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Golf’s Mount Rushmore – without Arnie?
We are still in the middle of the silly sports season called summer.
A 2024 story resurfaced this week where legendary golfer Jack Nicklaus shared his list of four players comprising his personal “Mount Rushmore” of golf.
The now 85-year old Nicklaus responded that he would consider Bobby Jones, Ben Hogan, Tiger Woods, and, in Jack’s words, “I’d like to join them myself. That’s four!”
It’s hard to be humble when this man holds the all-time record for most major titles in men’s golf history with 18.
Jack Nicklaus is a slam-dunk #1 on ol’ SwampSwami’s list, too.
Tiger Woods comes next at #2
Tiger Woods is second all-time with 15 major championship titles. He remains tied with Sam Snead for the most victories on the PGA Tour with 82 professional wins. Nicklaus is third with 73.
Woods’ impact drove a new wave of golf popularity for twenty years. His amazing run of high level golf boosted television audiences to record levels, too.
Tiger Woods was asked to name four golfers for his Mount Rushmore collection.
His quartet included Sam Snead, Bobby Jones, Jack Nicklaus, and (of course) himself.
Every current pro golfer on the PGA and LIV Golf tours should thank Tiger Woods for today’s significantly higher golf tournament payouts than 30 years ago.
Accordingly, Tiger Woods’ golf accomplishments earned the #2 spot on SwampSwami’s list.
I believe that the remaining two faces on the men’s professional golf version of Mount Rushmore deserve closer evaluation.
What standards should be used to determine who appears on golf’s Mt. Rushmore?
The actual Mount Rushmore is located in the Black Hills just southwest of Rapid City, South Dakota. It receives about two million visitors each year as part of the National Park Service.
It took 14 years from 1927 until October, 1941 to slowly carve the 60-foot faces of four US Presidents into the southeastern side of this granite mountain at nearly 6,000 feet above sea level.
Thankfully, no one was killed during the 14-year construction period for Mount Rushmore.
Surprisingly, the cost of the completed project in 1941 came to a little less than $1 million. The inflation adjusted cost shows a 2025 price tag of about $22 million.
R-i-g-h-t! The geology studies alone would probably cost more than that today.
The four US Presidents depicted on Mount Rushmore are George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abe Lincoln, and Teddy Roosevelt.
They were chosen “to represent the nation’s founding, expansion, development, and preservation”.
Shouldn’t we look at the all-time list of greatest men’s golfers utilizing a similar discipline?
Let’s climb this mountain and apply similar standards to determine the next two golf legends for our Mount Rushmore of the sport
Walter Hagen – 11 major championships / 44 PGA Tour wins
Another early golf pioneer was Walter Hagen. He competed as a professional during much of the same era as Bobby Jones.
Walter “The Father of Professional Golf” Hagen won all of his major championships between 1914 and 1929. He won five PGA Championships, four British Opens, and two US Opens.
Hagen ranks #3 on the all-time professional majors list with 11 behind only Jack Nicklaus (18) and Tiger Woods (15).
Scorecard for Walter Hagen:
Founding – A
Expansion – B+
Development – B
Preservation – B
Ben Hogan – 9 major championships / 64 PGA Tour wins
Ben Hogan’s personal story is legendary. The “Wee Mon” picked-up six of his golf majors after recovering from a near-death automobile collision with an oncoming Greyhound bus.
Hogan is one of just six players (including Gene Sarazen, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Tiger Woods, and Rory McIlroy) to have won all four of golf’s professional major championships.
Hogan played from the late 1930’s into the 1960’s. His nine majors included four US Opens, two PGA Championships, two Masters green jackets, and one British Open title.
Scorecard for Ben Hogan:
Founding – n/a
Expansion – B
Development – A
Preservation – B
Gary Player – 9 major championships / 20 PGA Tour wins / 160 worldwide wins
South Africa’s Gary Player is tied with Ben Hogan’s nine major wins.
Dubbed “The Black Knight”, Player won The Masters and the British Open three times each. He also snared two PGA Championships and one US Open title.
Gary Player began playing professional golf in the 1950’s. He posted a record 160 career wins over seven decades on six different continents. Additionally, Gary Player still tees-up to play golf exhibition matches today at the age of 89!
Gary Player has participated in designing more than 400 golf courses around the world and authored 36 books on golf and fitness.
