Snead, Samuel J.
Golf
b. May 27, 1912, Hot Springs, VA
d. May 23, 2002
His smooth, graceful, natural swing made Snead a great player from tee to green. He won more PGA tournaments, 82, than any other golfer in history and doubtless could have won quite a few more if he had putted well.
Snead taught himself to play while a young caddie and became a professional in 1936, when he won the West Virginia Closed Pro championship. After he won five tournaments and finished second in the U. S. Open in 1937, it seemed obvious that he'd eventually win the Open, perhaps several times.
Despite all his other victories, though, Snead became known for not being able to win the Open. He needed a 5 on the final hole to win in 1938, but shot an embarrassing 8 and finished third. From that time on, the Open haunted him. He and Lew Worsham tied for the lead in 1947, but Worsham won the playoff. Snead was also the runner-up in 1949 and 1953.
He won his first major tournament, the PGA Championship, in 1942. Snead won the 1946 British Open, the Masters and PGA in 1949, the PGA in 1951, and the Masters in 1952 and 1954.
Snead was the tour's leading money winner in 1938, 1949, and 1950, and he won the Vare Trophy for the fewest strokes per round in 1938, 1949, 1950, and 1955. Late in his career, he developed severe putting problems and went first to a croquet-style technique and then to a strange, side-saddle stance, neither of which was particularly effective.
He still showed flashes of his old brilliance after he reached his fifties, winning the PGA Seniors Championship in 1964, 1965, 1967, 1970, 1972, and 1973. Snead earned a total of $541,514 in official tour events.