I had the great privilege of watching Sam Snead at the Country Club of Lansing when I caddied there. HE WAS A MIND BLOWING PLAYER!! HE WAS 66 YEARS OLD AND STILL PLAYING THE REGULAR TOUR. Snead played better, longer than anyone else.Sneads only weakness was shirt putting. He had all the other shots. The greatest natural athlete ever to play the tour. I've seen Tiger, Jack, and other luminaries in person. I've never seen anything like the display he put on that day. Like Hogan, Snead only played in the Open championship once. Both men lost time to military service. Both also played in the PGA Championship when it was in a match play format. Sam Sneads game needs no apologies. I know. I saw greatness in the flesh.
Comments like yours ought to be kept for posterity. But how about his hilarious remarks, like: 'The fairways were so narrow, we had to walk up them single file.?
@trackdusty The Virginia hillbilly was a writers dream. The press clamored for every word of copy they could fetch from him. I love how he would describe a beautiful approach shot as landing "Like a butterfly with sore feet." After his first tour win, he even remarked at his picture being in a New York newspaper when he'd never been there!! Snead's color helped grow the tour long before Arnold Palmer and the age of television. Larger than life in talent and personality
@srnordli When I watched Sam Snead play, I was awestruck by the sound of his shots. Like Roy Hobbs in The Natural hitting the ball into the lights and creating a technicolor display. The sound produced was like the roll of thunder during a summer storm. It was the sound of perfect percussion. A ball struck in the sweet spot of the sweet spot!! It was created by the sweetest swing the game has ever seen. No player had a rhythm like Sam Snead. So smooth, it made Fred Couples look spasmodic. Homespun personality and prodigal talent like no other. Such was the legend of Sam Snead.
My favorite legend of golf. I learned the game watching old videos of him. His personality was very much like my grandfathers. He doesn't get near the credit he deserves.
Byron Nelson put it perfectly in reference to Sam Sneads swing. "He said, Ahh just draws it back and hits it!!" was his response. His motion was that unimpeded by conscious thought. The great golf writer Al Barkow, in his fabulous book Golfs Golden Grind, made this fantastic statement about Snead. "There seems little doubt that if Sam had the mind for golf like Hogan did, he would have been the absolute nonpareil. It it also true that when one has the glorious physical gifts of a Sam Snead, there is a tendency to skim over the deep stuff." What an observation!! Put Hogans, Jack's, or Tiger's head on Sam Sneads' body, you would see records they would be chasing for 500 years. That's simply the way it was.
@@donaldschmidt2990 Palmer, Nicklaus, Watson, Player and Trevino all said Snead had the best swing ever. Hogan said if Sam had a brain he would have won far more than me !! (meaning majors i believe) also he never played the British open after his win in 48 until 1962, so he like Hogan who only played it once and won, basically never played in that major. if he and Hogan (and Nelson) had played in it every year up to say 1960 the Open would have had a very different history. Simply said Snead was one of the best golfers who has ever lived.
I was fortunate to have gotten to know him. We had a relationship that I was very proud to get to know him. I couldn’t go to the greenbrier if he seen me we had to talk for over hour or more. I was talking one day and it told him about his swing and what he was doing wrong he said I was right then I told him I was going to fix it for him. He told me he had the best instructors their was a they couldn’t fix it why could I do it. Simple I was smarter than they were and I told him how to fix it and he told me if he had known what ink told him he could have won another fifty tournaments. He treated me with so much respect. It was a joy to have known him. ❤
Sam is the greatest golfer of all time with 142 unofficial wins. He was close to 6 foot and a muscular 200 lbs. He was a awesome athlete with a very perfect powerful swing. Just imagine with modern training methods and modern golf equipment how good he would be. 142 wins says it all. H eplayed in a era of many great players.
Bobby jones retired at twenty eight years old and went months without touching a club and usually won the tournament, his forty one percent win rate is incredible, Byron Nelson won eighteen tournaments in 45 with a full field, Hogan played 18 tournaments with byron and byron won thirteen of those against ben, sam played the full year. Byron started the next season winning six in a row then at age thirty four he bought a ranch it would've been interesting to see Byron continue to battle hogan through the late 50s. Byron won over fifty tournament and six majors but definitely would've won more. Sam snead to all golf historians is definitely not overlooked he was without a doubt one of the greatest of all time.
Saw him for a couple of holes ( god knows why I didn't watch more ? ) at the Bob Hope British Classic at RAC club Epsom in 1980. I have never seen anyone make the game look so easy ! It just looked like the game wasn't that much of a problem to him !
Sam won the 1949 PGA in Richmond Virginia at the old Hermitage course. (Now Belmont) At 10:38 in this video, the Hermitage clubhouse is behind him. (still standing)
In a further comment, the marvelous golf writer Jaime Diaz made this analysis of Sam Snead. "Of all the players that failed to win the Grand Slam, Sam Snead carries the most scar tissue. He was the best ever in terms of just playing the game. Hitting the ball. Day in. Day out." Snead played the game better, for longer than anyone else. Perhaps the greatest barometer for greatness that exists.
