Golf Trivia Question.....

fatshot

Most avid golfers can name the five players who have won all four professional majors, or the career Grand Slam (Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, and Tiger Woods). But there are TEN players who have won three of the four.....

How many of those players can you name (without using Google!).....bonus points if you know which major championship they lack.

sdandrea1

none......

PA-PLAYA

Mickelson (US Open) and Sneed (can't remember which one, but might be US Open as well).... Rory McIlroy (needing the Masters, right?) and Jordan Spieth (needing the PGA)?

Feeling safe that I've captured three of the remaining five.

Tom Watson, perhaps? Needing the PGA?

Other than that - I'm out of options.

fatshot

PA-PLAYA You are right on all counts.....!!
1. Snead......US Open (lost one in playoff and another with an 8 on the last hole!)
2. Mickelson....US Open (lost one with a wild drive on last hole)
3. McIlroy......Masters (blew one on the back nine!)
4. Watson.....PGA
5. Speith....PGA

There are still SIX more players, as I was incorrect in stating the question.....actually 11 players lack one for the Grand Slam. Here's a hint.....of the six remaining players, only two are still living. Anyone......?? anyone.....??

rsvman

Billy Casper? Hale Irwin? Nick Faldo?

I really have no idea.

HybridWood

Byron Nelson - The Open (I think he never went across the pond?)
Lee Trevino - PGA?

fatshot

HybridWood
6. Byron Nelson is another.....no British Open
7. Lee Trevino is also right.....no Masters (seldom played there....said he couldn't play the course, but now admits that he just didn't like Clifford Roberts, Augusta Chairman at the time.

Someone mentioned Casper: won 2 out of 4, but no PGA, no British Open
Irwin: won THREE US Opens, but none of the others
Faldo: THREE Masters; THREE British Opens; no US Open or PGA.

ptjn1201

fatshot

I felt Trevino shortchanged himself by skipping a bunch of Masters in his prime. I'm not saying he would have won one during those 3-4 years before the lightning but his short game was one of the best at the time, and he might have been able to catch lightning in a bottle and win one. And then he could have been needling those guys every year at the Champions dinner. But we'll never know.

HybridWood

My goodness...this one was so obvious I missed it the first time:

Arnold Palmer - PGA

fatshot

HybridWood
8. YEP! Arnie never won the PGA.....close a couple of times, but it kept him from the Grand Slam!

Only three names left......

ptjn1201

Walter Hagen never won the Masters
Floyd never won the British

Can't think of any others -- trying to think of a Hagen contemporary who might have won the PGA and the two Opens but was too early for the Masters. Not coming up with anyone.

ode

Player? Nevermind missed him in the OP😊

ptjn1201

How about Tommy Armour -- I know he didn't win the Masters, did he win a PGA? I think he won both Opens

fatshot

ptjn1201
9. Walter Hagen.......no Masters
10. Raymond Floyd.....no British
11. Tommy Armour.....no Masters

So the list is complete. When you think of it, that's practically a "Who's Who" of golfing history....lots of
really great players there. Good job and thanks to all who participated! Maybe we'll try another one some
time.....

HybridWood

ptjn1201 Ding ding! I couldn't stand the suspense, started going down the list of PGA winners, and clicked on Tommy. No Masters, although to be fair he was on the home stretch of his career when the tourney began.

fatshot

HybridWood
Yep....old-timers like Hagen, Armour, etc. didn't have a very good chance at the Masters b/c it didn't begin until
1934 when their careers were on the down side. Of course some others like Nelson and even Casper couldn't take too many shots at the British Open b/c it was so expensive to travel there and the winner's share was so small. I think I've read that Snead said that he didn't break even the year he won the championship. Today's players have a
big advantage in money and ease of travel that yesterday's stars didn't have. I imagine Speith and McIlroy will be joining those elites who have won the Grand Slam.....

ptjn1201

Feel bad I didn't think of Armour right away -- my first instruction book was my father's copy of How To Play Your Best Golf All The Time

fatshot

ptjn1201 One of my first "how-to" books as well when I was a kid! I still think of the title of one of his chapters when my timing gets off.....it was titled, "The Pause That Means Good Timing."

ptjn1201

I was just looking through the majors winners -- how could we forget Jim Barnes? Never even entered my mind, but he won two consecutive PGAs (1916, 1919), the US Open (1921), British (1925), along with two North & Souths and two Western Opens, when those were big deals.

fatshot

ptjn1201
Wow....good point! I didn't realize Barnes had that many majors! I wonder why he wasn't even listed in the
article I read that prompted my question in the first place?! Good find!

PA-PLAYA

ptjn1201

I agree. Trevino wasn't a shot-maker, but neither was Jack, who also played a fade off the tee throughout his career. Augusta would've been a good course for Lee. But the fact that he felt like an outsider, that he didn't feel welcomed... it's part of the history of Augusta National unfortunately. And the fact is that they couldn't have cared less if Lee Trevino played in their tournament.

fatshot

ptjn1201
Agreed.....I've read that it was Jack himself who took Trevino aside and said in effect, "Whaddya mean you
can't play the course??? With all the shots you've got you can play anywhere." And that convinced Lee
to go back for a few more tries. I think it was later in his career he began using more lofted woods at Augusta (7 woods, etc.) in an effort to get the ball higher in the air to hit and hold the greens. Unfortunately, he could never get it together enough to win one. A tie for 10th place was his best finish there.....