaza Invitational

Other wins:

1936 West Virginia Open

1937 West Virginia Open

1938 West Virginia Open

1940 Ontario Open (Canada)

1941 Center Open (Argentina)

1948 West Virginia Open

1949 North and South Open, West Virginia Open

1952 West Virginia Open, Brazil Open, Greenbrier Pro-Am

1953 Greenbrier Pro-Am

1954 Panama Open

1957 West Virginia Open

1958 West Virginia Open, Greenbrier Invitational

1959 Sam Snead Festival

1960 West Virginia Open

1961 West Virginia Open, Sam Snead Festival

1964 Haig & Haig Scotch Foursome (with Shirley Englehorn)

1966 West Virginia Open

1967 West Virginia Open

1968 West Virginia Open

1970 West Virginia Open

1971 PGA Club Professional Championship, West Virginia Open

1972 West Virginia Open

1973 West Virginia Open

Senior wins (14)

1964 PGA Seniors' Championship, World Seniors

1965 PGA Seniors' Championship, World Seniors

1967 PGA Seniors' Championship

1970 PGA Seniors' Championship, World Seniors

1972 PGA Seniors' Championship, World Seniors

1973 PGA Seniors' Championship, World Seniors

1978 Legends of Golf (with Gardner Dickinson)

1980 Golf Digest Commemorative Pro-Am

1982 Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf (with Don January)

Championships:

1942-PGA Championship

1946-The Open Championship

1949-Masters Tournament

1949-PGA Championship (2)

1951-PGA Championship (3)

1952-Masters Tournament (2)

1954-Masters Tournament (3)

Achievements and awards:

• World Golf Hall of Fame:1974
  
• PGA Tour leading money winner-1938, 1949, 1950
  
• Player of the Year-1949
  
• Vardon Trophy-1938, 1949, 1950, 1955
  
• PGA Tour Lifetime Achievement Award-1998