Sam Snead biography
Sam Snead, in full Samuel Jackson Snead, byname Slammin’ Sam, (born May 27, 1912, close to Hot Springs, Virginia, U.S.—died May 23, 2002, Hot Springs), American skilled golfer who gained 82 Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) tournaments and each main championship for which he was eligible—besides the U.S. Open, wherein he positioned second 4 occasions.
Snead was famous for the longevity of his profession, his agility, and his easy, self-taught swing. He grew to become knowledgeable in 1933 and scored his first victory within the 1937 Oakland Open. He gained the British Open (Open Championship; 1946), the Canadian Open (1938, 1940, 1941), and within the United States the Masters Tournament (1949, 1952, 1954), the PGA Championship (1942, 1949, 1951), and the Vardon Trophy (1938, 1949–50, 1955) for the most effective common variety of strokes in PGA tournaments. He was a member of the U.S. Ryder Cup crew eight occasions (together with 1969 when he captained the squad however didn't play) and was a member of the profitable World Cup groups in 1956, 1960, 1961, and 1962, additionally profitable the person title in 1961. He gained the PGA Seniors event in 1964, 1965, 1967, 1970, 1972, and 1973; the World Seniors Championship in 1964, 1965, 1970, 1972, and 1973; and the Legends of Golf event (with Gardner Dickinson) in 1978.
Known worldwide for his straw hat and folksy humour, Snead reportedly by no means had a golf lesson, and he typically employed unorthodox strategies of placing so as to counteract issues brought on by a twitch (identified in golf parlance as “the yips”). He gained extra PGA tournaments than another champion, nevertheless, and conservative estimates place his world event wins at 135. (Snead’s variety of PGA victories was elevated from 81 to 82 in 2002, after the group started to incorporate Open Championship wins previous to 1995 in its rely of tour victories.) He established two information in his many appearances on the Greater Greensboro Open: he gained it extra occasions (eight) than any golfer has ever gained a single event (inflicting many sportswriters to dub the occasion the “Sam Snead Open”); and, at age 52, he grew to become the oldest golfer to win a PGA occasion together with his victory there in 1965. He continued to be a menace into his sixties, putting second within the 1974 Los Angeles Open.
Snead was elected to the PGA Hall of Fame in 1953. His autobiography, The Education of a Golfer (1962), was written in collaboration with Al Stump; he additionally wrote a number of books on golf instruction. One of the sport’s most beloved and ingratiating gamers, Snead’s sly wit is mirrored in his recommendation to an beginner golfer: “You’ve got just one problem. You stand too close to the ball after you’ve hit it.”