Sam Snead
Gene Sarazen
Stat by stat
Bars are scaled to the leader in this list.
The verdict
Sam Snead leads 2 of 3 categories. Our all-time ranking places Sam Snead at #5 and Gene Sarazen at #10.
Head-to-head FAQ
Who leads more shared metrics?
How do the published ranks compare?
Are these live stats?
The case for Sam Snead
Sam Snead owned the most natural swing in golf and the record that proves it: 82 PGA Tour victories, the all-time mark until Tiger Woods tied it in 2019. Known as Slammin' Sammy for his effortless power and flexibility, he could still kick the top of a door frame in his seventies. Snead won 7 majors, including three Masters and three PGA Championships. His career-long frustration was the U.S. Open, which he never won despite four runner-up finishes, the single gap in an otherwise complete record. His professional career spanned five decades; in 1979 he became the first player to shoot his age on the PGA Tour, carding a 66 at 67, then repeating the feat, a testament to the longevity of the smoothest action the game has produced.
The case for Gene Sarazen
Gene Sarazen, the son of an immigrant carpenter, was the first player to win all four of the modern professional majors, completing the career Grand Slam in 1935. He won 7 majors in total, including two U.S. Opens, three PGA Championships and the 1935 Masters, and 39 PGA Tour events across a career that began in 1920. That Masters victory featured the shot heard round the world, a holed 4-wood for an albatross two on the 15th that forced a playoff he went on to win. Sarazen also changed the game's equipment forever by inventing the modern sand wedge in 1932, adding a flange that let the sole bounce through sand rather than dig, a design principle still used in every wedge made today, and one of golf's most important innovations.