Samuel Jackson "Sam" Snead (May 27, 1912 – May 23, 2002) was an American golfer who was one of the top players in the world for most of 4 decades. He and two others of the greatest golfers of all time, Ben Hogan and Byron Nelson, were born within 6 months of each other in 1912. He won a record 82 PGA Tour events and about 70 others worldwide. He won seven majors: three Masters, three PGA Championships and one British Open. In spite of his great achievements, his reputation has always been slightly tainted by his failure to win a U.S. Open.

Snead was famed for his folksy image, wearing a straw hat and playing tournaments barefoot, and making such statements as "Keep close count of your nickels and dimes, stay away from whiskey, and never concede a putt." His nickname was "Slammin' Sammy." He has also been admired by many for having the so-called "perfect swing," and generated many imitators.  Snead was born in Ashwood, Virginia near Hot Springs, Virginia. At the age of seven he began caddying at The Homestead in Hot Springs; he worked as an assistant pro at The Homestead at 19, and became a professional in 1934. Snead maintained ties to Hot Springs and The Homestead for all of his life; he died in Hot Springs following complications from a stroke four days short of his 90th birthday. He was survived by two sons, Sam Jr., of Hot Springs, Virginia and Terry, of Mountain Grove, Virginia; a brother, Pete, of Pittsburgh; and two grandchildren. His wife, Audrey, died in 1990. His nephew J. C. Snead was also a PGA Tour golfer.
Snead won the PGA Tour Lifetime Achievement Award in 1998, and has been inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame.

Career:

In 1937, his first year on the Tour, he won five events, including the Oakland Open at Claremont Country Club in California.
In 1938, he first won the Greater Greensboro Open, which he won eight times, the Tour record for victories at an event, concluding in 1965 at the age of 52, making him the oldest player to win a PGA Tour event.
1939 was the first of several times he failed at crucial moments of the U.S. Open, the only major event he never won.
He won 11 events in 1950. No one has since won more in one year.
He won the Vardon Trophy for lowest scoring average four times: 1938, 1949, 1950, and 1955.
He played on seven Ryder Cup teams: 1937, 1947, 1949, 1951, 1953, 1955, and 1959, and captained the team in 1951, 1959, and 1969.
In 1971, he won the PGA Professional National Championship.
In 1974, at age 62, he shot a one-under-par 279 to come in third (three strokes behind winner Lee Trevino) at the PGA Championship at Tanglewood in Clemmons, North Carolina.
In 1978 he won the first Legends of Golf event, which was the impetus for the creation two years later of the Senior PGA TOUR, now known as the Champions Tour.
In 1979 he was the youngest PGA Tour golfer to shoot his age (67) in the second round of the 1979 Quad Cities Open. He shot under his age (66) in the final round.
In 1983, at age 71, he shot a round of 60 (12-under-par) at the The Homestead in Hot Springs, Virginia.
In 1997, at age 85, he shot a round of 78 at the Old White course of The Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia.
In 1998, he received the fourth PGA Tour Lifetime Achievement Award.
From 1984 to 2002, he hit the honorary starting tee shot at The Masters. Until 1999, he was joined by Gene Sarazen, and until 2001, by Byron Nelson.

Records:
From official PGA Tour site.
Most PGA Tour victories: 82
Most PGA Tour victories at an event: 8 at the Greater Greensboro Open (1938, 1946, 1949, 1950, 1955, 1956, 1960, 1965)
Oldest player to win a PGA Tour event: age 52 years, 10 months, 8 days at the 1965 Greater Greensboro Open
First PGA Tour player to shoot his age: 67 in the second round of the 1979 Quad Cities Open
Oldest player to make a cut on the PGA Tour: age 67 years, 2 months, 21 days at the 1979 Manufacturers Hanover Westchester Classic.
He also held the record for most PGA Tour wins after reaching age 40, with 17, until it was broken at the 2007 Mercedes-Benz Championship by Vijay Singh.

