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Golf's greatest years
Posted: Saturday March 31, 2001 10:17 PM
Updated: Tuesday March 26, 2002 6:22 PM
By John Boyette
The Augusta Chronicle
The task is virtually impossible.
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| History of golf |
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Golf traces its origins to Scotland in the 15th century, but it was more than 400 years later before the first major championship was held. Here is a look at the highlights of the majors and the top players:
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| Year |
Event |
| 1860 |
First British Open held at Prestwick, Scotland. |
| 1872 |
Young Tom Morris wins his fourth and final British Open. His father, Tom Morris Sr., also won four British Opens. |
| 1875 |
Willie Park, winner of the first British Open, wins for the fourth time in the event. |
| 1888 |
St. Andrew's, the first permanent golf club in the United States, is established in Yonkers, N.Y. |
| 1895 |
First U.S. Open held at Newport, R.I. |
| 1901 |
Willie Anderson wins the first of four U.S. Opens he will win in a five-year span. |
| 1913 |
American amateur Francis Ouimet defeats British professionals Harry Vardon and Ted Ray in a playoff at the U.S. Open. |
| 1916 |
First PGA Championship held at Bronxville, N.Y. |
| 1922 |
Gene Sarazen wins the U.S. Open and the PGA Championship. He later adds victories in the British Open and Masters to complete the career grand slam of professional majors. |
| 1924 |
Walter Hagen wins the first of his four consecutive PGA Championships. |
| 1930 |
Bobby Jones wins the Grand Slam, capturing in succession the British Amateur, British Open, U.S. Open and U.S. Amateur. |
| 1933 |
Paul Runyan is victorious in nine tournaments. |
| 1934 |
First Masters held at Augusta National Golf Club. |
| 1945 |
Byron Nelson wins 18 victories on the PGA Tour, including 11 in a row. |
| 1946 |
Ben Hogan wins 13 tournaments. |
| 1949 |
Sam Snead counts the Masters and PGA Championship among his six victories. A year later, he wins 11 times. |
| 1953 |
Four years after a near-fatal car accident, Ben Hogan wins the Masters, U.S. Open and British Open. He completes the career grand slam. |
| 1960 |
Arnold Palmer wins the Masters and U.S. Open, along with six other events. His bid for a third straight victory in a major ends at the British, where he comes in second by one shot. |
| 1962 |
Jack Nicklaus defeats Arnold Palmer in a playoff for the U.S. Open. Four years later he completes the career grand slam. |
| 1965 |
Gary Player wins the U.S. Open, completing the career grand slam. |
| 1971 |
Lee Trevino captures U.S. Open, British Open and Canadian Open. |
| 1972 |
Jack Nicklaus wins the Masters and U.S. Open and loses the British Open by a single stroke. |
| 1974 |
Johnny Miller wins eight times on the PGA Tour. |
| 1983 |
Tom Watson claims victory in his fifth British Open. |
| 1986 |
Jack Nicklaus comes from behind to win his sixth Masters title at age 46. |
| 1990 |
Nick Faldo wins the Masters and British Open. |
| 1994 |
Nick Price wins the British Open and PGA Championship. |
| 1997 |
Tiger Woods breaks the 72-hole scoring record at the Masters with a total of 270. |
| 2000 |
Tiger Woods wins the U.S. Open, British Open and PGA Championship, setting scoring records in all three majors. At age 24, he is the youngest golfer to complete the career grand slam. |
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First, sift through 140 years of golf history to sort out the very best years. Go back to the late 1800s when Brits and Scots dominated the game, revisit the early 20th century when Americans took center stage, and look now at what has become a global game.
Not the best players, not the best eras. Just the best year.
Not the good ones, like Sam Snead's 11 victories in 1950. Or Arnold Palmer hitching up his pants and winning the Masters and U.S. Open with last-day heroics in 1960. Or 1972, when Jack Nicklaus won two of the four majors in a single year, a feat matched by only a handful of golfers.
Only a select few years are left, to be sure. Bobby Jones' Grand Slam in 1930; Byron Nelson and his 11 consecutive victories, 18 overall, in 1945; Ben Hogan's Triple Crown year of 1953; and Tiger Woods' phenomenal 2000 campaign.
Not bad, not bad at all. Now choose the best.
Impossible? Maybe. But this is the kind of debate modern society lives for. One where everyone has an opinion, even if the past tends to get overlooked by the present.
Woods is the impetus for debate. His victories in the U.S. Open, British Open and PGA Championship a year ago opened the discussion. Now the defenders of Jones, Nelson and Hogan all want their say.
``It's a symptom of the modern age, when what happened five minutes ago is the greatest of all time,'' said Gary Van Sickle, golf writer for Sports Illustrated. ``We have no sense of history. We're in love with lists. We get caught up in the hype.''
The plot thickens when you factor in changes in equipment improvements, course maintenance, strength of field, travel and the media spotlight.
Each golfer, though, has a compelling case. Jones did what no one thought was possible, then promptly retired. Nelson set standards for winning streaks and victories in a year that may never be broken. Hogan proved that he could win the big ones on legs that ached from the pain caused by a severe car accident four years earlier. And Woods, well, he didn't just win three majors last year - he smashed, established or matched scoring records in all three.
``I don't think you can compare it,'' said Melanie Hauser, a columnist for Golfweb.com. ``To compare would not be fair. You just have to say they were the greatest of their era.''
Others aren't so sure.
That Jones ``called his shot'' gives him the edge, according to Jones expert Sidney L. Matthew.
``What Jones did stands light years apart from Nelson. Nelson did not set out to win 11 tournaments in a row; it simply happened,'' he said. ``Jones actually called his shot. Hogan, of course, won the three but his legs couldn't take him to the PGA. What he did was extraordinary, but he didn't win it all.
``On Tiger, I maintain he has to create a standard that he thinks will stand the test of time and announce it or at least establish it.''
Let the debate begin.
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