On April 13, 2025, it was again for masters during the tour of the Association of Professional Golfers (PGA). The very first winner of this prestigious tournament was Horton Smith in 1934 and the following year, Gene Sarazen became the champion. Last year, Scottie Scheffler won the match and won his green jacket.
Only three players won consecutive master’s championships, and they are Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods and Nick Faldo. Nicklaus won three titles in four years from 1963 to 1966, which only missed 1964 when his first rival Arnold Palmer left with the title. Palmer also won it in 1962.
The master tournament held in Augusta, in Georgia, is one of the tournaments that is an exclusive club on the PGA Call the Grand Slam of Golf. To be in this club, a player should win the title in The Masters, The Open Championship (formerly The British Open), the US Open and the PGA championship during their careers.
As the winner of the 2025 Masters being Rory McILroy and with his green jacket, he only became the sixth member of the little brotherhood of those who won the four most important tournaments of professional golf. The other five are huge names in the game and without any particular order are: Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Tiger Woods, Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus.
For McILroy, it’s a fairly rich group. The six men in all their careers have won a total of 473 professional tournaments. Some consider that Tiger Woods or Jack Nicklaus are the largest golfer of all time, but on the basis of this small group of winners of the Grand Colem, in front, I classify the six in size of the sixth in the best golfer of all time with some statistics on each.
6. Rory McILroy
At just 35 years old, and taking into account the history of Tiger Woods with recent injuries, this Irish Golfer could very well be the man who supplants Jack Nicklaus with the most important victories in history. I classify him last because his career is at his peak and he is too early in his career to classify him higher. For the record, so far, McILroy has 29 PGA victories and 11 international victories. Out of 263 tournaments played, he only missed the cup 31 times. He finished second 11 times, the same for third place, and found himself in the top five of a 83 -time tournament. As for the 10 top 10, he did it 129 times.
During the tour since 2010, Rory McILroy won $ 10,4246 906 in gains. Born in Holywood, Northern Ireland, he still calls his birthplace at home. Where Tiger Woods was once the dominant golfer of the tour, Rory McILroy is the golfer with the target on his back these days.
5. Gene Saras
The next step is an old one while Sarazen intervened for the first time in Tee-Off during his first PGA event in 1920. While being a great golfer, when he retired, he had only 38 PGA Tour victories and only one international victory. But in 316 tournaments, he cut the cut each time, except 25 times where he missed the end of the tournament. Sarazen finished in third place 29 times and in the top five for 124 tournaments. In his 316 outings, he finished the event in the first 10 185 times.
The best golfers of today earning millions of dollars, Gene Sarazen put her clubs with profits from only $ 76,815. Small Gulf program, Gene Sarazen was only 5’5 ”. He had a long life that died at the age of 97 on May 13, 1999. Born in Harrison, New York, Sarazen was not in the same league as Tiger Woods or Jack Nicklaus, but he did the Grand Slam club.
4. Gary Player
This next golfer has the perfect name for this sport or any other. Gary Player was certainly a player. A great player. His best performances occurred on the international scene where he won 118 tournaments. During the PGA Tour, he was the winner 24 times. Gary Player was an active participant in professional tournaments, 449, all together, he failed to cut the 65 times. 33 times, he finished second. Completing the third occurred 22 times for Gary Player and in 177 tournaments, he found himself in the top 10 of the final dashboard.
Now 89 years old, the player can be called a millionaire golfer with a total of $ 1,834,482. Originally from Johannesburg, South Africa, Gary Player was born on November 1, 1935 and now finds his house on Jupiter Island in Florida. With his wife Vivienne, the players have six children and incredibly, 21 grandchildren.
3. Ben Hogan
Admittedly, one of the greatest golfers of all time, Ben Hogan deserves to be near the summit. With 300 tournaments to his credit, he compiled 64 PGA victories and only one international victory. On his credit, he missed the Cup on only seven of his 300 games. 44 times, he finished a tournament just behind the winner. He was third 27 times. When it comes to finishing in the top five of a tournament, Ben Hogan accomplished this feat 169 times and in the top 10 in 229 times. Hogan joined the tour in 1931 but as a sign of his time, his total gains were only $ 33.516.
Hogan made his debut as a return pro in 1919. Originally from Dublin, Texas, Hogan died on July 25, 1997, at 84 and is obviously a big big one.
2. Tiger Woods
Some golf aficionados will say that Tiger Woods is the largest golfer of all time. He was on the right track to prove that with his number of victories and major victories. But with an eruption of injuries and out -of -less problems, Woods has started to decrease. Due to an Achilles Rompu tendon, Woods could not compete in the Masters 2025, missing his first Augusta match in four years. The last time he missed the tournament was in 2021 due to injuries resulting from an automotive accident.
The past few years have shown very few results to participate in a tour victory. In 2024, Woods participated in only five tournaments and missed the Cup three times. The previous year saw him playing in only two events, one of which he withdrew. Return a year more and even three tournaments, a withdrawal, a missed cut. It was the people underway between 2021 and at the beginning of 2022 when he participated again in three tournaments and missed the cup on one. His last busy season occurred in the 2019-2020 season when with seven tournaments played, Tiger won his last victory, finished in the top 10 twice and the top 25 twice.