[PGA Tour wins (82):
1936 (1) West Virginia Closed Pro
1937 (5) Oakland Open, Bing Crosby Pro-Am, St. Paul Open, Nassau Open, Miami Open
1938 (8) Bing Crosby Pro-Am, Greater Greensboro Open, Chicago Open, Canadian Open, Westchester 108 Hole Open, White Sulphur Springs Open, Inverness Invitational (with Vic Ghezzi), Palm Beach Round Robin
1939 (3) St. Petersburg Open, Miami Open, Miami-Biltmore Four-Ball (with Ralph Guldahl)
1940 (3) Canadian Open, Anthracite Open, Inverness Invitational Four-Ball (with Ralph Guldahl)
1941 (6) Bing Crosby Pro-Am, St. Petersburg Open, North and South Open, Canadian Open, Rochester Times Union Open, Henry Hurst Invitational
1942 (2) St. Petersburg Open, PGA Championship
1944 (2) Portland Open, Richmond Open
1945 (6) Los Angeles Open, Gulfport Open, Pensacola Open, Jacksonville Open, Dallas Open, Tulsa Open
1946 (6) Jacksonville Open, Greater Greensboro Open, The Open Championship (not counted as a PGA Tour win at the time, but designated as such in 2002), World Championship of Golf, Miami Open, Virginia Open
1948 (1) Texas Open
1949 (6) Greater Greensboro Open, The Masters, Washington Star Open, Dapper Dan Open, Western Open, PGA Championship
1950 (11) Los Angeles Open, Bing Crosby Pro-Am (tie with Jack Burke, Jr, Smiley Quick, Dave Douglas), Texas Open, Miami Beach Open, Greater Greensboro Open, Western Open, Colonial National Invitation, Inverness Four-Ball Invitational (with Jim Ferrier), Reading Open, North and South Open, Miami Open
1951 (2) PGA Championship, Miami Open
1952 (5) The Masters, Palm Beach Round Robin, Inverness Round Robin Invitational (with Jim Ferrier), All American Open, Eastern Open
1953 (1) Baton Rouge Open
1954 (2) The Masters, Palm Beach Round Robin
1955 (4) Greater Greensboro Open, Palm Beach Round Robin, Insurance City Open, Miami Open
1956 (1) Greater Greensboro Open
1957 (2) Dallas Open Invitational, Palm Beach Round Robin
1958 (1) Dallas Open Invitational
1960 (2) De Soto Open Invitational, Greater Greensboro Open
1961 (1) Tournament of Champions
1965 (1) Greater Greensboro Open
Major championships are shown in bold.

Other wins:

1936 West Virginia Open
1937 West Virginia Open
1938 West Virginia Open
1948 West Virginia Open
1949 North and South Open, West Virginia Open
1957 West Virginia Open
1958 West Virginia Open
1960 West Virginia Open
1961 West Virginia Open
1966 West Virginia Open
1967 West Virginia Open
1968 West Virginia Open
1970 West Virginia Open
1971 PGA Club Professional Championship, West Virginia Open
1972 West Virginia Open
1973 West Virginia Open

Senior wins (14):
1964 PGA Seniors' Championship, World Seniors
1965 PGA Seniors' Championship, World Seniors
1967 PGA Seniors' Championship
1970 PGA Seniors' Championship, World Seniors
1972 PGA Seniors' Championship, World Seniors
1973 PGA Seniors' Championship, World Seniors
1978 Legends of Golf (with Gardner Dickinson)
1980 Golf Digest Commemorative Pro-Am
1982 Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf (with Don January)

Major Championships:

Wins (7)

Year	Championship	54 Holes	Winning Score	Margin	Runners Up
1942	PGA Championship	N/A	2 & 1	2 strokes	Jim Turnesa
1946	The Open Championship	Tied for lead	-2 (71-70-74-75=290)	4 strokes	Johnny Bulla, Bobby Locke
1949	The Masters	1 stroke deficit	-6 (73-75-67-67=282)	3 strokes	Johnny Bulla, Lloyd Mangrum
1949	PGA Championship (2)	N/A	3 & 2	3 strokes	Johnny Palmer
1951	PGA Championship (3)	N/A	7 & 6	7 strokes	Walter Burkemo
1952	The Masters (2)	Tied for lead	-2 (70-67-77-72=286)	4 strokes	Jack Burke Jr.
1954	The Masters (3)	3 shot deficit	+1 (74-73-70-72=289)	Playoff 1	Ben Hogan

Note: The PGA Championship was match play until 1958.
¹ Defeated Ben Hogan in 18-hole playoff - Snead (70), Hogan (71)

Results Timeline:

NT = No tournament
DNP = Did not play
WD = Withdrew
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
R## — Round of 16, 32, etc. The PGA Championship was conducted at match play before 1958.
QF — Quarterfinal
SF — Semifinal
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.

Summary of major championship performances

• Starts - 117
• Wins - 7
• 2nd place finishes - 8
• Top 3 finishes - 22
• Top 5 finishes - 29
• Top 10 finishes - 48
• Longest streak of top-10s in majors - 6

Fun Facts:

Snead was referenced in several jokes in the Peanuts comic strip in the 1950s and 1960s. Linus Van Pelt has claimed to "have always kind of admired him".
Snead hit the Wrigley Field scoreboard with a golf ball teed off from home plate.
Snead once appeared in an episode of The Phil Silvers Show (Sergeant Bilko).
According to an edition of the Book of Sports Lists, Snead made a commercial for Bromo-Seltzer in which he said, "On the day of atonement, I cannot afford to be sick." It was a while before the Jewish part of the audience realized Sammy was not referring to Yom Kippur, but "could not pronounce 'tournament' like other white folk." Venerable West Coast gangsta rapper Snoop Dogg gave props to Sam Snead in his song of the same title.