Well Said; “played the game better, for longer than anyone else. Perhaps the greatest barometer for greatness that exists.“ I too played my “game” POGOing (Ask a HOZAC Punk) the same as here, been a GR🎱 Run! Having grown up (b. 1956) seeing Sam’s Playing Thru (& Mr G. Player) made a Big mark on extending my Longevity along with very well trained & Mindful Mind~Body work! I, like Bobby Jones, never wanted to or did Monetize taint my career! “The Kids Are Alright”! Best’s, dtf
I believe Sam Snead was first credited with 89 official PGA wins. In 1989 the PGA Officials and historical analysts went back and evaluated numerous golfers' tournaments and records and did some editing and reevaluation. They reduced the number of wins from Sam Snead. I believe they reduce Gene Sarazen total wins, along with other greats as well. They got to keep the tournament wins. They just decided not to count them as official PGA tournaments. They reduced Sam's official 89 wins down to 81. Then PGA decided to include " The Open" as an official PGA tournament. It went back up to 82. The PGA use to not count the British Open " The Open" as an official PGA tournament. They decided to start counting it as of 1998,'99. ... Many of Sam Sneads devout fans believe Snead's Greenbrier wins should be counted. That would take Sam up to 86 PGSA wins.
Ridiculous assessment. Snead was easily as good as Hogan, and if it weren't for the equipment differences, would likely rival Tiger Woods in his prime. Retract the video. It's a waste of breath.
No way his 82 wins compares to Tiger!! Some of his wins were in tournaments that were more like exhibitions and did not have the strict entry conditions of today.
I had the great privilege of watching Sam Snead at the Country Club of Lansing when I caddied there. HE WAS A MIND BLOWING PLAYER!! HE WAS 66 YEARS OLD AND STILL PLAYING THE REGULAR TOUR. Snead played better, longer than anyone else.Sneads only weakness was shirt putting. He had all the other shots. The greatest natural athlete ever to play the tour. I've seen Tiger, Jack, and other luminaries in person. I've never seen anything like the display he put on that day. Like Hogan, Snead only played in the Open championship once. Both men lost time to military service. Both also played in the PGA Championship when it was in a match play format. Sam Sneads game needs no apologies. I know. I saw greatness in the flesh.
Comments like yours ought to be kept for posterity. But how about his hilarious remarks, like: 'The fairways were so narrow, we had to walk up them single file.?
Agree wholeheartedly with your assessment!
@trackdusty The Virginia hillbilly was a writers dream. The press clamored for every word of copy they could fetch from him. I love how he would describe a beautiful approach shot as landing "Like a butterfly with sore feet." After his first tour win, he even remarked at his picture being in a New York newspaper when he'd never been there!! Snead's color helped grow the tour long before Arnold Palmer and the age of television. Larger than life in talent and personality
@srnordli When I watched Sam Snead play, I was awestruck by the sound of his shots. Like Roy Hobbs in The Natural hitting the ball into the lights and creating a technicolor display. The sound produced was like the roll of thunder during a summer storm. It was the sound of perfect percussion. A ball struck in the sweet spot of the sweet spot!! It was created by the sweetest swing the game has ever seen. No player had a rhythm like Sam Snead. So smooth, it made Fred Couples look spasmodic. Homespun personality and prodigal talent like no other. Such was the legend of Sam Snead.
Snead also holds the record for most awesome hats on tour! Thanks for the post.
My favorite legend of golf. I learned the game watching old videos of him. His personality was very much like my grandfathers. He doesn't get near the credit he deserves.
Hogan said Sam doesn't know anything about the golf swing, he just does it better than anyone else
Byron Nelson put it perfectly in reference to Sam Sneads swing. "He said, Ahh just draws it back and hits it!!" was his response. His motion was that unimpeded by conscious thought. The great golf writer Al Barkow, in his fabulous book Golfs Golden Grind, made this fantastic statement about Snead. "There seems little doubt that if Sam had the mind for golf like Hogan did, he would have been the absolute nonpareil. It it also true that when one has the glorious physical gifts of a Sam Snead, there is a tendency to skim over the deep stuff." What an observation!! Put Hogans, Jack's, or Tiger's head on Sam Sneads' body, you would see records they would be chasing for 500 years. That's simply the way it was.
@@donaldschmidt2990 Palmer, Nicklaus, Watson, Player and Trevino all said Snead had the best swing ever. Hogan said if Sam had a brain he would have won far more than me !! (meaning majors i believe) also he never played the British open after his win in 48 until 1962, so he like Hogan who only played it once and won, basically never played in that major. if he and Hogan (and Nelson) had played in it every year up to say 1960 the Open would have had a very different history. Simply said Snead was one of the best golfers who has ever lived.
