10 Most Famous American Golfers of All Time

Golfing. Photo By Pexels – Pixabay

10 Most Famous American Golfers of All Time

Golf is widely played in the US with about 25 million people participating in the sport. Just like soccer and basketball, it has a specially dedicated tv network, Golf Channel, that focuses on live coverage of tournaments and instructional programming.

There are two main golf organizations in the US namely the United States Golf Association (USGA) and the Professional Golfers’ Association of America (PGA).  Both organizations were established in Westchester, the birthplace of American golf.

Many have taken the sport to a liking. Highlighted below are the top ten American golfers of all time.

1. Dewey Brown Sr. – Male

Dewey Brown was a professional golfer and caddie. Born in North Carolina in 1899, he was introduced to the sport as a caddie at Madison Golf Course. He also crafted golf clubs for prominent politicians and golfers such as Warre Harding and Chick Evans.

Dewey later became a recognized professional and was the first African American to be a member of the PGA and Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA). Six years later, PGA terminated his membership after discovering he had African American roots.

Brown retired from golfing at the age of 66 and purchased Cedar River Golf Club where he played recreationally. He was a source of inspiration to the people of color and was described as the ‘Knight of the Fairways’ due to his sincerity and spirituality.

2. Kathy Whitworth – Female

Kathrynne Ann is a professional golfer from Monahans, Texas. She is the first woman to earn a million dollars in her career earning on the LPGA Tour. She won the Amateur Championship in New Mexico twice (1957 and 1958) and began her career as a professional golfer in 1958.

In 1975, Ann was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame. She is a member of the Texas Sports Hall of Fame and New Mexico Hall of Fame. She was also named the Golfer of the Decade by Golf Magazine from 1968 to 1977.

Ann retired from competing in golf tournaments in 2005

3. Tiger Woods – Male

Tiger Woods. Photo By KA Sports Photos – Wikimedia Commons

Eldrick Tont Woods, also known as Tiger Woods, is the most popular American professional golfer. He has numerous awards and has broken several records in the field of golf.

Woods began his career as a profession at the age of 20 and broke his first record less than a year later during the 1997 Masters game. He was ranked the number one golfer in the world from 1999 to 2004 and 2005 to 2010.

Tiger was the youngest player to win all major championships in his golfing career. He was also the fourth golfer to be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom for putting the United States on the map with his victories throughout golfing.

Woods retired from professional golfing in 2021 after a car accident that fractured his leg.  

4. Nancy Lopez – Female

U.S. professional golfer Nancy Lopez. Photo By Ted Van Pelt – Wikimedia Commons

Nancy Lopez is a retired professional golfer from Torrance, California (born in 1957). She was named Female Athlete of the Year in 1976 during her freshman year at the University of Tusla. She dropped out of college and turned professional in 1977.

Nancy was on the 1978 cover of Sports Illustrated and was the only woman to win Vare Trophy, LPGA Rookie of The Year, and Player of the Year in the same season. She was captain of the Solheim Cup team in 2005 after retiring from regular tournament play.

5. William Earl Casper Jr. – Male

Billy Casper in 2010. Photo By Keith Allison – Wikimedia Commons

William Casper is one of the most prolific tournament golf winners of the late 1900s. He was born in San Diego, California, and began his golfing career as a caddie. He became a superior strategist due to his excellent putting and short-game skills.

Casper was a member of the Ryder Cup and scored the most points an American has ever scored for the team. His love for the sport led him to open up businesses in golf course design and management of golf facilities.

6. JoAnne Carner – Female

JoAnne Carner is an 83-year-old professional golfer born in Kirkland, Washington. She was the first player to win 3 different championship events in the USGA and the only woman to hold the U.S titles for Girls’ Junior, Women’s Open, and Women’s Amateur.

Carner competed in several amateur tournaments and turned professional at the age of 30. In 1994, she captained the Solheim Cup Team. She continued playing golf competitively and in 2014, she became the oldest player to make a cut on the LPGA Tour.

7. Carl Jerome “Jerry” Barber – Male

Carl Barber was born in Woodson, Illinois on a small farm near Jacksonville. He became a professional golfer in 1942 and a full-time member of the PGA Tour from 1948 to 1962.

Jerome earned the name Little Jerry Barber because of his small stature. He played for Ryder Cup twice and became the team captain in 1961. In the same year, Jerry was named PGA Tour player of the year.

8. Betsy King – Female

Betsy King was born in Reading, Pennsylvania in 1955. She began playing golf at Furman University and landed a spot on the national championship team in 1976. 

King won her first championship at the age of 29 during the Women’s Kemper Open. She successfully managed to be among the top ten on the money list from 1985 to 1995. She led the national team to victory in the Solheim Cup of 2007.

9. Julius Nicholas Boros – Male

Julius Nicholas is a Hungarian born in Fairfield, Connecticut. Unlike most golfers, Julius participated in baseball during his college days. He began taking interest in the sport later on when he worked as an accountant.

Nicholas is known for his brilliant record in challenging golf course tournaments such as the US opens. He is remembered for his ability to easily swing the golf club and often using the phrase ‘swing easy, hit hard’. He met his untimely death while playing golf at the Coral Ridge Country Club in 1994.

10. Mickey Wright – Female

Mickey Wright. Photo source Wikimedia Commons

Mary Kathryn, popularly known as Mickey Wright, was a professional golfer in the 1950s. She was born in 1935 in the state of California and played golf for her high school team. Mickey became a professional golfer in 1954 and won her first championship in the same year.

She was a successful golfer winning a Ladies Professional Golf Organization (LPGA) title 14 straight seasons in a row! At the age of 34, Wright retired from full-time golf but continued to play it recreationally.

In 2000, Mickey was named the top female golfer by Golf Digest Magazine. She is a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame and was honored in the PGA America Hall of Fame in 2017.