This is a list of the fifty-three golfers who have won 17 or more official (or later deemed historically significant) money events on the PGA Tour. [1] [2] It is led by Sam Snead and Tiger Woods with 82 each.
Many players won important events early in the 20th century, prior to the formation of the tour, with records being kept by the PGA of America. At various times, the PGA Tour has reassessed the status of some tournaments. In the 1980s, the significance of all historical tournaments was reassessed by golf historians, working together with PGA Tour staff, during the course of a major statistical research project. [3] The Open Championship was first recognized as an official tour event in 1995, and in 2002, all victories in earlier Open Championships were classified as official PGA Tour wins.
Accumulating 20 wins is significant, because it is one of the requirements for "life membership" on the PGA Tour. This means that the golfer does not need to requalify for membership on the tour each year by finishing in the top 125 on the money list (starting in 2013, top 125 on the FedEx Cup points list), or through an exemption for tournament victories. Many golfers struggle to do this through their late-40s, but those with 20 wins avoid this problem. However, life members are required to maintain a certain (relatively modest) standard of play to retain their playing privileges: when they can no longer do so, they are moved into the "Past champions" membership category, effectively becoming honorary members.
Since 1975, only four players have won PGA Tour events after their 50th birthday, the age at which golfers become eligible to compete on PGA Tour Champions: Craig Stadler won in 2003 at age 50, Fred Funk won in 2007 at age 50, Davis Love III won in 2015 at age 51, and Phil Mickelson won the PGA Championship in 2021 at age 50, becoming the oldest winner of a major. Sam Snead is the oldest to win a PGA event, at age 52, in 1965. Others who have won PGA Tour events past age 50 include Jim Barnes, John Barnum, and Art Wall Jr.
The list is complete as of July 16,2023 [update] . [1] [4] (Players with the same number of wins are listed alphabetically. Players under 50 years of age are shown in bold. Members of the World Golf Hall of Fame are indicated by H.)
Rank | Player | Lifespan | Wins | Majors [a] | Winning span | Span (years) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
T1 | Sam Snead H | 1912–2002 | 82 | 7 | 1936–1965 | 30 |
Tiger Woods H | 1975– | 15 | 1996–2019 | 24 | ||
3 | Jack Nicklaus H | 1940– | 73 | 18 | 1962–1986 | 25 |
4 | Ben Hogan H | 1912–1997 | 64 | 9 | 1938–1959 | 22 |
5 | Arnold Palmer H | 1929–2016 | 62 | 7 | 1955–1973 | 19 |
6 | Byron Nelson H | 1912–2006 | 52 | 5 | 1935–1951 | 17 |
7 | Billy Casper H | 1931–2015 | 51 | 3 | 1956–1975 | 20 |
T8 | Walter Hagen H | 1892–1969 | 45 | 11 | 1914–1936 | 23 |
Phil Mickelson H | 1970– | 6 | 1991–2021 | 31 | ||
T10 | Cary Middlecoff H | 1921–1998 | 39 | 3 | 1945–1961 | 17 |
Tom Watson H | 1949– | 8 | 1974–1998 | 25 | ||
12 | Gene Sarazen H | 1902–1999 | 38 | 7 | 1922–1941 | 20 |
13 | Lloyd Mangrum H | 1914–1973 | 36 | 1 | 1940–1956 | 17 |
14 | Vijay Singh H | 1963– | 34 | 3 | 1993–2008 | 16 |
15 | Jimmy Demaret H | 1910–1983 | 31 | 3 | 1938–1957 | 20 |
T16 | [b] Harry Cooper H | 1904–2000 | 30 | 0 | 1923–1939 | 17 |
Horton Smith H | 1908–1963 | 2 | 1928–1941 | 14 | ||
T18 | Gene Littler H | 1930–2019 | 29 | 1 | 1954–1977 | 24 |
Lee Trevino H | 1939– | 6 | 1968–1984 | 17 | ||
T20 | Leo Diegel H | 1899–1951 | 28 | 2 | 1920–1934 | 15 |
Paul Runyan H | 1908–2002 | 2 | 1930–1941 | 12 | ||
T22 | Henry Picard H | 1906–1997 | 26 | 2 | 1932–1945 | 14 |
Rory McIlroy | 1989– | 4 | 2010–2024 | 15 | ||
T24 | Tommy Armour H | 1894–1968 | 25 | 3 | 1920–1938 | 19 |
Johnny Miller H | 1947– | 2 | 1971–1994 | 24 | ||
Macdonald Smith | 1892–1949 | 0 | 1912–1936 | 25 | ||
T27 | Dustin Johnson | 1984– | 24 | 2 | 2008–2020 | 13 |
Gary Player H | 1935– | 9 | 1958–1978 | 21 | ||
T29 | [c] Jim Barnes H | 1886–1966 | 22 | 4 | 1914–1937 | 24 |
Johnny Farrell H | 1901–1988 | 1 | 1921–1936 | 16 | ||
Raymond Floyd H | 1942– | 4 | 1963–1992 | 30 | ||
T32 | Davis Love III H | 1964– | 21 | 1 | 1987–2015 | 29 |
Willie Macfarlane | 1890–1961 | 1 | 1916–1936 | 21 | ||
Lanny Wadkins H | 1949– | 1 | 1972–1992 | 21 | ||
Craig Wood H | 1901–1968 | 2 | 1928–1944 | 17 | ||
T36 | Hale Irwin H | 1945– | 20 | 3 | 1971–1994 | 24 |
Greg Norman H | 1955– | 2 | 1984–1997 | 14 | ||
Johnny Revolta | 1911–1991 | 1 | 1933–1944 | 12 | ||
