The OP asked our 3 favorite golfers of all time. imo, one must have seen, either in person or on TV, those 3 actually playing the game. Old videos accepted. Movies.....not a shot in hell...same as reading the paper/mags.(except for McAvoy🤓)

I could read sundry items/articles about a golfer with a wife and several children, that played great golf, won several tournaments, gave tons of money to charity, etc.. But, if I've never actually seen this player playing the game, how in the hell could he possibly be a favorite 'golfer' of mine? Sounds like a nice fella, but certainly not a 'favorite golfer' of mine.

Personalities have nothing to do with playing the game.

    PA-PLAYA
    Back in those days the players did not make the money they do today. They rode from tournament to tournament together, they stayed in the same hotel room together if they could afford one. They got to know each other very well.

        Phil, Gentle Ben Crenshaw, and Seve
        Anika, Julie Inkster, Nancy Lopez
        Tough not to put Jan Stephenson in with her "bathtub" picture. Christina Kim, Lorena Ochoa, Helen Alfredson... The men... DLIII, Freddy, Trevino, Chi Chi, Nick Price... so many were part of the evolution of this Great Game.

        Par4QC

        You bring up another point.....how many of us have actually seen IN PERSON these players we think of as favorites?
        I mentioned Snead, Palmer, Nicklaus, followed by Hogan, Trevino, and Jones. I'm 72 years old, and have been a golf fan most of my life. I've been to enough tournaments (tour events, Masters, US Opens, PGA's) that I've seen most of those at least hit a few shots in person. Sadly, I never set eyes on Ben Hogan or Bobby Jones, b/c they both were done competing by the time I attended my first tournament. I've seen just about all the rest, including today's stars.
        But I doubt that we can form much of an opinion of a player by seeing him strike a few shots in person, even though it's nice to be able to say, "I saw the great Palmer, etc. play." Rather, I think watching them compete in their primes (on TV, the best seat in the house!), then evaluating their overall record, personality, and all those other factors you mention.....that's how we each arrive at our own personal favorites.

          Par4QC

          Uh, no.

          In the honorable words of 'The Dude' Lebowski: "Yeah, well, that's just, like, your opinion, man."

          The OP set no conditions on his question. He asked, "Who are your favorite three golfers of all time?" There were no specifics about having to have watched these players, or perhaps following them back when they were playing, getting an autograph, having dinner with them, etc.

          And furthermore... (and this is just MY opinion) but the personalities are what is missing in golf today. That's why it's so freakin boring. People want to rip Bubba Watson for having a personality, but then rip the average tour player because they have no personality and act like a clone of DL3, who acts like he was born with a stick up his ass.


            letthebigdogshunt

            And you don't think these authors didn't know that, yet decided to dig a little deeper into finding out what their subjects were all about?

            Hey - you don't care to read about golf. That's cool.

            I just happen to enjoy it.

                fatshot

                Sam was a weird bird, for sure. And not everybody cared for his style of crass humor, in addition to his penchant for chasing skirt.

                    PA-PLAYA Yep....Sam was my FIRST golfing hero. You may remember a show called "All Star Golf," back in the early days of televised golf. The format was two players, medal play, and the winner got to come back the next week and play a new opponent. It was my introduction to the game. (BTW, you can still see a couple of episodes on YouTube....it was a low budget affair, with a tv camera mounted on the top of a station wagon bouncing down the fairways!) Snead just kept winning and winning, so he became the first golfer I knew anything about. At age 12, I didn't know anything about his personal life, for good or ill. I just liked that sweet swing, the straw hat, the sense of humor he displayed on camera. It was only as an adult that I read about the other less desirable stuff. Still a helluva player though.....

                        Trevino, Chi Chi, Fuzzy. I liked their attitudes. Trevino had a putt in a TV skins game for a bunch of money, maybe 100k. The announcer asked him if he felt under pressure. He said, "No. Pressure is when you are playing for $20 and you have $2 in your pocket." Pound for pound in his prime Chi Chi could pound it off of tee farther than anyone. Fuzzy had a great attitude as well. Too bad he ran his mouth a bit about fried chicken.

                        fatshot

                        Sammy was just a phenomenal all-around athlete and remarkable player.

                        Folks can do their own research and figure it out, but very few players who've played throughout the history of the game could match his athleticism and overall accomplishments, not just during his prime, but into his later years as well.

                        The manner in which he lived his life and his 'hillbilly' upbringing are aspects that made him such an interesting character, even if some of those things run contrary to the politically correct standard of today.

                          PA-PLAYA I read about golf, but I learned to take what I read with a grain of salt. Writers certain knew about players in the 50', 60's and 70's but refused to write about their peccadillos. What I read about the great players during that time and before was just pap as I later came to find out. If you want to believe everything you read be my guest. Actually I am an avid read and have hundreds of books in my home. Being an avid sports fan back in the 50's I read every thing I could about sports. Had a subscription to the Sporting news for years and read the bios of golfers, football , baseball and tennis players. Your behavior is somewhat boorish in trying to put me down for not being a reader.

                              letthebigdogshunt

                              Why are we arguing about this shit?

                              It’s not worth it. Let’s move on, shall we? For Christ’s sakes - it’s about one’s three favorite all-time golfers.

                                  I can't choose three, but I will add the name of one golfer from the past that has not yet been mentioned, and that is Billy Casper. I had the opportunity of watching him play multiple times, and then was able to meet him in person at a clinic.

                                  Billy was a genuinely nice guy. Happy, smiling, and kind. One of the best putters ever to play the game. He had kind of a stabbing/jabbing stroke, but the dude could seriously roll the rock. He put on a putting clinic the time I met him and it was incredible.