Scorecard for Gary Player:
Founding – n/a
Expansion – A (worldwide ambassador for golf)
Development – A (hundreds of worldwide golf course designs)
Preservation – A
Bobby Jones – 7 Professional Majors (as an Amateur) + 5 US Amateurs
Robert Tyre Jones played golf as an amateur for his entire life.
Jones became an Atlanta attorney to provide his primary income. Most professional golfers during the 1920’s and 1930’s were unable to earn enough money playing golf from tour events to cover their annual expenses.
Bobby Jones is still considered to be the only US men’s golfer to hold the “Grand Slam” by winning different four majors during the same calendar year (1930). He won the US Open, British Open plus the US Amateur and the British Amateur in 1930.
Interestingly, Jones’ amateur status prevented him from participating in the PGA Championship. The Masters tournament (which Jones helped to get started) didn’t begin until the year 1934.
Bobby Jones dominated golf during the 1920’s. He won five US Amateurs, four US Opens, and three British Open titles. That gave him seven professional golf majors plus five US Amateurs.
Scorecard for Bobby Jones:
Founding – A
Expansion – B+
Development – A (founder of The Masters golf tournament)
Preservation – A (for retaining his amateur status throughout his career)
Sam Snead – 7 major championships / 82 PGA Tour wins
The golfer with the smoothest golf swing on the PGA Tour was Sam Snead (though Ernie Els is right up there with him). Slammin’ Sammy won PGA Tour events in four different decades (1930’s-1960’s) with his first and last coming almost 40 years apart.
Sam Snead is tied with Tiger Woods at 82 career PGA Tour victories apiece. His professional major wins included three Masters’ titles, three PGA Championships, and the 1946 British Open. Snead finished second an incredible four times at the US Open to fall just short of winning the career Grand Slam.
Scorecard for Sam Snead:
Founding – n/a
Expansion – A- (played during the early stages of Arnold Palmer growth era)
Development – B
Preservation – A (Snead left the tour to join the US Navy during WWII)
Arnold Palmer – 7 major championships / 62 PGA Tour wins
The charismatic Arnold Palmer lifted golf into the stratosphere beginning in the late 1950’s and continuing into the late 1970’s.
Arnie’s “go for broke” playing style drew millions of new fans to the sport during the early days of televised golf tournaments. As a result, prize money zoomed upward enough to provide professional golfers a chance to play full-time on tour for the first time.
Appropriately, Arnold Palmer was dubbed “The King” by his fellow professional golfers and legions of “Arnie’s Army” fans.
Palmer won four Masters titles, two British Opens, and one US Open. He would finish second an agonizing three times at the PGA Championship to fall short of capturing the career Grand Slam.
Arnold Palmer became one of the most influential sports personalities of modern times.
He was a successful advertising pitchman, a golf course architect, golf club designer, and a highly successful businessman who owned several car dealerships.
Scorecard for Arnold Palmer:
Founding – n/a
Expansion – A+ (fueling the PGA Tour’s expansion and greater tournament purses)
Development – A (for worldwide golf course design)
Preservation – A (for inspiring a generation of millions of new golfers)
Time to unveil SwampSwami’s Mount Rushmore of golf!
My grading system revealed the following results in determining the #3 and #4 golfers heading for the SwampSwamiSports.com Mount Rushmore of men’s golf:
3. Arnold Palmer – 4.0 GPA (Golf Points Average)
4. Gary Player – 4.0 GPA
5. Bobby Jones – 3.75 GPA
6. Sam Snead – 3.67 GPA
7. Ben Hogan – 3.33 GPA
8. Walter Hagen – 3.25 GPA
Without reservation, modern golf would not be where it is today without “The King”, Arnold Palmer.
Arnie receives some bonus credit for supercharging the popularity of professional golf. He is a very deserving #3 – at least on my list.
I am placing Gary Player in the final spot on my Mount Rushmore of golf. Player’s incredible impact on the worldwide stage is worthy of closer appreciation.
As Arnold Palmer transformed golf in the USA, Gary Player helped to advance the (golf) ball in Africa, Europe, Australia, Asia, and South America beginning in the 1950’s and for decades to come.
Congratulations to Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Arnold Palmer, and Gary Player.
Each has earned their place on my SwampSwamiSports.com Mount Rushmore of golf!
The post Golf’s Mount Rushmore – without Arnie? appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.
