Jack Nicklaus

There never was a golfer who dominated the game as early, often or longer than did Jack Nicklaus. "The Golden Bear" was an outstanding amateur long before he earned his burly moniker. Nicklaus won two U.S. Amateur championships, the first at age 19. He was the U.S. collegiate champion at his beloved Ohio State University. His first professional win came in an 18-hole playoff victory over Arnold Palmer at Oakmont Country Club in 1962. The list goes on and on.
Nicklaus' greatest legacy is his performance in major championships. He seemed to be able to elevate his game in these most pressure-filled events and went on to capture 18 of them the most ever. Nearly as remarkable is the number of majors he almost won. Nicklaus was famous for his last round comebacks in these and nearly every tournament he wasn't leading at the time. Nicklaus won his last major, The Masters, in 1986 at age 46. He is the oldest to capture a major title.
Nicklaus in his prime played golf with an extremely powerful fade and was a tremendous driver of the ball. His length with the woods and irons was the envy of the Tour. His hunched-over putting style was reliably deadly. Nicklaus packaged all of these talents with an insatiable will to win and nerveless disposition. He was simply the best to ever play the game. Since moving from the spotlight of the winner's circle,
Nicklaus has established himself as one of the world's foremost golf course designers. His mark on the game is indelible and continues to spread.

Nick Faldo

Elite professional golfers normally start playing the game very early in life and develop solid swings that carry them to the upper echelons. Nick Faldo didn't pick up a golf club until age 14 and did develop a terrific golf swing. But after considerable success in Europe, the Englishman decided to completely overhaul his swing in the mid-80s believing the one he had been playing with was lacking. Apparently his dedication paid off as he has gone on to capture six major titles (three British Opens and three Masters) including back to back green jackets in 1989-90. Faldo is the best English golfer of many decades and is a beloved figure at home and around the world.

Severiano Ballesteros

From the late 70s to the early 90s, Ballesteros was the most charismatic international star in golf. Seve's attraction lies partly in his totally fearless approach to the game, partly in one of the most graceful swings in golf, and partly in his affable yet intensely competitive personality: like Palmer, he wears his heart on his sleeve. He possesses one of the world's superior short games. His magical touch around the greens he has chipped into the hole from light rough on countless important occasions has put the seal of greatness on his game as a whole. His wizardry at escaping from all types of trouble is matched by his infectious joy in doing so. He has five major victories (three British Opens and two Masters), and in 1980 became the youngest man to don the green jacket at age 23.

Greg Norman

Globetrotting is the norm for this dashing Australian. Winner of 73 tournaments worldwide, "The Shark" has parlayed his success into many millions. He has won golf tournaments in no less than 13 different countries. He was the first player to surpass $10 million in career earnings on the American PGA Tour. Norman has won two British Open titles (1986 Turnberry, 1993 Royal St. George's) But he may be known even more for the number of times he has been close to winning majors. He has been runner up in eight championships including the wrong end of four playoffs. Norman was the sentimental favorite in the 1999 Masters where he came off surgery to place a remarkable third.

Eldrick "Tiger" Woods

Tiger Woods became a professional golfer in1996 at the age of 20. Since 1999 his record of successes looks like this:
• The PGA Championship for 1999 and 2000, and both the U.S. and British Open Championships for 2000. In the PGA 2000 Championship he achieved 270 - the lowest score in relation to par, ie 18 under par - a record he shares with Bob May.
• In 1999, still only at the age of 23, Tiger had won 15 PGA Tour events and 21 overall victories.
• He was named "Male Athlete of the Year" by the Associated Press and is only the second golfer to earn this accolade twice since its inception in 1931.
• Also ESPY "Male Athlete of the Year".
• Also "Player of the Year" three times over with the Jack Nicklaus Award of the PGA Tour, the PGA of America and the Golf Writers Association of America.
• Also in 1999, he achieved the adjusted scoring average of 68.43 strokes which was the lowest score ever recorded. For this he gained the Byron Nelson Award on the PGA Tour and the Vardon Trophy from the PGA of America.
• Still in 1999 he became "1999 World Sportsman of the Year", an honour bestowed by the founding members of the World Sports Academy.
• This year he has won three U.S. Amateur titles and five major Professional championships - in other words, three more championship titles than Jack Nicklaus won at the same age.
• At the turn of the century Tiger had four consecutive PGA Tour successes for and he began the new millennium with two more wins, bringing his total to six consecutive wins. This succession of wins has only been superseded, in 1945, by Byron Nelson's 11 wins.

Sam Snead

Whatever technical aspects are applied to the golf swing, it remains an athletic maneuver involving rhythm and tempo. Snead may have had the most natural, athletic swing ever. It was a stroke that served "Slammin' Sammy" for a long time as he competed on Tour for nearly 30 years. Snead owns the career record for most wins on Tour with 81. He was victorious 135 times worldwide. One title that eluded him was the U.S. Open although he was a three-time winner in the Masters and in the PGA Championship. Snead's lone British Open victory came at St. Andrews (1946) after he mistook the course as abandoned upon arrival.

Arnold Palmer

Golf had been a popular game in the United States for a long time before Arnold Palmer. But Arnie is responsible for its outright explosion among the masses. With the benefit of nationwide television, Palmer became the people's champion spawning the ever present "Arnie's Army." This self-proclaimed battalion of fans was even known to kick a ball or two into a more fortuitous lie for the man who became known as "The King."
Palmer was from a small town (Latrobe, Pennsylvania) and had an effort-filled swing that more resembled those of his hacking admirers than most smooth passes made on Tour. He gave high-handicappers a reason to hope. He routinely expressed his wide array of emotions during play and the cameras were there to catch it all. He was and is adored.
Palmer's record speaks for itself. He had 60 victories on Tour, 91 worldwide and seven major titles. His victory total ranks fourth all time. Palmer owns the record for most Ryder Cup victories (22). He was named PGA Tour Player of the Year two times (1960 and 1962) and was the first to earn more than $1 million in a career. Palmer's business interests are thought to earn around $10 million annually today.
But Palmer's career cannot be measured in wins and dollars. He played golf for the public and all that challenged him felt the weight of a nation against them. Palmer dueled in classic competitions against Hogan and Nicklaus and may just be the most popular figure in golf forever.

Bobby Jones

Robert Tyre Jones, Jr, "Bob" to his friends, "Bobby" to his fans and the media embodied the "spirit of the game" in greater abundance than perhaps any other player in golf's history. Jones, a lifelong amateur, was singled out for his fairness, integrity and intolerance of anything that might impugn that spirit. And, to understate the point egregiously, Jones had game.
Jones' playing career was short. He played in only 52 official tournaments in a span of just over 14 years but he won an astonishing 44 percent of them. Although contemporary professionals of the day had little opportunity to play against Jones (once yearly in each of the U.S. and British Opens), he was universally regarded as the best player in the world. There was no compelling reason for Jones to turn professional, as the big tournament money was yet to be available. He could be beaten on occasion, but no one ever beat Jones twice.
His greatest year, and arguably the greatest year any golfer has ever had, was 1930 when he became the only man to win what was then considered to be the Grand Slam the U.S. Open, British Open, U.S. Amateur and British Amateur. (It's remarkable that even before 1930 Jones had collected nine victories in these tournaments.) He promptly retired from competitive golf, confessing that championship golf was by then taking an intolerable toll on his mental and emotional reserves.
Jones' post-championship career is compelling as well. With Clifford Roberts he established Augusta National Golf Club near his hometown of Atlanta. This course, regarded as one of the world's best, each year plays host to the first of golf's modern majors, The Masters.