Eight-time PGA Tour winner J.C. Snead, nephew of Hall of Famer Sam, dead at 84
Eight-time PGA Tour winner J.C. Snead, nephew of Hall of Famer Sam, dead at 84
My longtime friend on the PGA Tour, JC Snead, just left us. RIP Goose — Tom Watson (@TomWatsonPGA) April 26, 2025
Although he never won a major championship, J.C. Snead had top-3 finishes in the Masters, U.S. Open and the PGA Championship. He was one of the most reliable players in the game, amassing a dozen wins between the PGA Tour and the Champions circuit and playing on three Ryder Cup teams. And he was an accomplished baseball player, toiling for a bit in the Washington Senators' farm system before starting his career in professional golf at the age of 27.
Snead, who was born in Hot Springs, Virginia, but spent much of his life in Florida, died at the age of 84, according to his longtime friend Tom Watson. The PGA Tour confirmed Snead's death.
While his career was an unmitigated success, Snead often lived in the shadow of his uncle, Sam, a World Golf Hall of Famer who won 81 times. J.C. Snead often battled with Watson, Jack Nicklaus and Lee Trevino during a stretch in the 1970s when pro golf became a fixture on network television.
"If my name had been Jones or Brown, maybe I would have been better off," Snead told the Roanoke Times in 1990. "I know I was not a great player, not a Nicklaus. When I was at my best, so were Nicklaus, Trevino and Watson. But I played as well as some of these guys who are your everyday heroes.
"Nowadays, they write stories when a guy sets a record for most money won without winning a tournament. I finished second four times in 1974 and nobody said a word. I set the record two years in a row for money won without winning a tournament."
In 1973, Snead finished second to Tommy Aaron at Augusta National, during a wild weather week that pushed the finish to Monday. He finished third later that year in the 1973 PGA Championship at Cleveland's Canterbury Golf Club, five shots behind Nicklaus, who claimed the title. And Snead finished in a tie for second at the 1978 U.S. Open at Cherry Hills Country Club as Andy North went on to victory.
At times, Snead was referred to as gruff and uncooperative, but he insisted he was simply quiet and allowed people space.
'I have gotten a reputation for being a hard-ass,' he told Golf Digest, 'and I think it is undeserved.'
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