His last victory in October 2019 occurred in the Zozo championship. He also equaled the first in the commemorative tournament. But he hasn’t won a match since. During the duration of his career, Tiger Woods won 15 majors and dragged the legendary Jack Nicklaus by only three. He has already passed the golden bear during total victories 82-73. Nicklaus won 20 international games while Woods has 12.
At 35, can Rory McILroy exceed wood and Nicklaus? Since golf does not discriminate against age, it is not outside the field of possibility. Rory needs 53 additional victories to catch Woods in victories, but he is already just behind Tiger in international victories. McILroy has only five major victories, so he needs 10 others to catch the tiger.
As for Woods, he played 378 games, far behind the 584 of Nicklaus. Their style of play is very different. Jack Nicklaus had the nickname “Golden Bear”. And for a good reason. He was fiercely competitive on the golf course and his style of an aggressive approach and determined to attack some golfers intimidated.
Woods is and was more a player of finesse with ice in his veins. He was a bit like a magician with a golf club in hand. He made unthinkable shots and when he approached the final green with an advance or right next to the head, you can almost count on a victory by Tiger Woods. No narrow lead or drag by little tiger wood always upset. In fact, he became more confident in these situations, a bit like knowing that he was about to win another victory.
Woods is certainly the richest golfer in history with revenues totaling $ 120,999,166. A pro since 1996, Tiger Woods can also be recalled for its appearance in the Mike Douglas Show golf club in hand with father when he was just under three years old. For us, the elderly, it is difficult to believe that Woods is now 49 years old. As Tiger is one of the most athletic golfers in history, he trained his body as an athlete in football. His training diets were in place so that he could use his athletics to master his game. But in the end, it could be a reason for his unforeseen continuous injuries. At 6’1 ”and 185 pounds, he is certainly one of the greatest golfers to have struck the ties.
All these features of Tiger Woods’ game seem to have decreased almost nothing. Now it does not seem possible that Tiger Woods grabs the 18 major victories of Jack Nicklaus even if he has only three behind. Unless he returns from this last injury and he is Tiger Woods, he will forever be considered the best golfer in history apart from Jack Nicklaus.
1. Jack Nicklaus
The king of golf was and maybe forever “the golden bear”. Jack Nicklaus may have seen his Total PGA victories fall on Tiger Woods, but his 584 games are independent. He still has the record of majors and, as suggested above, the health of Tiger Woods is the only thing that is obstructing this record.
Jack Nicklaus played in his latest tournament in 2005 and in the Masters, the Memorial and the United States, he missed the Cup in the three games. It was more new in the masters, +8 in the memorial and one more than three outdoors. Incredibly, it’s been 39 years since the Golden Bear won a tournament for the last time, but it was a big one. Nicklaus won the Masters on April 13, 1986, giving him 18 major wins. Nicklaus was 46 years old when he won his last green jacket.
Now 85 years old, from 584 Nicklaus tournaments, he missed the 89 -time cup that many came to the twilight of his career. This is equivalent to a success rate of 85%. Nicklaus would finish 58 times, 34 times in third place. He finished in the first five 109 times and in the top 10 286 times. Originally from Columbus, Ohio, Nicklaus only follows Tiger Woods in Golf with a nice $ 9,106, 238 in winnings. Rory McILroy is certainly intended to exceed this number.
Jack Nicklaus although he was not as athletic as Tiger Woods that he always weighed 185 on his 5 ’10 framework “. It has been 64 years that Jack Nicklaus intervened for Tee Off as a professional and he made his mark not only as a player, but as a consultant and course designer. With his wife Barbara, Nicklaus has five children and 22 big children.
For the record, Jack Nicklaus has the most victories of the masters with six, one more than Tiger Woods. The great Arnold Palmer claims four, and with three each are Gary Player, Sam Snead, Nick Faldo, Phil Michelson and Jimmy Demaret. Four players are tied for most American open victories, and they are Nicklaus, Ben Hogan, Bobby Jones and Willie Anderson. Tiger Woods and Hale Irwin.
What was once known as “British Open” is now called “open”. Six times, a Vardon Harry won this tournament, and it would be necessary to return until 1890 when Vardon began his professional career. Vardon won 49 victories as a pro and includes on his curriculum vitae a victory at the US Open in 1900. Tom Watson ranks second in open with five victories and is tied with James Braid, John Henry Taylor and Peter Thomson for second place.
Jack Nicklaus won the open three times but trails by one at Walter Hagen, Tom Morris Sr., Tom Morris Jr., Willie Park Sr. and Bobby Locke. Regarding the PGA championship, Nicklaus and Hagen each won him five times. Tiger Woods is the next one with four. Gene Sarazen, Sam Snead and the player of the current tour Brooks Koepka each have three. As for the World Golf Hall of Fame, all except Rory McILroy was inducted in this prestigious honor.
