Sam Snead is owed one more victory by the PGA Tour!

“Did You Know”
Sam Snead is owed one more victory by the PGA Tour!

The PGA Tour gives Sam Snead credit for 82 victories during his career. Often Snead would say that he was owed more wins by the PGA Tour, and he probably had a case for at least one more.

After holding a position as the playing professional at Pennsylvania’s Shawnee Inn and serving in the US Navy during World War II, Sam Snead returned to The Greenbrier Resort in West Virginia as its head professional. In 1948 The Greenbrier began hosting a golf tournament that ran through 1961. The tournament became known as the Sam Snead Festival. Many of the leading PGA Tour professionals played in those tournaments. England’s Henry Cotton, Cary Middlecoff and Ben Hogan won the first three. Bobby Locke, Peter Thomson, Porky Oliver, Dutch Harrison, George Fazio, Al Besselink and Skee Riegel, along with other big names played there. The $7,500 to $10,000 in prize money over the years, was up to PGA standards, but the number of entries was limited. The first year there were 13 professionals teaming up with 39 amateurs in a pro-am format. Later there were as many as 62 golf professionals paired with 62 amateurs in the tournament. On the way to his 1959 win, Snead shot a 59 in the third round. Snead won the tournament six times, but they were not co-sponsored PGA tournaments, so the PGA did not credit Snead with those six victories, or his 59.

One could make a case either way for Snead’s wins at his tournament, but then there is the 1949 North and South Open.

The PGA of America and later the PGA Tour still don’t give Snead credit for winning the 1949 North and South Open. First held in 1902, for nearly fifty years it was one of the most important tournaments of the year. Held in late March for most of its years, the tournament was a favorite of the golf professionals. Until the late 1940s, even the best playing professionals had employment in the North during summer and the South during the winter season. In March they would be heading north for their summer employment, so the North and South Open was a perfect stopover. It was a chance to play in a great golf tournament on a great golf course and talk with other golf professionals about what was happening in the golf business. During tournament week, the Pinehurst Resort, which owned the Carolina Hotel, charged the golf professionals $1 for a room that included breakfast and dinner. Later the professionals paid $5. Through the Great Depression and World War II the Pinehurst Resort sponsored the tournament for 50 consecutive years.    

With the end of World War II, the United States was prosperous again and golf boomed. The PGA of America decided to boost the purses on its PGA Tour. In late 1946 the tournament sponsors were informed that a minimum of $10,000 was required to be on the schedule as an official tournament for 1947. For three years, 1947, 1948 and 1949, the North and South Open was played with total prize money of $7,500, as unofficial PGA tournaments.

Being unofficial didn’t hamper the 1949 tournament. 118 players who were not exempt filed entries to play in Monday qualifying for 50 spots in the tournament.  60 players were exempt. Sam Snead won the tournament against a strong field. Johnny Bulla and Cary Middlecoff finished second and third. Snead took home $1,500 from the $7,500 purse. Philadelphia’s Skee Riegel, who turned pro soon after the tournament, was the low amateur.

Then in 1950 and 1951, with total prize money still $7,500 like the previous three years, the tournament was again official, with the winner and the money recognized then and still, in the yearly records. Could the change in official status of the North and South Open come about because the Pinehurst Resort had agreed to host the 1951 Ryder Cup? In 1950 Snead successfully defended his title at the North and South Open, which he is credited for. Snead won a total of times that year, but Ben Hogan was the PGA Player of the Year. On returning from his near fatal automobile accident Hogan had won twice that year, the 1950 US Open and the Sam Snead Festival.

The 1951 North and South Open was played a few days after the Ryder Cup was wrapped up at Pinehurst.  Only five members of the US Ryder Cup, which included Playing Captain Sam Snead who was on hand to defend his title from 1949, stayed over to play in the tournament. All nine members of the British Ryder team played in the tournament. Tommy Bolt, who was not on the US team won. After that, there were no more North and South Opens.

In 1988, PGA Tour commissioner Dean Beman decided that a list of all-time wins by United States playing professionals should be created. A panel of golf executives and golf writers met at the 1989 Masters tournament. The panel was presented with a list of tournaments beginning with 1916 when the PGA of America was formed. The Philadelphia Opens from 1917 to 1939, which were all 72 holes, were on the list. The United States Amateur Championships were not included. The 1947, 48 and 49 North and South Opens were not on the list. Their assignment was to decide which U.S. professional tournaments would be deemed official, based on strength of field.  

As a result of the conclave’s meeting, Sam Snead was number one with 81 wins. Later when the PGA Tour made the British Opens part of the official PGA Tour schedule, Snead’s 1946 British Open victory was recognized, giving him 82 wins.

In the late 1990’s Tiger Woods arrived in professional golf and compiled a total of 82 PGA Tour wins.

It may be good for golf that Snead and Woods, two of golf’s greatest players, are tied for the most PGA Tour victories with 82 apiece. For years to come golf enthusiasts can argue over who was the greatest American golfer, including Nicklaus, Hogan, Nelson, Hagen, Jones and on-and-on.

With his 1949 North and South Open victory, it seems like Sam Snead should certainly be credited with one more PGA Tour win.