World Golf Hall of Fame inductee Snead was born May 27, 1912 and died May 23, 2002, just shy of his ninetieth birthday.
Hole One
Sam Snead had one of the silkiest swings in the history of the sport. He had no hit - only swing - in his motion. I put him at number two in the best swings of all time in the April 6, 2007 Trap Five.
His relaxed attitude toward the game translated into his swing. Fred Couples shares the same on-course persona as Snead did. Both are relaxed guys with fluid swings. Jack Nicklaus called his swing "the most fluid motion ever to grace a golf course."
People always said I had a natural swing. They thought I wasn't a hard worker. But when I was young, I'd play and practice all day, then practice more at night by my car's headlights. My hands bled. Nobody worked harder at golf than I did.
Hole Two
He routinely shot at or under his age. Snead shot a 67 at age 67 and a 66 in the final round at the Quad Cities Open in 1979. He shot a 60 at his home course, The Homestead in Hot Springs in 1983 at age 71. In 1997, at age 85, he shot a 78 at the Old White course on The Greenbrier in West Virginia.
Hole Three
Snead's nickname was "Slammin' Sam" or simply "Slammer" for his ability to hit the ball a long way.
The sportswriters started calling me "Slammin' Sam" in the late 1930s. I never liked it very much. I really preferred the nickname I got when I first joined the tour: "Swingin' Sam." That was the name that showed off my true strengths: smoothness and rhythm. Somehow people liked "Slammin' Sam" better.
Hole Four
Snead won a total of 82 PGA Tour victories, a record that stands today. He won in the neighborhood of 160 tournaments in total. The only guy that looks like he can catch Snead, Tiger Woods, is busy chasing Nicklaus' major championship record and he may surpass Snead's total wins in the process.
Hole Five
Slammin' Sammy has seven majors to his credit. He has three Masters (1949, 1952, 1954), one British Open (1946), and three PGA Championships (1942, 1949, 1951). He never won the U.S. Open, a fact which was difficult for Snead to swallow.
It goes without saying that my biggest disappointment was never winning the U.S. Open. I'm reminded of it all the time. It hurts when people remember you for the things you didn't do, rather than for the things you did do.
Hole Six
Sam Snead was a member of seven Ryder Cup teams and the captain of three. His playing record was 10-2-1.
Hole Seven
Snead was very athletic and flexible; so flexible that he apparently could kick the top of a door frame into his 70s. Yowza!
Hole Eight
Snead won five times his first year on Tour and eight times his second year. He won the money title his second year.
Hole Nine
With eight wins at the Greater Greensboro Open Snead has the most wins at a single event. He won the event in 1965 at age 52, making him the oldest winner on the PGA Tour. He first won the event in 1938.
Photo Credits: © Unknown, BBC, © USA Today.
Originally Published at http://thesandtrap.com/columns/profiles/ni..._with_sam_snead.