PGA Golfers Who Have Been Dominant in Specific Tournaments

We all understand the value of personal comforts: home-cooked meals, sleeping in our own bed after a long business trip, stopping whatever we’re doing to watch Caddyshack if it’s on TV. For most of us, those familiar activities relieve stress and make life more enjoyable.

For PGA Tour golfers, though, finding their comfort zone at a particular event could mean millions of dollars in winnings over the course of their career—not to mention an incredible boon for their legacies.

It’s not uncommon to see the Association’s finest repeat as champions at a specific tournament every now and then, but some professionals have taken the idea to a whole new level by practically monopolizing the plaque space at certain events for years on end.

Some records, like Jack Nicklaus’ six Masters titles, are common knowledge. Others, like Davis Love III’s five wins at the Verizon Heritage or Sam Snead’s eight at the Greater Greensboro Open, may be a little lesser known.

Here, we look back at more than a century of golf to pick out pros with the most dominant (i.e. five career wins or more) records at specific tournaments, giving special attention to players who have achieved multiple record feats with their historic wins.

Davis Love III: Verizon Heritage (5)

Wins at this tournament:

Davis Love III’s five victories at the Verizon Heritage (now known as the RBC Heritage) are even more impressive when you realize his back-to-back wins in 1991 and 1992 was only the second time that had been accomplished at the tournament (Payne Stewart had the first in 1989-90, and Boo Weekley had the last in 2007-08).

Love is the only player to register five wins at the Verizon Heritage (highlighted in the video above). According to the official tournament website, “Hale Irwin has won three times, while seven other golfers have won two Heritages—Johnny Miller, Hubert Green, Tom Watson, Fuzzy Zoeller, Payne Stewart, Stewart Cink and Boo Weekley.”

In addition to his wins record, Love also holds the distinctions of having the most consecutive starts and being the youngest player ever to win the event. His first title came in 1987 at age 23 years and six days, while his 26-year starting streak ran until 2012 when he had to withdraw in before the tournament due to a “cracked rib,” per ESPN.

After Verizon ceased backing the tournament in 2010, Love was “one of the players most vocal about finding a sponsor for the cash-strapped tournament.” Given his dedication to the event—and success he has found there throughout his career—Love’s affection for the Verizon/RBC Heritage is no surprise.

Walter Hagen: PGA Championship (5)

Associated Press

Wins at this tournament:

Other event with a dominant record:

Western Open 1916, 1921, 1926, 1927, 1932

Walter Hagen won the PGA Championship four years running from 1924 through 1927. That would be an impressive feat at any tournament—but a major? There’s a reason Hagen is third on the list of players with the most major titles (11), behind only Tiger Woods (14) and Jack Nicklaus (18).

When a player earns that many titles, he’s bound to have a wealth of confidence to go with the experience. When that player is Walter Hagen, he uses those traits to take gamesmanship to another level—most notably in 1927 at Cedar Crest Country Club in Dallas.

Going for his fourth PGA Championship title in as many years, as chronicled by PGA.com, Hagen got in the habit of giving semifinal opponent Al Espinosa any putts within three feet of the cup. At the 35th hole, though, Hogan played his psychological trump card:

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Espinosa, who had taken a 1-up lead on the 35th hole, stroked his birdie attempt three feet short of the cup and looked to Hagen, who smiled and then turned his back to chat with the gallery. Espinosa then missed the match-winning putt. The match ended one hole later, when a shaken Espinosa three-putted.

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Hagen would go on to beat Joe Turnesa in the finals by using a similar strategy.

Tom Watson: The British Open (5)

Wins at this tournament:

Harry Vardon may own the all-time record for most British Open titles with six, but Tom Watson holds the American record with five.

Watson also holds the record for most Open wins on links courses—Carnoustie, Turnberry, Muirfield, Royal Troon and Royal Birkdale—but his one great shortcoming is that he has never won at the Old Course at St. Andrews.

Thanks to the fact that Watson almost won his sixth title at Turnberry in 2009 (at age 59) before losing to Stewart Cink in a playoff (chronicled in the video above), however, he is still eligible to give St. Andrews one final shot this year. (A recent rules change allows past champions who finish in the top 10 to remain Open eligible for the next five years, but Watson received a special extension for a sixth and final year, per Golf.com.)

This year will be the 40th anniversary of the American’s inaugural win at Carnoustie, when the then 25-year-old defeated Australian Jack Newton in a playoff.

Looking ahead to his last round at St. Andrews, the 65-year-old said, per Golf.com, “This allows me again to go across that bridge. If everything works out well, I'll be entered in the tournament. ... This is the place I want to finish my career playing The Open Championship.”

