Top Achievements of Golf Pros

By Jordan Fuller | August 2, 2021

Ask golf fans who the best golfers are and everyone will have a different opinion. There’s no doubt that the current golf pros are the best the world has ever seen. 

Over the years, we’ve seen some amazing things on the course. If you need some motivation at the moment, here are some of the best of the best golf pros’ top achievements. 

Read, marvel, and be inspired! 

Phil Mickelson 

Mickelson turned pro in 1992, and spent a quarter of a century (plus one) in the top 50 of the Official World Golf Rankings. More than 700 weeks of those years (more than half) have been in the top 10. That’s a significant amount of time! 

“Lefty” has won every major but the US Open. He’s one of only 17 golfers ever to win three of the four. He’s still breaking records even now, becoming the oldest major champion in May of this year, at 50 years old. If that’s not inspiring to us all, we don’t know what is.

Tiger Woods 

Mickelson spent 700+ weeks of his career in the top 10. Tiger Woods spent an astounding 683 weeks at number 1. That’s 13 years! 

Woods is undoubtedly one of the greatest golfers of all time. He holds a multitude of records, including some unusual ones, like the longest drive ever recorded on the PGA Tour (498 yards). 

Where do we even start with Woods’ outstanding achievements? 

• Won 82 official PGA Tour events 
• Youngest player to achieve a Career Grand Slam 
• Been PGA Tour Player of the Year eleven times 
• Won 10 majors before turning 30 
• 39.1% win rate in World Golf Championships events
• Highest career earnings of any golfer 
• Has the lowest career scoring average in PGA Tour history 
• 20 holes-in-one throughout his career 

Lydia Ko 

Lydia Ko went pro in 2013, and quickly became the youngest person ever to win a professional golf event, as well as the youngest person to win an LPGA Tour event. Another of her first achievements in 2013 was becoming the only amateur to win two LPGA Tour Events. 

In 2013 she broke yet another one of these records, becoming the youngest female to win a major (18 years, 4 months, and 20 days) when she came out victorious at the The Evian Championship. 

Ko broke into the Rolex Rankings Top 10 after having played just 14 LPGA Tour events. In 2015, she rose to number one, where she remained for 84 weeks. 

Byron Nelson 

Some of you may not have heard of Byron Nelson. He was in his prime back in the 1930s, but he’s still considered to be one of the best golfers of all time. 

He had a relatively short career but his biggest achievement is a record that’s yet to be broken, almost a century later. In 1945, a year before he retired, Nelson won 11 tournaments in a row, and 18 in the year. To put it in perspective, the runner-up to the record is Tiger Woods, with 7 consecutive wins. 

Arnold Palmer 

Regarded as one of the most charismatic and talented players in the history of the game, “the King” had a golf career spanning an astounding 6 decades. 

Although he has numerous top achievements, the King is known for being the first PGA Tour millionaire. He has 60 PGA Tour wins under his belt, along with 7 majors and 15 consecutive years with at least one win. 

2004 saw Palmer’s 50th consecutive appearance in the Masters Tournament. You don’t get more legendary than that.