Golf: Ranking The Top Golfer From All 50 States

Bobby Jones is the best from the Peach State, and one of the great American golfers of all time

Colorado

Hale Irwin

Born in Missouri, Irwin moved to Boulder, Colorado, as a child and stayed there to play collegiately for the Buffaloes. At the age of 71, the man is indestructible having carved out 20 years just on the PGA Tour Champions, where he owns the tour record with 45 wins. Before that, he was known as a stalwart on tough courses. He won three US Opens and 17 other top-10s in majors in a career that culminated in 87 wins across the world.

Connecticut

Julius Boros

Speaking of iron men, the Fairfield native won the 1968 PGA Championship at the age of 48, which still stands as the oldest player to win a major. That wasn’t his only claim to fame. He won the US Open in ’52 and ’63 to go along with 25 worldwide wins. His offspring hasn’t done too bad, either. Guy Boros was a winner in 1996 at the Greater Vancouver Open.

Delaware

Ed “Porky” Oliver

I’m sorry, Delawareans, but I can’t say I’ve even heard of your most illustrious golfer until today. That’s not a knock on the state, which has a population south of a million and a limited golf season. Blame it on my youth, because Oliver did have a pretty solid career over half a century ago. He won eight times, including at big tournaments like the Western Open, Phoenix Open and Bing Crosby Open. The short, stocky Wilmington native also hung in at the majors, posting two runner-ups to easily earn the title of best golfer from Delaware.

Florida

David Duval

Known as one of the more popular destinations for professional golfers to settle down, not as many elite golfers hail from the Sunshine State as you may think. If you count Tiger as a Floridian, he obviously gets the nod . Alas, it’s going to David Duval. The Jacksonville native from Duval County had a fairly short prime, but it was an all-timer.  Unable to break through for his first win in the mid-’90’s, Duval eventually broke through and rattled off 14 wins in four years to wrestle away the No. 1 spot in the world from Woods. He shot a 59 to win the Bob Hope in ’98 and oddly enough earned his final win and lone major to date at the 2001 Open Championship.

Georgia

Bobby Jones

Whether it was his gorgeous swing, his playing résumé  or his stewardship for the game, Jones had it all. So confident and satisfied with his career, he retired competitively at the age of 28. Part of that is because he had so much success early on in the days where amateur golf had a much greater significance. At 14, he made the US Amateur quarterfinals and from then on won six of them, which were considered majors in his day.

He won seven other majors and completed the infamous Grand Slam in 1930 for sweeping the year’s major schedule: The Amateur Championship, US Open, The Open Championship and US Amateur. His seven-year run from 1923 to 1930 abruptly ended, with him saying “It [championship golf] is something like a cage. First you are expected to get into it and then you are expected to stay there. But of course, nobody can stay there.”