Jack Nicklaus: The Masters (6)

Wins at this tournament:

Other events with dominant records:

Tournament of Champions 1963, 1964, 1971, 1973, 1977

PGA Championship 1963, 1971, 1973, 1975, 1980

If you watched Jack Nicklaus sink a hole-in-one at the 2015 Masters Par-Three contest (showed above), then you saw a glimpse of the magic the Golden Bear brought to Augusta for decades.

As Fox Sports reminds us, Nickalus has more green jackets in his wardrobe than anyone else. His final green jacket—indeed, his final major title of any kind—came at the 1986 Masters, six years after he won the 1980 PGA Championship and U.S. Open.

The then-46-year-old came from well behind in the final round to leap the field featuring Seve Ballesteros, Greg Norman, Bernhard Langer, Tommy Nakajima, Nick Price and Sandy Lyle. Nicklaus shot a seven-under 65 in the final 10 holes to win by a single stroke.

Perhaps Golf Digest’s Dan Jenkins put is best:

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On that final afternoon of the Masters Tournament, Nicklaus' deeds were so unexpectedly heroic, dramatic and historic, the taking of his sixth green jacket would certainly rank as the biggest golf story since Jones' Grand Slam of 1930. That Sunday night, writers from all corners of the globe were last seen sitting limply at their machines, muttering, “It's too big for me.” 

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The Golden Bear had won three green jackets in the mid-60s (including back-to-back wins in 1965-66), but there was a point in the ’80s at which his 1975 title started to look like his last. Nicklaus, however, managed to defy the odds and put the perfect capstone on a magnificent career when he captured his record 18th major title.

Sam Snead: Greater Greensboro Open (8)

Uncredited/Associated Press

Wins at this tournament:

Other events with dominant records:
Miami Open 1937, 1939, 1946, 1950, 1951, 1955

Goodall Palm Beach Round Robin 1938, 1952, 1954, 1955, 1957

In 1965, Sam Snead became the oldest-ever champion of a PGA Tour event when he won—you guessed it—the Greater Greensboro Open. Half a century ago, Snead lifted his tour-record eighth title at a single event at the incredible age of 52 years, eight months and 10 days.

He shot 68-69-68-68 for a total of 273 at Sedgefield Country Club, winning by five strokes over a field that included Billy Casper, Tony Lema, Gary Player, Arnold Palmer, Julius Boros, Charlie Sifford, Dow Finsterwald, Dave Marr and Doug Ford.

Coincidentally, Snead’s final win at the Greater Greensboro Open came with the same margin of victory as his first in 1938, making for a nice bookend to his career there. What’s more, the 1965 tournament kicked off with “Sam Snead Week,” per Cliff Schrock of GolfDigest.com, where hundreds attended a banquet in honor of his 25th appearance.

In spite of all the fanfare, Snead modestly insisted before the first round: “I don't expect to win, but the boys had better watch out.”

After his win, when asked if he thought anyone could match his accomplishments at Greensboro, he replied, “You know, I don't think these youngsters are ready yet.”

Tiger Woods: Arnold Palmer Invitational (8)

Wins at this tournament:

Other events with dominant records:
WGC-Bridgestone Invitational 1999, 2000, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2013

Farmers Insurance Open 1999, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2013

WGC-Cadillac Championship 1999, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2013

BMW Championship 1997, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2009

Memorial Tournament 1999, 2000, 2001, 2009, 2012

Although this is not a ranked list, the most prolific still had to be saved for last. Just looking at the list of tournaments above, it’s clear no player on tour has embodied the word “dominant” more than Tiger Woods.

While his legacy may not quite match that of Jack Nicklaus in the eyes of many, Woods made his tour legacy forever known by stringing together over a decade of commanding performances at half a dozen events.

No one ran with a lead quite like he did, and no one did it as often at as many specific events as he did. 

When it comes to the Arnold Palmer Invitational (eight wins), WGC-Bridgestone Invitational (eight wins), Farmers Insurance Open (seven wins), WGC-Cadillac Championship (seven wins) and the Memorial Tournament (five wins), that dominance is doubly impressive because it extended beyond Tiger’s catastrophic 2009.

For Tiger, these tournaments were like gold during a recession. 

With a victory at the 2013 Arnold Palmer Invitational, Woods reclaimed his No. 1 world golf ranking (highlighted in the above video). Before losing the top spot, he held the record for most consecutive weeks as world No. 1 with 281 from June of 2005 to October of 2010, thanks largely to his utter dominance over those tournaments listed above.

It doesn’t look like he will ever beat Watson’s American record of six British Opens or Nicklaus’ record of 18 majors, but it would be hard to argue Tiger Woods was anything but dominance personified during his lengthy stint at the top.