Doug Sanders | 1933–2020 | 0 | 1956–1972 | 17 | ||
T40 | Ben Crenshaw H | 1952– | 19 | 2 | 1973–1995 | 23 |
Ernie Els H | 1969– | 4 | 1994–2012 | 19 | ||
Doug Ford H | 1922–2018 | 2 | 1952–1963 | 12 | ||
Hubert Green H | 1946–2018 | 2 | 1971–1985 | 15 | ||
Tom Kite H | 1949– | 1 | 1976–1993 | 18 | ||
Bill Mehlhorn | 1898–1989 | 0 | 1923–1930 | 8 | ||
T46 | Julius Boros H | 1920–1994 | 18 | 3 | 1952–1968 | 17 |
Jim Ferrier | 1915–1986 | 1 | 1944–1961 | 18 | ||
Dutch Harrison | 1910–1982 | 0 | 1939–1958 | 20 | ||
Nick Price H | 1957– | 3 | 1983–2002 | 20 | ||
T50 | Bobby Cruickshank | 1894–1975 | 17 | 0 | 1921–1936 | 16 |
Jim Furyk | 1970– | 1 | 1995–2015 | 21 | ||
Harold "Jug" McSpaden | 1908–1996 | 0 | 1933–1945 | 13 | ||
Curtis Strange H | 1955– | 2 | 1979–1989 | 11 |
Samuel Jackson Snead was an American professional golfer who was one of the top players in the world for the better part of four decades and widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time. Snead was awarded a record 94 gold medallions, for wins in PGA of America Tour events and later credited with winning a record 82 PGA Tour events tied with Tiger Woods, including seven majors. He never won the U.S. Open, though he was runner-up four times. Snead was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1974.
Jack William Nicklaus, nicknamed "the Golden Bear", is an American retired professional golfer and golf course designer. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest golfers of all time. He won 117 professional tournaments in his career. Over a quarter-century, he won a record 18 major championships, three more than second-placed Tiger Woods. Nicklaus focused on the major championships—the Masters Tournament, U.S. Open, Open Championship and PGA Championship—and played a selective schedule of regular PGA Tour events. He competed in 164 major tournaments, more than any other player, and finished with 73 PGA Tour victories, third behind Sam Snead (82) and Woods (82).
John Joseph Burke Jr. was an American professional golfer who was most prominent in the 1950s. The son of a professional golfer, Jack Burke Sr., he won two major titles, both in 1956, the Masters and PGA Championship, and is a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame.
James Newton Demaret was an American professional golfer. He won 31 PGA Tour events in a long career between 1935 and 1957, and was the first three-time winner of the Masters, with titles in 1940, 1947, and 1950.
John Byron Nelson Jr. was an American professional golfer between 1935 and 1946, widely considered one of the greatest golfers of all time.
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Sergio García Fernández is a Spanish professional golfer. He turned professional in 1999 and played on the European Tour and PGA Tour prior to joining LIV Golf in 2022. García has won 36 international tournaments as a professional, most notably the 2008 Players Championship and the 2017 Masters Tournament. García was also the Chairman of Spanish football team CF Borriol.
Lee John Westwood is an English professional golfer. Noted for his consistency, he is one of the few golfers who has won tournaments on five continents – Europe, North America, Asia, Africa and Oceania – including victories on the European Tour and the PGA Tour. He has also won tournaments in four decades, the 1990s, 2000s, 2010s and 2020s. He was named European Tour Golfer of the Year for the 1998, 2000, 2009 and 2020 seasons. He has won the 2000 European Tour Order of Merit, and the renamed 2009 and 2020 Race to Dubai. He has frequently been mentioned as one of the best golfers without a major championship victory, with several near misses including three runner-up finishes.
Davis Milton Love III is an American professional golfer who has won 21 events on the PGA Tour, including one major championship: the 1997 PGA Championship. He won the Players Championship in 1992 and 2003. He was in the top 10 of the Official World Golf Ranking for over 450 weeks, reaching a high ranking of 2nd. He captained the U.S. Ryder Cup teams in 2012 and 2016. Love was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2017.
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Ralph J. Guldahl was an American professional golfer, one of the top five players in the sport from 1936 to 1940. He won sixteen PGA Tour-sanctioned tournaments, including three majors.
Harold Lee "Jug" McSpaden was an American professional golfer, and golf course architect.
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