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Most Underrated Golfer Ever?

Gene Littler. Passed away 2019. A friend of mine has one of his old set of clubs.
 
How about Gene "Gene the Machine" Littler?

54 wins, one major, came back from malignant melanoma, and had this killer quote I found in his Wikipedia article:

"Golf is not a game of great shots. It's a game of the best misses. The people who win make the smallest mistakes."
 
He was not PGA tour but he was a club pro at one time so I will say @Tadashi70
 
Reframmellator said:
How about Gene "Gene the Machine" Littler?

54 wins, one major, came back from malignant melanoma, and had this killer quote I found in his Wikipedia article:

"Golf is not a game of great shots. It's a game of the best misses. The people who win make the smallest mistakes."
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Eve Ardin in movie Grease.."If you can't be an athlete, be an Athletic supporter"
 
Orville Moody or Julius Boros.
I am shocked how many young people do t know who they are
 
I'm sure he's been mentioned already, but PGA Tour Hale Irwin. I know he was pretty popular on the Senior tour but he doesn't get any mentions for his PGA Tour career.

Not most underrated ever, but a Louisville local who I think deserves a mention is Bobby Nichols, 12 PGA Tour wins and a PGA Championship.
 
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Since we are going nostalgic.....Champagne Tony Lema...
 
pinseeker said:
Since we are going nostalgic.....Champagne Tony Lema...
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I can't ever forget this Tony Lema story:

It was what occurred after Lema's drive that lingered most with Roland. A boy in the gallery, watching with another youngster, picked up Lema's gold tee that had flown near him. Lema saw the kids and reached into his pocket and gave them his remaining tees. As Lema walked toward the fairway, Roland remarked, loud enough that Lema heard him, that it had been a nice gesture.

"Hey, they're only kids," Lema responded. "Besides, this is my last hole."
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A few hours later, Lema, his wife, and two pilots died in a plane crash.
 
golfunfiltered said:
Charles Howell III.

3 PGA Tour wins
16 second place finishes
95 top-10 finishes
$39.7 million in career earnings
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Yea I gotta second this but with how many people have said this about CHIII maybe he’s not so underrated??
 
Zach Johnson

Compared to the bomb and gougers in the game the last 15 years, Zach was always at a distinct diatance disadvantage...but he still won 2 Majors.
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Briny Baird
13 million in earnings
 
Only because I haven't seen his name mentioned, Calvin Peete. This from wikipedia:

Calvin Peete (July 18, 1943 – April 29, 2015) was an American professional golfer. He was the most successful African-American to have played on the PGA Tour, with 12 wins, prior to the emergence of Tiger Woods. Peete won the 1985 Tournament Players Championship and finished the season top-5 on the PGA Tour money list three times; 1982, 1983 and 1985. He was ranked in the top 10 players on the McCormack's World Golf Rankings in 1984.
Peete did not begin playing golf until he was in his 20s, but immediately excelled at a game most pros learn as young children. He learned the game while peddling goods to migrant workers in Rochester, New York, playing on the public course at Genesee Valley Park. Growing up poor, Peete suffered a badly broken arm that was never properly set.[2] He was the leader in driving accuracy on the PGA Tour for 10 straight years, 1981–90.
 
I feel like Ernie Els is under appreciated. 4 majors. Never makes the “greatest of all time” lists, nor should he, but needs to be celebrated a bit more.
 
tahoebum said:
Billy Casper. 51 victories and 3 majors and had to play against Nicklaus, Player, Trevino and many other greats at their peak as he is only 3 years older than Jack. He holds the record for career Ryder Cups points by an American. One of the top 5 clutch putters of all time.
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Your nomination has my vote. I know his son Bobby and have heard so much about Billy, with the Utah connections. Aside from his skill, he was a heck of a good guy.
 
Parrot said:
My first thought is Larry Nelson. 19 wins, 2 majors and was an after thought whenever any captaincy for the Ryder Cup was discussed, albeit meeting all the criteria previously considered in selecting a captain.
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When I opened the thread, my first thought was Larry Nelson. 2 majors and never named a Ryder Cup captain. Might be the biggest slight of the PGA.

Then, while I was reading that post, I thought, wait, Billy Casper had a great career playing against Palmer, Nicklaus, Player and even Hogan and Snead during his early years...

So, both of these get my vote.

tahoebum said:
Billy Casper. 51 victories and 3 majors and had to play against Nicklaus, Player, Trevino and many other greats at their peak as he is only 3 years older than Jack. He holds the record for career Ryder Cups points by an American. One of the top 5 clutch putters of all time.
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Scott Verplank.
7 wins and wears an insulin pump like me.
#inspiration. :cool:
 
I agree about Billy Casper being one of the most underrated golfer.
I would also add Ernie Els. Wasn't he the one who came in 2nd to Tiger Woods in all four majors around 2000???

I think Ernie would have won at least 4 more majors had Tiger not dominated so much in majors, especially during 1999-2000.
 
Gonna go with JD (that's John Daly).


However, he holds both titles: Most underrated AND most overrated master of the game, ever, IMO. ;)


(he probably should have won 5 majors; OTOH, he probably had no business winning any)
 
I would say Phil Mickelson.
Without Tiger Woods, he would have been considered the 2-4th best player of all time.
We forget sometimes just how great he was.
 
They have been said but I agree with Billy Casper and Phil..

One more comes to mind. Jumbo Ozaki. He gets a bad rap for not doing much outside of Asia but that guy was and is a stud. But he beat the best of the best in many world stage events and No one made more money than him when he was in his prime. Which is the biggest reason he didn’t play outside the US. The money for him was in Asia.

He was also way ahead of his time equipment wise. He played a solid core ball in the 80s and was someone that tee’d the ball up and hit like 5 degrees up on the ball. Understanding driver optimization well before any trackman or launch monitor data existed.
 
Did anyone mention Lanny Wadkins? A tough competitor.
 
How about Kathy Whitworth, with an all-time 88 LPGA tourney wins?
 
I’m in the Charles Howell lll camp……
 
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