Golf: Ranking The Top Golfer From All 50 States

Tiger gets the nod in California, despite his later years in Florida

Alabama

Larry Nelson

Hailing from Fort Payne, Nelson is the owner of three major championships at the 1983 US Open and the 1981 and ’87 PGA Championships. His 42 professional wins (10 on the PGA Tour) give him the edge here in a state lacking in talent compared to several other Southern states. He narrowly edges out multi-winner and major winner, Hubert Green.

Alaska

Danny Edwards

Edwards didn’t stick around his native Ketchikan long, and the now 65-year-old played a lot of his amateur in golf in Oklahoma. Nonetheless, He won nine times worldwide, including five times on the PGA Tour. He was also three-time All-American at Oklahoma State and was the low amateur at The Open Championship in 1972, the same year he competed for the US Walker Cup squad.

Arizona

Billy Mayfair

So many professionals call Arizona home nowadays, but the list is surprisingly short of golfers who originally hail from the Grand Canyon State. For that reason, Mayfair gets the nod on the strength of five PGA Tour wins, including a Tour Championship in ’95 and a rare playoff victory over Tiger Woods in the ’98 Nissan Open. Had he found more success in playoffs (2-5), Mayfair’s stature could have grown even more.

Arkansas

John Daly

This ranking is primarily performance-based, but being an icon bears some weight in my eyes. No offense to Paul Runyan, who also has two majors from the 1930s and took down Sam Snead in his hay day, but Daly has been a golf fixture for better or worse. His career wasn’t quite so sustained, but he galvanized new fans and had the performance for a period in which he won two majors and 20 worldwide wins (5 PGA Tour). Just don’t tune in to watch him nowadays on the PGA Tour Champions if you want to vintage J.D. golf.

California

Tiger Woods

Tiger doesn’t get back to his home state all that often, but the native Californian can credit his days on the West Coast for developing into the player he became. His résumé of 106 worldwide wins and 14 major championships speak for themselves. Even if he doesn’t add to either total, it will take something heroic to unseat Eldrick. Had we considered him as a Floridian, Mickey Wright is incredibly deserving of mention. One of the LPGA Tour’s early members, she won 13 majors and 82 total tournaments and was a pioneer in the women’s game.