Most PGA Tour Wins

With his victory at the 2012 AT&T National Pro Am, Phil Mickelson moved into a tie for ninth place on the all time PGA Tour victories list. Cary Middlecoff also holds that position.

Five more wins puts him past Walter Hagen, a feat that seems inevitable. Billy Casper and Byron Nelson at 51 and 52 also seem within reach.

The all time leader is Sam Snead, who over a 30 year career clocked 82 wins. Nicklaus is in second with 73. Tiger has 71.

I’ve always thought that for Tiger, breaking Snead’s record will be easier than approaching Jack’s Majors. But I’m no longer so sure about either of them.

The list of players with 20 or more Tour victories is below:

Rank Name DOB – DOD Country Wins Majors Winning Span Span Years
1 Sam Snead 1912–2002  United States 82 7 1936–1965 30
2 Jack Nicklaus 1940–  United States 73 18 1962–1986 25
3 Tiger Woods 1975–  United States 71 14 1996–2009 14
4 Ben Hogan 1912–1997  United States 64 9 1938–1959 22
5 Arnold Palmer 1929–  United States 62 7 1955–1973 19
6 Byron Nelson 1912–2006  United States 52 5 1935–1951 17
7 Billy Casper 1931–  United States 51 3 1956–1975 20
8 Walter Hagen 1892–1969  United States 45 11 1914–1936 23
9 Phil Mickelson 1970–  United States 40 4 1991–2012 22
Cary Middlecoff 1921–1998  United States 40 3 1945–1961 17
11 Gene Sarazen 1902–1999  United States 39 7 1922–1941 20
Tom Watson 1949–  United States 39 8 1974–1998 25
13 Lloyd Mangrum 1914–1973  United States 36 1 1940–1956 17
14 Vijay Singh 1963–  Fiji 34 3 1993–2008 16
15 Horton Smith 1908–1963  United States 32 2 1928–1941 14
16 Harry Cooper 1904–2000  United States 31 0 1923–1939 17
Jimmy Demaret 1910–1983  United States 31 3 1938–1957 20
18 Leo Diegel 1899–1951  United States 30 2 1920–1934 15
19 Gene Littler 1930–  United States 29 1 1954–1977 24
Paul Runyan 1908–2002  United States 29 2 1930–1941 12
Lee Trevino 1939–  United States 29 6 1968–1984 17
22 Henry Picard 1906–1997  United States 26 2 1932–1945 14
23 Tommy Armour 1894–1968  Scotland 25 3 1920–1938 19
Johnny Miller 1947–  United States 25 2 1971–1994 24
25 Gary Player 1935–  South Africa 24 9 1958–1978 21
Macdonald Smith 1892–1949  United States 24 0 1924–1936 13
27 Johnny Farrell 1901–1988  United States 22 1 1921–1936 16
Raymond Floyd 1942–  United States 22 4 1963–1992 30
29 Jim Barnes 1886–1966  England 21 4 1916–1937 22
Willie Macfarlane 1890–1961  United States 21 1 1916–1936 21
Lanny Wadkins 1949–  United States 21 1 1972–1992 21
Craig Wood 1901–1968  United States 21 2 1928–1944 17
33 Hale Irwin 1945–  United States 20 3 1971–1994 24
Davis Love III 1964–  United States 20 1 1987–2008 22
Bill Mehlhorn 1898–1989  United States 20 0 1923–1930 8
Greg Norman 1955–  Australia 20 2 1984–1997 14
Doug Sanders 1933–  United States 20 0 1956–1972 17

5 thoughts on “Most PGA Tour Wins”

  1. Yes I agree I think Tiger passing Sam Sneads record of 82 tour wins would be a much easier assignment.

    A difficult one at that but more achievable then winning another 5 majors.

    Reply
  2. Hagen, yes – but the next threshold at 51 seems a stretch.  He has been playing 21 years, and has 40 wins.  So that is an average of about 2 wins per year.  51 would take 5.5 years at that rate, or until he is 47.  But the last couple years have only seen one win per year- although admittedly, none of the wins that I remember looked like yesterday.

    Now, if he has a year like 2009, and perhaps this showed something like this, then he could punch past Hagen within a couple years, but it is still a long way to for someone over 44. 

    In likelyhood, this is what I would say is most to least likely with Phil :

    1) win Masters this year or next.
    2) win 3 tournaments (2 more) this year.
    3) win Masters 2 of the next 3 years
    4) win British
    5) win FedEx Cup
    6) win 51

    Reply
  3. I’m assuming that Phil plays ten more years averaging a little more than a win each year That puts him at 41 or 42. 

    Unlike Tiger, I see Phil playing until hes eligible for the Senior tour and maybe still playing on the regular tour after that

    Reply
  4. You’re invited!

    From time to time, Children’s Hunger Fund (CHF) invites special guests to speak to our staff and to encourage us in the work we do. PGA Tour golfer Aaron Baddeley, the reigning Northern Trust Open Champion (L.A. Open), will be swinging by CHF on his way to defend the title. He will be sharing the exciting story of God’s work in his life, and we think you will be encouraged by it as well. Please be our guest at this free event.

    What:  Speaker, Northern Trust Open Champion, Aaron Baddeley
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    Where: Children’s Hunger Fund’s Global Distribution Center
                          13931Balboa Boulevard
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    Visit http://www.chfus.org/component/content/article/633.html for more information.

    Reply
  5. Sam Snead loved to play barefooted. He played and won two tournments barefooted. I’ve tried it and I had excellent balance and it slowed down my swing for better contact and both times I played I beat my partner. It also feels great, try it sometime.

    Reply

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