What are the 10 all-time best invdividual seasons by male golfers? We count down our picks:
10. Bobby Jones, 1930
Wait a minute. Isn't this the only Grand Slam season in golf history? Then why is Jones' 1930 season only ranked 9th? It boils down to this: Jones won only two tournaments against the world's best players. They were doozies - the U.S. and British Opens - but they were the only two. The other legs of Jones' "Grand Slam" were the U.S. and British amateur championships, where he beat a bunch of golfers whose names most modern fans have never heard. In 1930, Jones was 28 and at the top of his game. Imagine if Jack Nicklaus or Tiger Woods, in their prime years, had been able to go back and play the amateur championships. They would have won, of course, but would we consider those to be "majors," or even significant achievements? No. What Jones did in 1930 had never been done before, and it's almost inconcievable that it could ever be done again because, of course, the Nicklauses and Woodses can't go back and play the amateurs (and there's too much money involved now for any truly great player to remain an amateur). Jones' season certainly qualifies as one of the most remarkable in golf history, but with just two victories in top-field events, it doesn't stack up against history's best.
9. Ben Hogan, 1948
Bantam Ben has three seasons on this list, more than any other individual. In 1948, Hogan won 10 times, including the U.S. Open and PGA Championship.
8. Arnold Palmer, 1962
Palmer's 1962 season is best-known for his playoff loss to Jack Nicklaus at the U.S. Open. (Palmer has frequently said that he believes if he had won that playoff, he could have held off Nicklaus for another couple years.) So Palmer finished second at the U.S. Open. But he finished first at the Masters and the British Open, and he won eight times total.
7. Ben Hogan, 1946
Hogan won 13 times in 1946, the second-highest single-season win total in PGA Tour history. One of those wins was the PGA Championship, and he finished in the top five in two other majors.
6. Jack Nicklaus, 1972
Nicklaus only appears once on this list, which might surprise some. The Golden Bear never played just for the sake of playing; his numbers of tournaments entered are lower than any other top players from his era (and most other eras). Therefore, his single-season win totals top out at seven. This was one of the years when he won seven times. Among those seven wins are the Masters and the U.S. Open. Nicklaus' Grand Slam quest was stopped by Lee Trevino at the British Open, where Jack finished one stroke back in second place.
