Sunday, May 19th
Last update11:44:07 PM
John Ball was a soft-spoken and shy person who does not have a great deal of commentary associated with him, but as a British golfer, his is considered one of the greatest amateur golfers of all time. He won eight British Amateur Championships and his American counterpart to this accomplishment would be Bob Jones born more than forty years after John Ball.
Some families congregate toward certain professions. The father and sons tend to have the same interests and work toward the same goals, though some of them have varying degrees of success. For Alex Smith's family, this was the case as he came from a long line of golfers.
Tom Lehman, 53, is best known for receiving the “Player of the Year” award on the three PGA Tours, which include the regular tour, the Nationwide Tour and the Champions Tour. Why is this so special? Lehman is the only professional golfer in history to receive all three, which is something that he never would have predicted when he graduated from his hometown university, University of Minnesota, with a business and accounting major.
Sam Snead, known as "Slammin Sammy" to many, is highly regarded as one of the greatest golfers in history. During his career, he had a record 82 PGA Tour victories, 7 Major wins, three money titles, four Vardon trophies, and a spot in the World Golf Hall of Fame.
Snead turned pro in 1934 after working as an assistant pro at the Homestead Golf Club. In 1936, His first victories were close to home, at the West Virginia Closed Pro and the West Virginia Open. Over his career, Snead's wins at the West Virginia Open would come to total 17, and spanned 5 decades.
Young Tom Morris was born in St Andrews in 1851, the son of golfing pioneer Old Tom Morris. Despite an early death at the age of 24, Young Tom won the British Open 4 times. The first year he won the tournament he was only 17, a record which stands to this day.