I was fortunate to have gotten to know him. We had a relationship that I was very proud to get to know him. I couldn’t go to the greenbrier if he seen me we had to talk for over hour or more. I was talking one day and it told him about his swing and what he was doing wrong he said I was right then I told him I was going to fix it for him. He told me he had the best instructors their was a they couldn’t fix it why could I do it. Simple I was smarter than they were and I told him how to fix it and he told me if he had known what ink told him he could have won another fifty tournaments. He treated me with so much respect. It was a joy to have known him. ❤
Me too
@@IIrandhandleIIMIchael Jackson once came by house to use the bathroom 🚽
You should have seen Einstein’s face when I told him the problem with B=MC2
Sam is the greatest golfer of all time with 142 unofficial wins. He was close to 6 foot and a muscular 200 lbs. He was a awesome athlete with a very perfect powerful swing. Just imagine with modern training methods and modern golf equipment how good he would be. 142 wins says it all. H eplayed in a era of many great players.
His swing looks powerful enough as it is you could just transfer him from the past straight into present.
The man had some serious skills though much like Hogan his putting was iffy
I don’t think Snead needed modern day training methods, he was given the perfect golf swing by God.
@@robertbelyea5767 His putting was "iffy" because the greens weren't nearly as groomed and flawless as they are now.
Snead is one of the greatest players. He has nothing to prove
Bobby jones retired at twenty eight years old and went months without touching a club and usually won the tournament, his forty one percent win rate is incredible, Byron Nelson won eighteen tournaments in 45 with a full field, Hogan played 18 tournaments with byron and byron won thirteen of those against ben, sam played the full year. Byron started the next season winning six in a row then at age thirty four he bought a ranch it would've been interesting to see Byron continue to battle hogan through the late 50s. Byron won over fifty tournament and six majors but definitely would've won more. Sam snead to all golf historians is definitely not overlooked he was without a doubt one of the greatest of all time.
Sam was such a gentleman, as were many golfers of his era. These men were so courteous in every way. They true elevated the game.
Saw him for a couple of holes ( god knows why I didn't watch more ? ) at the Bob Hope British Classic at RAC club Epsom in 1980. I have never seen anyone make the game look so easy ! It just looked like the game wasn't that much of a problem to him !
Sam won the 1949 PGA in Richmond Virginia at the old Hermitage course. (Now Belmont) At 10:38 in this video, the Hermitage clubhouse is behind him. (still standing)
what u win is more important than how many wins but 82 pga wins should make u one of the greatest
7 majors is nothing to sneeze 🤧 at
In a further comment, the marvelous golf writer Jaime Diaz made this analysis of Sam Snead. "Of all the players that failed to win the Grand Slam, Sam Snead carries the most scar tissue. He was the best ever in terms of just playing the game. Hitting the ball. Day in. Day out." Snead played the game better, for longer than anyone else. Perhaps the greatest barometer for greatness that exists.
Well Said; “played the game better, for longer than anyone else. Perhaps the greatest barometer for greatness that exists.“
I too played my “game” POGOing (Ask a HOZAC Punk) the same as here, been a GR🎱 Run! Having grown up (b. 1956) seeing Sam’s Playing Thru (& Mr G. Player) made a Big mark on extending my Longevity along with very well trained & Mindful Mind~Body work! I, like Bobby Jones, never wanted to or did Monetize taint my career! “The Kids Are Alright”! Best’s, dtf
Snead was a great player!
I believe Sam Snead was first credited with 89 official PGA wins. In 1989 the PGA Officials and historical analysts went back and evaluated numerous golfers' tournaments and records and did some editing and reevaluation. They reduced the number of wins from Sam Snead. I believe they reduce Gene Sarazen total wins, along with other greats as well. They got to keep the tournament wins. They just decided not to count them as official PGA tournaments. They reduced Sam's official 89 wins down to 81. Then PGA decided to include " The Open" as an official PGA tournament. It went back up to 82. The PGA use to not count the British Open " The Open" as an official PGA tournament. They decided to start counting it as of 1998,'99.
... Many of Sam Sneads devout fans believe Snead's Greenbrier wins should be counted. That would take Sam up to 86 PGSA wins.
Yes, you are correct they did cut down his total, a few I understand but some should have counted. 86 is probably correct.
He is lucky to be credited with 82. Atleast 10 of them are more like exhibitions.
He broke records during ww2
Scott Hoch is the greatest player of all time
Sam was a tennis player? Ya, he is my favorite through and through.
what tarnishes Sneads career was choking away the opens, hed be the goat if hed won a couple opens, my favorite player for sure but thats whats up
Bobby Jones didn't play in a ton of pro events. He was an amateur. For example, he never played in the PGA Championship.
He only played in the Open 6 times…that says a lot I think
What a ridiculous video…Sam was never forgotten and never will be. If he’d played in more Opens like Hogan he would have won more majors
Ridiculous assessment. Snead was easily as good as Hogan, and if it weren't for the equipment differences, would likely rival Tiger Woods in his prime. Retract the video. It's a waste of breath.
No way his 82 wins compares to Tiger!! Some of his wins were in tournaments that were more like exhibitions and did not have the strict entry conditions of today.