The greatest English golfers of all time: Do you agree?

When it comes to compiling a list of the best golfing nations, England rank third behind the USA and Scotland in terms of producing Major winners. From surprise victors such as Danny Willett to consistent performers including Nick Faldo, there have been some impressive results in the greatest tournaments of all and with Matt Fitzpatrick, Tommy Fleetwood and Tyrrell Hatton among the new breed of players, the future for English professional golfers looks bright.

As we wonder who will be the next to lift one of the four majors, we look back at seven of the greatest golfers of all time to hail from England.

1) Sir Nick Faldo

Faldo spent most of his early career as a competent golfer who had won 11 events on the European Tour without ever really looking like he would become one of the world’s best. All of that changed in the mid-80s when he teamed up with David Leadbetter to remodel his swing. Their work, coupled with a sudden, single-minded determination from the player, first led to major success when Faldo claimed the Open Championship at Muirfield in 1987.

It was the first of six major titles for the man from Welwyn Garden City; two more victories came at the Open, while Faldo also added three Masters successes. The most memorable of those coming in 1996 when he overcame a six-shot deficit on the final day to overhaul Greg Norman.

Faldo also held the number one spot in the world rankings for an incredible 97 weeks. Faldo finished his playing career with 43 professional wins across the world. Adding up all of those statistics makes it hard to argue that Nick Faldo is one of the greatest, if not the greatest English golfer in history.

• Tour wins: 43
• Majors: 6 (1987 Open, 1989 Masters, 1990 Open, 1990 Masters, 1992 Open, 1996 Masters)

2) John Henry Taylor

We move back in time now on our list of greatest English golfers, where we find John Henry Taylor. While the name may not be a familiar one for casual golf fans, Taylor is widely regarded as one of the best players in the world, not just in the country of his own birth.

From 1894 to 1913, Taylor secured five Open Championships while also taking a runners-up spot in the US Open – the only other major available at the time – in 1900. A five-year break for the Open, due to World War One, is likely to have prevented Taylor from adding to that list of five titles but that tally remains a record for an English player, and is one that may never be beaten.

Considered as one of the pioneers of golf, John Henry Taylor also captained the British Ryder Cup team to success over the USA in 1933. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1975 and there’s an argument to suggest he should be at the very top of this list.

• Tour wins: 19
• Majors: 5 (1894 Open, 1895 Open, 1900 Open, 1909 Open, 1913 Open)

3) Jim Barnes

Jim Barnes was another of the early pioneers of English golf, and unusually at the time he plied his trade in the United States from a young age. He was born in 1886 in Cornwall, but aged 20 he travelled to the US and began to make his golfing name.

10 years later he won his first Major championship, the PGA Championship in its inaugural year in 1916. Another win at the PGA followed in 1919 before his win at the 1921 Masters. Back on home soil, he won the Open Championship of 1925 at Prestwick.

Nicknamed ‘Long Jim’ due to his 6’4’’ frame he cut an instantly recognisable figure on course. He remains one of only three British golfers to have won three of the four Majors, alongside Tommy Armour and Rory McIlroy, and the only English player to do so. Inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1989, few can argue with Long Jim’s place on this list.

• Tour wins: 22
• Majors: 4 (1916 PGA Championship, 1919 PGA Championship, 1921 Masters, 1925 Open)

4) Sir Henry Cotton

His many years behind the microphone mean that golf fans of a certain age will remember Henry Cotton for his expert commentary rather than his exploits on the course, but his playing record puts him high on the list of greatest English golfers.

Cotton claimed three Open titles in his career between 1934 and 1948 and is, therefore, another player who may have added to his trophy cabinet had it not been for an outbreak of global hostilities. In his time as a player, which was both long and distinguished, his best finish in the Masters came at the age of 50 but he was less of a force across the Atlantic and didn’t actually compete in the fourth major – the US PGA.

Despite that, Henry Cotton won 37 professional tournaments in the UK and beyond and was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1980. His services as a commentator enhanced his reputation within the golfing community but that overall record makes him a worthy addition to our playing list.

• Tour wins: 37
• Majors: 3 (1934 Open, 1937 Open, 1948 Open)

Henry Cotton was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1980

5) Tony Jacklin

The 1960s and 1970s were largely barren periods for English golf but there was one shining light amidst the gloom. When Tony Jacklin won the Open Championship in 1969, he ended a run of 18 years of overseas wins to defy the golf odds, but more was to come as he went on to enjoy further success across the Atlantic.

The very next year, Jacklin won the US Open in what is seen as an even more impressive win. He led wire to wire in 1970 and rarely looked troubled throughout the tournament, eventually winning by a comfortable seven shots over America’s Dave Hill. Jacklin’s victory was the first by an English golfer in this event since Cyril Walker way back in 1924 and the success was one of 29 professional wins that he enjoyed worldwide.

It’s an impressive playing record and Tony Jacklin’s place on the list of greatest English golfers is rubber-stamped by some shrewd Ryder Cup captaincy in the 1980s which helped Europe become a competitive force in the tournament.

• Tour wins: 29
• Majors: 2 (1969 Open, 1970 US Open)

Tony Jacklin will go down as one of the greatest English golfers in history

6) Justin Rose

There are only 19 Englishman to have won a Major and one of the most recent of those, Justin Rose, is more than deserving of his place on the list. The former number one in the world golf rankings has enjoyed a stellar career that has seen him notch up over 20 professional wins across the world.

He burst onto the scene at the 1998 Open when he dramatically holed a shot from the rough from about 50 yards for birdie on the 18th hole, to finish in a tie for fourth. He struggled somewhat after that, but has never looked back since winning the European Tour’s Order of Merit in 2007.

Since then he has become a worldwide star with top-three finishes in all four Majors, but undoubtedly his finest moment was his US Open win in 2013. His maiden Major victory came at the very difficult Merion, where he emerged victorious by two shots. In doing so he became the first Englishman in 43 years to win the US Open and ended a 17-year Major drought for English golfers since Faldo’s win at the 1996 Masters.

• Tour wins: 25
• Majors: 1 (2013 US Open)

7) Lee Westwood

Next, it’s the only player on this list to never win a major but, aside from that unfortunate statistic, Lee Westwood has achieved pretty much everything else in the game and deserves his place amongst the greatest English golfers of all time.

He’s a former world number one, has won 44 professional tournaments around the world, including two on the PGA Tour, and has been a stalwart of the European Ryder Cup team. The man from Worksop has recorded top-three finishes in all four majors with a best of second place at the Open Championship in 2010 and further runners-up spots at the Masters in 2012 and 2016.

Westwood’s last victory on any tour came at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Masters back in 2020 but, as he approaches his 50s, he remains competitive, and age isn’t necessarily a barrier to winning tournaments.

That major win may, however, forever elude him but, for sheer consistency over such a long career, Lee Westwood is one of the best golfers that England has ever produced.

• Tour wins: 44
• Majors: 0

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