In my case I think it was Moe Norman..... Amazing golfer he was a member at North Halton for a Number of years which is cool because it is my home course
I'll take Billy Casper. 51 PGA Tour wins, good for 6th all-time with 3 majors (2 US Opens, 1 Masters). He's left entirely out of the discussion of top 10 players ever, perhaps b/c he was something of a jack*ss. No shame in being behind the fellas ahead of him (Snead, Nicklaus, Hogan, Palmer, Nelson).
I don't think Moe Norman gets the recognition he could/should get because he failed to win on the PGA TOUR.
Did you Know Jack and Arnie got Moe kicked off the tour because of two reasons the way he dressed and how fast he played.
Let me tell you a story about the late Moe Norman. Moe was on the tenth tee at North Halton...... There was a guy with a baseball glove down in the fairway.... moe got the yardage and he hit three shots and got them all in the baseball glove.
I don't think Moe Norman gets the recognition he could/should get because he failed to win on the PGA TOUR.
Did you Know Jack and Arnie got Moe kicked off the tour because of two reasons the way he dressed and how fast he played.
Let me tell you a story about the late Moe Norman. Moe was on the tenth tee at North Halton...... There was a guy with a baseball glove down in the fairway.... moe got the yardage and he hit three shots and got them all in the baseball glove.
Just A Few of his Wins:
9 Majors (3 Opens, 3 Masters, 2 PGA's, 1 U.S. Open)
24 PGA Tour events
74 South Africa/Sunshine Tour events including 13 South African Opens
18 Australasian Tour events including 7 Australian Opens
9 Senior Majors
19 Champions Tour events
5 European Senior Tour events including 3 Senior British Opens and the Wentworth Senior Masters
4 Senior skins games
IN TOTAL: OVER 160 PROFESSIONAL EVENTS
Not to mention, the best bunker player of ALL TIME
And all the talk about who was the best golfer of all time focuses on TW vs. Jack-@ss vs. Hogan. I don't know exactly how many foreign tournaments Jack-@ss won, but I'm sure it's nowhere close to the Black Knight!
Just A Few of his Wins:
9 Majors (3 Opens, 3 Masters, 2 PGA's, 1 U.S. Open)
24 PGA Tour events
74 South Africa/Sunshine Tour events including 13 South African Opens
18 Australasian Tour events including 7 Australian Opens
9 Senior Majors
19 Champions Tour events
5 European Senior Tour events including 3 Senior British Opens and the Wentworth Senior Masters
4 Senior skins games
IN TOTAL: OVER 160 PROFESSIONAL EVENTS
Not to mention, the best bunker player of ALL TIME
And all the talk about who was the best golfer of all time focuses on TW vs. Jack-@ss vs. Hogan. I don't know exactly how many foreign tournaments Jack-@ss won, but I'm sure it's nowhere close to the Black Knight!
Somehow Gary Player always seems to be overshadowed by Palmer, although as you point out Player had a much better career.
I'll take Billy Casper. 51 PGA Tour wins, good for 6th all-time with 3 majors (2 US Opens, 1 Masters). He's left entirely out of the discussion of top 10 players ever, perhaps b/c he was something of a jack*ss. No shame in being behind the fellas ahead of him (Snead, Nicklaus, Hogan, Palmer, Nelson).
I have to agree with Billy Casper, I am not trieing to be disrespectful towards Moe Norman but was he that great at the rest of his game? I realize his ball striking was legendary but what about the rest of his game and on top of that how many wins did he pick up in Canada? As for the Lee Janzen and Andy North picks I think that they might be the two most overrated players to win 2 majors, again not shots at them but by no means guys you think about when you say multiple major champions.
Just A Few of his Wins:
9 Majors (3 Opens, 3 Masters, 2 PGA's, 1 U.S. Open)
24 PGA Tour events
74 South Africa/Sunshine Tour events including 13 South African Opens
18 Australasian Tour events including 7 Australian Opens
9 Senior Majors
19 Champions Tour events
5 European Senior Tour events including 3 Senior British Opens and the Wentworth Senior Masters
4 Senior skins games
IN TOTAL: OVER 160 PROFESSIONAL EVENTS
Not to mention, the best bunker player of ALL TIME
And all the talk about who was the best golfer of all time focuses on TW vs. Jack-@ss vs. Hogan. I don't know exactly how many foreign tournaments Jack-@ss won, but I'm sure it's nowhere close to the Black Knight!
How can you say Player was "underrated". Maybe he was overshadowed, but never underrated. After all, he is in the golf hall of fame, and no one discounts he was one of the greats during one of the greatest eras in golf. He was in no way underrated like some others mentioned on this thread. But my vote goes to Moe Norman too. This is a guy you hardly hear about because he was edged off the tour.
