We’re still a year away from golf’s inclusion in the 2016 Olympics, but in the meantime, here’s a look at a few country’s all-time greatest men golfers.
We’re still a year away from golf’s inclusion in the 2016 Olympics, but in the meantime, here’s a look at a few country’s all-time greatest men golfers.
Roberto De Vicenzo won more than 230 tournaments worldwide in his career including eight on the PGA Tour, and most famously, the 1967 Open Championship. (Getty Images)
Greg Norman is a two-time major champion (Open Championship in 1986 and 1993) and former world No. 1, of which he occupied for a total of 331 weeks in the 1980s and 1990s. He has won over 85 tournaments worldwide. (Getty Images)
George Knudson has 27 professional wins including eight on the PGA Tour, the most of any Canadian golfer (a record he shares with Mike Weir). Knudson tied for second in the 1969 Masters, one stroke off the winner. In seven Masters appearances, Knudson posted three top-10s, including 10th in his 1965 debut and sixth a year later. He wrote a book, ‘The Natural Golf Swing,’ and became a teacher in the late 1970s. His teaching methods have since been adopted by the Canadian PGA. (Getty Images)
Thomas Bjorn has won 21 times professionally, including fifteen on the European Tour. In 1999 he also became the first Dane to qualify for a European Ryder Cup team. He finished runner-up in the Open Championship (2000, 2003) and the PGA Championship (2005). (Getty Images)
Vijay Singh is a three-time major winner (2000 Masters, 1998 and 2004 PGA Championship) and was No. 1 in the world for 32 weeks in 2004 and 2005. He was the leading PGA Tour money winner in 2003, 2004 and 2008. He was elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2005 (but deferred his induction until 2006).[He also won the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup in 2008. (Getty Images)
Bernhard Langer is a two-time Masters champion and was one of the world’s leading golfers throughout the 1980s and 1990s. In 1986, he became the sport’s first official No. 1 ranked player. After turning 50, he established himself as one of the most successful players on the Champions Tour and has won two senior major championships: the 2010 Senior Open Championship and the 2010 U.S. Senior Open. (Getty Images)
Nick Faldo is a six-time major winner (three Open Championships: 1987, 1990, 1992 and three Masters: 1989, 1990, 1996). He was ranked world No. 1 for a total of 97 weeks, and has 40 professional wins, including 30 on the European Tour. (Getty Images)
Padraig Harrington has won three major championships: the Open Championship in 2007 and 2008, and the PGA Championship in 2008. He has 28 worldwide professional wins. (Getty Images)
Masashi ‘Jumbo’ Ozaki is the most successful player of all time on the Japan Golf Tour, having led the money list a record 12 times and won 94 tournaments, more than 40 more than the second highest tally. He featured in the top ten of the Official World Golf Rankings for almost 200 weeks between 1989 and 1998. Ozaki was elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2010 and was inducted in May 2011. (Getty Images)
Victor Regalado has just over 30 top-10 finishes in PGA Tour events including two wins (1974 Pleasant Valley Classic and 1978 Ed McMahon-Jaycees Quad Cities Open). His best finish in a major is T-10 at the 1984 PGA Championship. (Getty Images)
Chi-Chi Rodriguez was the first Puerto Rican to be inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame (1992). He won 38 times as a professional, including eight times on the PGA Tour. (Getty Images)
Gary Player is widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of golf. Player won nine major championships, and in winning the 1965 U.S. Open, he became the only non-American to win all four majors (the career Grand Slam). Player became only the third golfer in history to win the Grand Slam, following Ben Hogan and Gene Sarazen. Since then, only Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods have won the Grand Slam. Player has won 165 tournaments on six continents over six decades and was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1974. (Getty Images)
Since turning pro in 1994, K.J. Choi has won 20 professional tournaments worldwide, including eight on the PGA Tour, making him Asia’s most successful golfer. His most notable victory came at the 2011 Players Championship, and he has spent 40 weeks in the top-10 of the world rankings. (Getty Images)
Seve Ballesteros won more than 90 international tournaments in an illustrious career, including five major championships between 1979 and 1988 - the Open Championship three times, and the Masters twice. He spent 61 weeks as the world’s No. 1 golfer, and helped the European Ryder Cup team to five wins both as a player and captain. (Getty Images)
In 2013, Henrik Stenson won the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup and the European Tour’s Race to Dubai, thus becoming the first player to win both in the same season. He has finished runner-up in the Open Championship (2013) and third in the PGA Championship (2013). He has spent over 100 weeks ranked in the top 10, and his career high ranking of third is the best by any Swedish golfer. (Getty Images)
Thongchai Jaidee plays on the Asian Tour and the European Tour and has 16 career wins. On the Asian Tour, he holds the record for the most career earnings and is second in victories with 13. He has won the Order of Merit on the Asian Tour three times. In 2006 he received a special invitation to play in the Masters Tournament. He was the second Thai to play in the Masters after Sukree Onsham, who did so in 1970 and 1971, and by doing so, he became the first Thai to play in all four major championships. (Getty Images)
Jack Nicklaus is widely regarded as the most accomplished professional golfer of all time - not just in the U.S. - winning a total of 18 career major championships, while producing 19 second place and nine third-place finishes in them, over a span of 25 years. He has 115 professional career wins, and 73 on the PGA Tour - third behind Sam Snead (82) and Tiger Woods (79). (Getty Images)
Nick Price is a three-time major winner: the PGA Championship twice (in 1992 and 1994) and the Open Championship in 1994. In the mid-1990s, Price reached No. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2003. (Getty Images)
Arnaud Massy was one of France’s most successful professional golfers. In 1906, Massy won the first edition of the French Open played at a Paris course. The following year he won it again, defeating a strong contingent of British players including the great Harry Vardon. He then went on to win the 1907 Open Championship, and in doing so, became the first non-Brit to win the Open. In 1910, Massy won the inaugural Belgian Open and in 1911 was the runner-up at the Open Championship to Harry Vardon. He had 13 professional wins. (Getty Images)
Stephen Ames holds dual citizenship of Trinidad and Tobago and Canada, and has won 11 times professionally, four of those coming on the PGA Tour. His best finish in a major came at the 1997 Open Championship (T-5). (Getty Images)