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By SwampSwamiSports.comWe are still in the middle of the silly sports season called summer.
A 2024 story resurfaced this week where legendary golfer Jack Nicklaus shared his list of four players comprising his personal “Mount Rushmore” of golf.
The now 85-year old Nicklaus responded that he would consider Bobby Jones, Ben Hogan, Tiger Woods, and, in Jack’s words, “I’d like to join them myself. That’s four!”
It’s hard to be humble when this man holds the all-time record for most major titles in men’s golf history with 18.
Jack Nicklaus is a slam-dunk #1 on ol’ SwampSwami’s list, too.
Tiger Woods comes next at #2
Tiger Woods is second all-time with 15 major championship titles. He remains tied with Sam Snead for the most victories on the PGA Tour with 82 professional wins. Nicklaus is third with 73.
Woods’ impact drove a new wave of golf popularity for twenty years. His amazing run of high level golf boosted television audiences to record levels, too.
Tiger Woods was asked to name four golfers for his Mount Rushmore collection.
His quartet included Sam Snead, Bobby Jones, Jack Nicklaus, and (of course) himself.
Every current pro golfer on the PGA and LIV Golf tours should thank Tiger Woods for today’s significantly higher golf tournament payouts than 30 years ago.
Accordingly, Tiger Woods’ golf accomplishments earned the #2 spot on SwampSwami’s list.
I believe that the remaining two faces on the men’s professional golf version of Mount Rushmore deserve closer evaluation.
What standards should be used to determine who appears on golf’s Mt. Rushmore?
The actual Mount Rushmore is located in the Black Hills just southwest of Rapid City, South Dakota. It receives about two million visitors each year as part of the National Park Service.
It took 14 years from 1927 until October, 1941 to slowly carve the 60-foot faces of four US Presidents into the southeastern side of this granite mountain at nearly 6,000 feet above sea level.
Thankfully, no one was killed during the 14-year construction period for Mount Rushmore.
Surprisingly, the cost of the completed project in 1941 came to a little less than $1 million. The inflation adjusted cost shows a 2025 price tag of about $22 million.
R-i-g-h-t! The geology studies alone would probably cost more than that today.
The four US Presidents depicted on Mount Rushmore are George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abe Lincoln, and Teddy Roosevelt.
They were chosen “to represent the nation’s founding, expansion, development, and preservation”.
Shouldn’t we look at the all-time list of greatest men’s golfers utilizing a similar discipline?
Let’s climb this mountain and apply similar standards to determine the next two golf legends for our Mount Rushmore of the sport
Walter Hagen – 11 major championships / 44 PGA Tour wins
Another early golf pioneer was Walter Hagen. He competed as a professional during much of the same era as Bobby Jones.
Walter “The Father of Professional Golf” Hagen won all of his major championships between 1914 and 1929. He won five PGA Championships, four British Opens, and two US Opens.
Hagen ranks #3 on the all-time professional majors list with 11 behind only Jack Nicklaus (18) and Tiger Woods (15).
Scorecard for Walter Hagen:
Founding – A
Expansion – B+
Development – B
Preservation – B
Ben Hogan – 9 major championships / 64 PGA Tour wins
Ben Hogan’s personal story is legendary. The “Wee Mon” picked-up six of his golf majors after recovering from a near-death automobile collision with an oncoming Greyhound bus.
Hogan is one of just six players (including Gene Sarazen, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Tiger Woods, and Rory McIlroy) to have won all four of golf’s professional major championships.
Hogan played from the late 1930’s into the 1960’s. His nine majors included four US Opens, two PGA Championships, two Masters green jackets, and one British Open title.
Scorecard for Ben Hogan:
Founding – n/a
Expansion – B
Development – A
Preservation – B
Gary Player – 9 major championships / 20 PGA Tour wins / 160 worldwide wins
South Africa’s Gary Player is tied with Ben Hogan’s nine major wins.
Dubbed “The Black Knight”, Player won The Masters and the British Open three times each. He also snared two PGA Championships and one US Open title.
Gary Player began playing professional golf in the 1950’s. He posted a record 160 career wins over seven decades on six different continents. Additionally, Gary Player still tees-up to play golf exhibition matches today at the age of 89!
Gary Player has participated in designing more than 400 golf courses around the world and authored 36 books on golf and fitness.