Moe Norman can also stake a claim to most over-rated, or at least most over-hyped. If he was all that great a striker (which must include some power over the wind as well as the vagaries of the manufacturing of golf balls), then he would have won something in the US. Isn't that the test applied to Monty?
For most underrated, I would offer Tony Jacklin. First UK winner of the US Open, despite the resentment of some lesser players there, and a winner of the Open, not to mention other Euro and US events and Ryder Cup as a player and captain. I'll take him over Andy North any day.
For a local Irish contender, Christy O'Connor (Snr, uncle of the guy who beat Couples at the Ryder Cup). 10 times Ryder Cup player and a number of top-10 finishes in the Open. Won a bunch of events in Europe and won the Order of Merit twice. He was from the era when Euro players did not get invites to US majors. Played great into his 60s with a lovely syrupy swing.
Just A Few of his Wins:
9 Majors (3 Opens, 3 Masters, 2 PGA's, 1 U.S. Open)
24 PGA Tour events
74 South Africa/Sunshine Tour events including 13 South African Opens
18 Australasian Tour events including 7 Australian Opens
9 Senior Majors
19 Champions Tour events
5 European Senior Tour events including 3 Senior British Opens and the Wentworth Senior Masters
4 Senior skins games
IN TOTAL: OVER 160 PROFESSIONAL EVENTS
Not to mention, the best bunker player of ALL TIME
And all the talk about who was the best golfer of all time focuses on TW vs. Jack-@ss vs. Hogan. I don't know exactly how many foreign tournaments Jack-@ss won, but I'm sure it's nowhere close to the Black Knight!
Somehow Gary Player always seems to be overshadowed by Palmer, although as you point out Player had a much better career.
Why are you disrespecting Nicklaus? The point of this thread is to give mention to the most underrated, not bag on the person who many beleive is the greatest ever.
I personally dont think Player is that underrated, he would make most people's top 10 all time which I think is about right. Palmer just gets a lot of love in the USA because of his personality and becasue he is an American. He was also th best player in the world for several years, and brought golf to the masses with the advent of TV. I think Palmers place in history is where it should be as well.
Most Underrated is Billy Casper, to me Casper is similar to Mickelson today, if not even more overshadowed by the "Big Three" of Nicklaus, Palmer and Player. Phil just has Tiger to deal with. I would also throw Peter Thompson and Bobby Locke on the list, two great international players whom could play with anyone an whom both won multiple British Opens. Thompson never really played much in the US so he did not get much recognition here, but he did win 5 British Opens. Lock won 4 Opens and played in the US for a short period of time, he won a ton of tournaments over about a 2 year period and decided he didnt like the US tour, apparenatly a lot of the US pros did not treat him well. If either one of these guys could have won a US major there recognition would have jumped considerably.
Yeah, 36 tour wins and one US Open, not a bad career, he also served in combat during WWII and received two purple hearts, including one at the Battle of the Buldge. I don't think he was underrated during his era, but I think history has forgotten him. Very interesting character, they don't make them like him any more.
In my case I think it was Moe Norman..... Amazing golfer he was a member at North Halton for a Number of years which is cool because it is my home course
I've heard Gary Player called lots of things but never underrated. I'm sure Gary himself would give you a story about him being the most underrated because things were different back in his day. He had to cycle 100,000 miles to each tournament whilst carrying 16 children on his back and his wife under his arm and all for prize money of $4 blah blah blah.
As for Moe Norman, I understand that he was one off the best ballstrikers of his time but his short game left a lot to be desired.
Peter Thomson and Bobby Locke don't get the recognition they deserve. They're often overshadowed by some of the U.S players of the same era even though their records are equal to if not greater than the majority of those players.
I'm a Brit so I should be going for a Brit or at least a European but my vote goes to Buffalo Bill (Billy Casper). One of the greatest records on the PGA Tour yet he's rarely mentioned in the same breath as Nicklaus, Palmer etc.
I'll take Billy Casper. 51 PGA Tour wins, good for 6th all-time with 3 majors (2 US Opens, 1 Masters). He's left entirely out of the discussion of top 10 players ever, perhaps b/c he was something of a jack*ss. No shame in being behind the fellas ahead of him (Snead, Nicklaus, Hogan, Palmer, Nelson).
I'll take Billy Casper. 51 PGA Tour wins, good for 6th all-time with 3 majors (2 US Opens, 1 Masters). He's left entirely out of the discussion of top 10 players ever, perhaps b/c he was something of a jack*ss. No shame in being behind the fellas ahead of him (Snead, Nicklaus, Hogan, Palmer, Nelson).
Me too .
I was going to say Billy Casper too, but if he's getting all these votes as underrated, then does that mean he's not really underrated?
What he's done with what he's got is really amazing.
The lengthening of courses left the Pavin-types extinct....so the fact that every now and then you see his name creep up the leader board is a testament to how good he really is.