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Sam Snead won his first PGA Tour event 82 years ago today

By T.J. Auclair
Published on
Sam Snead won his first PGA Tour event 82 years ago today

One of golf's legends -- Slammin' Sam Snead -- earned the very first of his record 82 PGA Tour wins on January 18, 1936... 82 years ago today.
 
The tournament -- the West Virginia Closed Pro -- was played on the Old White Course at The Greenbrier. While its undergone changes since, the course also plays host to the Greenbrier Classic on the PGA Tour today.
 
In that maiden victory, Snead fired rounds of 70-61 for a 16-stroke victory over Clem Weichman. That rout tied the PGA Tour's largest margin of victory record.
 
 
Three others -- J.D. Edgar at the 1919 Canadian Open; Joe Kirkwood, Sr., at the 1924 Corpus Christi Open; and Bobby Locke at the 1948 Chicago Victory National Championship -- have recorded 16-stroke victories.
 
Tiger Woods has the largest margin of victory since 1950 with a 15-stroke win at the 2000 U.S. Open.
 
That first win was just a glimpse of things to come for Snead. In 1937, he won five times. He added eight more victories in 1938 and enjoyed his best season in 1950, winning 11 times.
 
Snead was a seven-time major champion, but never completed the career grand slam. The only major missing from Snead's career was the U.S. Open, where he was a runner-up on four occasions.
 
He's the only player to post a top-10 finish in at least one major championship in five different decades.
 
Snead died in Hot Springs, Virginia, in 2002 following complications from a stroke, four days before his 90th birthday.