jones, vardon, nicklaus, and strange....you did ask for 4, didn't you?
women zaharias, sorenstam and pepper
Three favorite golfes
I'll go with Tiger, Freddie Couples, and Jim Furyk as the 3 favorite I've seen in their prime. I think if I was a little bit older Arnie and Sam Snead would probably make the list.
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Interesting as I believe Freddie had the least amount of victories for his talent level, therefore I would go as far as to say he is one of the better choke artists of all time.
Freddie lost a lot of tournaments that he should have won. He is also a dick in person.
I hear ya on Thomas, but he is young, just needs to mature a bit.
Fuzzy, JD, Walrus and I root for Phil as well.
Trevino, Palmer, Couples.
Jack Nicklaus
Roy McAvoy
Jake
For me with Freddie it's more about when he was in his prime his graceful swing , calm on course demeanor ,the no glove, his saunter etc that I liked when I was just getting into golf seriously. I also played TA 845's at the time ( won them ) and wore no glove but would never be described as having a graceful swing. 
I have been up close to him at tournies and never saw anything but positive interactions. Never really heard much about his off course behavior.
Jack and Freddie had the biggest influences on me taking up golf seriously .
I think he had a very good career that was severely impacted by a bad back. 64 Professional wins ( 15 on the PGA tour - 1 major) ranks in the top 30 all time.
Arnie
Tiger
Speith
Palmer (Arnie's Army enlistee here)
Ben Crenshaw (never will forget his emotional Master's win right after Coach Harvey Penick's death)
Gary McCord (I almost bought a jar of bikini wax because of this guy)
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I used to love the guy, the way he walked, his smooth swing, he was cool. I guess he frustrated me so much as I rooted for him and he would somehow do just enough to lose many tournaments that I though he should have won. I think something happened as he got older as many , many people I have spoken to have noted his rudeness on and off the course. Thirty years ago he would have been in my top 3, I guess I am being too tough on Freddie in my old age.
Interesting note: Speith made more money in 2015 on the course than Freddie did his whole career on the course.
Bobby Jones, Ben Hogan, and Jack Nicklaus. Kinda have an affinity for Swingin Sam Snead, too.
Tinker
Only three, huh? How about different categories:
Impact on the game - Harry Vardon, Bobby Jones, Ben Hogan
Style - Julius Boros, Freddie Couples, Ernie Els
Personality - Chi Chi Rodriguez, Jake Trout, McCord/Feherty
Overall Talent - Jack Nicklaus, Lee Trevino, Tiger Woods
Shotmaking - Sam Snead, Arnold Palmer, Phil Mickelson
My three favorites (among the ones I've seen personally) - Men: Boros, Palmer, Trevino; Women: Nancy Lopez, Judy Rankin, Annika Sorenstam
Tiger....he's an Orange Co. dude and one of the best of all time
Tony Finau....Utah guy on the upswing
John Daly....should've had a LOT more wins,still fun to watch
Favorites to watch:
Jack, Phil, and Tiger. Great to watch the talent on display whether or not I was rooting for them.
Favorites to root for:
Freddie (cool attitude, smooth swing)
Phil (always afraid he'll blow it, lol)
Spieth (local kid, nice guy)
Tiger, Stricker, and Monty, he was annoying as hell, but that swing was something to watch!
Phil Mickelson- makes the game more exciting to watch.
Arnold Palmer- before my time , but all I’ve read or heard about him, make you realize that character is king.
Jordan Spieth- I like his grit. Does not overwhelm the others, but gets it done.
Current players would be Rory, Sergio and Els. The young American guys appear to be country club brats. Can anyone like Reed, Perez or Sabatini?
Palmer, Feherty, Mickelson, Trevino
Sorenstam, Lopez, Thompson, Zaharias