Best Golfers: Ranking the 10 greatest short games all-time

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Best Golfers #1: Paul Runyan

To most people, Seve is known as the greatest short game player of all time. He was a master around the green, whether it be from the rough, the fringe, or a bunker. However, there is one man who was better than him.

Paul Runyan, aka Little Poison.

He was nicknamed Little Poison for a good reason. Standing at only 5’7″ and 130 pounds, he wasn’t a big hitter. In fact, he was even less than that off the tee. His work around the green? The artistry puts the Mona Lisa to shame.

In a piece by John Garrity from Golf.com, he actually talked with Runyan back in 2008.

"“I had more than a hundred shots I could play around the greens. Pinch it, clip it, hook spin, cut spin, taking two or three feet off the roll. I had all those shots. And I needed them, because I couldn’t drive the ball more than 230 yards in my prime. I was hitting four-wood into greens that most pros could reach with short irons… Snead said I could get up and down from a manhole.”"

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It all started when he was young. Knowing that he wasn’t going to be able to keep up distance wise with any professionals, Runyan practiced his short game relentlessly.

The first time I heard about Runyan was actually back in 2016. While listening to a golf podcast (golf smarter by Fred Greene, episode 532), they brought up Runyan and the rule of 12, something that he used to immense success. Simply, the club you use and the distance it rolls should add up to 12.

A sand wedge (an 11 iron) should go one part in the air and roll the other part on the ground. A 9-iron would go one part in the air, and roll three parts on the ground. A 5-iron would go one part in the air, and seven parts on the ground. The one part in the air is constant. The club and the parts rolled should always add up to 12.

Runyan used this to an incredible amount of success. So much so that he won nine times in 1934, one of only nine players to win that many times in a year. During the finals of the PGA Championship that he won in 1938, Runyan wiped the floor with Sam Snead, even though Snead was consistently out-driving him by 70 yards. He ended up beating him 8 and 7, the most lopsided defeat in the event’s match play history, that stopped in 1957.

Runyan was so good around the green, that at one point they decided to try to widen the holes to eight inches at the Florida Year Round Open. Multiple Pro’s tried to be aggressive and ended up with a massive amount of three-putts. Mr. Runyan ended up with no three-putts and actually won by 11 strokes. To the chagrin of his competitors, he actually said he thought it made the game easier and more fun.

Runyan went on to become one of the leading instructors in America, teaching for over 70 years. He taught the likes of Gene Littler, Phil Rodgers, Chuck Courtney, Frank Beard, Jim Ferree, and Mickey Wright. If anyone involved had a good short game, Runyan was likely a factor either behind it or the teacher behind it.

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Although he is easily the least known person on this list, he goes down as one of the all-time best golfers. A man small of stature, he instilled fear and despair in any he played with. Watching his drives end far before yours, only to see him sneak in and equal or better your score rightfully earned him the nickname of Little Poison. It also earns him the title of the greatest short game golfer of all-time.

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