Sam Snead
| Sam Snead | |
|---|---|
| — Golfer — | |
Snead in 1967
|
|
| Personal information | |
| Full name | Samuel Jackson Snead |
| Nickname | Slammin' Sammy |
| Born |
May 27, 1912 Ashwood, Virginia, U.S. |
| Died | May 23, 2002 (aged 89) Hot Springs, Virginia, U.S. |
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (180 cm) |
| Weight | 185 lb (84 kg) |
| Nationality |
 United States
|
| Spouse | Audrey Karnes Snead (m. 1940–90, her death) |
| Children | Sam Jr., Terrence |
| Career | |
| Turned professional | 1931 |
| Retired | 1987 |
| Former tour(s) |
PGA Tour Champions Tour |
| Professional wins | 165 |
| Number of wins by tour | |
| PGA Tour | 82 (1st all time) |
| LPGA Tour | 1 |
| Other |
69 (regular) 14 (senior) |
| Best results in major championships (wins: 7) |
|
| Masters Tournament | Won: 1949, 1952, 1954 |
| U.S. Open | 2nd/T2: 1937, 1947, 1949, 1953 |
| The Open Championship | Won: 1946 |
| PGA Championship | Won: 1942, 1949, 1951 |
| Achievements and awards | |
| World Golf Hall of Fame | 1974 (member page) |
| PGA Tour leading money winner |
1938, 1949, 1950 |
| PGA Player of the Year | 1949 |
| Vardon Trophy | 1938, 1949, 1950, 1955 |
| PGA Tour Lifetime Achievement Award |
1998 |
Samuel Jackson Snead (May 27, 1912 – May 23, 2002) was an American professional golfer who was one of the top players in the world for most of four decades. Snead won a record 82 PGA Tour events, including seven majors. He never won the U.S. Open, though he was runner-up four times.
Snead's nickname was "Slammin' Sammy", and he was admired by many for having the so-called "perfect swing," which generated many imitators. Snead was famed for his folksy image, wearing a straw hat, and making such statements as "Keep close count of your nickels and dimes, stay away from whiskey, and never concede a putt." He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1974, and received the PGA Tour Lifetime Achievement Award in 1998.
Born in Ashwood, Virginia, near Hot Springs, Snead began caddying at age seven at The Homestead in Hot Springs. He worked as an assistant pro at The Homestead at 19 and turned professional in 1934. Snead joined the PGA Tour in 1936, and achieved immediate success by winning the West Virginia Closed Pro tournament.
In 1936 he won two matches at the Meadow Brook Club, earning a $10,000 fee. This gave him the money he needed to start playing professionally full-time. In 1944 he became head pro at The Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, and maintained ties to Hot Springs and The Homestead all of his life.
Snead served in the U.S. Navy during World War II from 1942 to 1944. He was an athletic specialist in Cmdr. Gene Tunney's program in San Diego, and was given a medical discharge for a back injury in September 1944.
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