Scorecard for Gary Player:
Founding – n/a
Expansion – A (worldwide ambassador for golf)
Development – A (hundreds of worldwide golf course designs)
Preservation – A
Bobby Jones – 7 Professional Majors (as an Amateur) + 5 US Amateurs
Robert Tyre Jones played golf as an amateur for his entire life.
Jones became an Atlanta attorney to provide his primary income. Most professional golfers during the 1920’s and 1930’s were unable to earn enough money playing golf from tour events to cover their annual expenses.
Bobby Jones is still considered to be the only US men’s golfer to hold the “Grand Slam” by winning different four majors during the same calendar year (1930). He won the US Open, British Open plus the US Amateur and the British Amateur in 1930.
Interestingly, Jones’ amateur status prevented him from participating in the PGA Championship. The Masters tournament (which Jones helped to get started) didn’t begin until the year 1934.
Bobby Jones dominated golf during the 1920’s. He won five US Amateurs, four US Opens, and three British Open titles. That gave him seven professional golf majors plus five US Amateurs.
Scorecard for Bobby Jones:
Founding – A
Expansion – B+
Development – A (founder of The Masters golf tournament)
Preservation – A (for retaining his amateur status throughout his career)
Sam Snead – 7 major championships / 82 PGA Tour wins
The golfer with the smoothest golf swing on the PGA Tour was Sam Snead (though Ernie Els is right up there with him). Slammin’ Sammy won PGA Tour events in four different decades (1930’s-1960’s) with his first and last coming almost 40 years apart.
Sam Snead is tied with Tiger Woods at 82 career PGA Tour victories apiece. His professional major wins included three Masters’ titles, three PGA Championships, and the 1946 British Open. Snead finished second an incredible four times at the US Open to fall just short of winning the career Grand Slam.
Scorecard for Sam Snead:
Founding – n/a
Expansion – A- (played during the early stages of Arnold Palmer growth era)
Development – B
Preservation – A (Snead left the tour to join the US Navy during WWII)
Arnold Palmer – 7 major championships / 62 PGA Tour wins
The charismatic Arnold Palmer lifted golf into the stratosphere beginning in the late 1950’s and continuing into the late 1970’s.
Arnie’s “go for broke” playing style drew millions of new fans to the sport during the early days of televised golf tournaments. As a result, prize money zoomed upward enough to provide professional golfers a chance to play full-time on tour for the first time.
Appropriately, Arnold Palmer was dubbed “The King” by his fellow professional golfers and legions of “Arnie’s Army” fans.
Palmer won four Masters titles, two British Opens, and one US Open. He would finish second an agonizing three times at the PGA Championship to fall short of capturing the career Grand Slam.
Arnold Palmer became one of the most influential sports personalities of modern times.
He was a successful advertising pitchman, a golf course architect, golf club designer, and a highly successful businessman who owned several car dealerships.
Scorecard for Arnold Palmer:
Founding – n/a
Expansion – A+ (fueling the PGA Tour’s expansion and greater tournament purses)
Development – A (for worldwide golf course design)
Preservation – A (for inspiring a generation of millions of new golfers)
Time to unveil SwampSwami’s Mount Rushmore of golf!
My grading system revealed the following results in determining the #3 and #4 golfers heading for the SwampSwamiSports.com Mount Rushmore of men’s golf:
3. Arnold Palmer – 4.0 GPA (Golf Points Average)
4. Gary Player – 4.0 GPA
5. Bobby Jones – 3.75 GPA
6. Sam Snead – 3.67 GPA
7. Ben Hogan – 3.33 GPA
8. Walter Hagen – 3.25 GPA
Without reservation, modern golf would not be where it is today without “The King”, Arnold Palmer.
Arnie receives some bonus credit for supercharging the popularity of professional golf. He is a very deserving #3 – at least on my list.
I am placing Gary Player in the final spot on my Mount Rushmore of golf. Player’s incredible impact on the worldwide stage is worthy of closer appreciation.
As Arnold Palmer transformed golf in the USA, Gary Player helped to advance the (golf) ball in Africa, Europe, Australia, Asia, and South America beginning in the 1950’s and for decades to come.
Congratulations to Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Arnold Palmer, and Gary Player.
Each has earned their place on my SwampSwamiSports.com Mount Rushmore of golf!
The post Golf’s Mount Rushmore – without Arnie? appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.