Golf pundit 'gives' Tiger Woods 14 extra PGA Tour victories based on the ‘Sam Snead criteria’

Tiger Woods could have 14 extra PGA Tour wins if the ‘Sam Snead criteria’ is applied, according to golf pundits in a podcast. This podcast was shared on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter), and the senior writer at Golf Digest, Alex Myers, talked about this issue at length.

Before we dip into how Tiger Woods can actually get awarded 14 extra PGA Tour wins, let us take a look at what Sam Snead’s criteria is all about. Sam Snead is one of the all-time greats of golf, and he has got 82 PGA Tour wins under his name, according to the PGA Tour website.

However, there is a catch. During Sam Snead's career, golf wasn’t formalized under one roof just like it is today under the PGA Tour. So, Snead was credited for small-field events with limited participants. He has won three 36-hole events, including the 1946 World Championship of Golf. Plus, among Snead’s wins, match play events, team events, or short tournaments are also included. Not only that, during tha Hall of Famer's time, there was no clarity over the word ‘official’ for a golf tournament.

The era in which Tiger Woods is playing golf is more uniform and there is more clarity over what is official and what is not, what is a small field, and what are the limited fields. From 36-hole events during Sam Snead’s time, today’s PGA Tour recognizes only those tournaments that have at least 54 holes to consider them as ‘official.’

This is why, golf pundit Alex Myers advocated that 14 tournaments should be added to Tiger Woods’ current tally of 82 PGA Tour wins on a recent episode of the Dan on Golf show. Myers said:

"Tiger's record if Sam Snead's criteria was applied, if you want to apply what I called the Sam Snead criteria to Tigers record which again that's what I want to do I don't want to take away from Sam I just want to give Tiger what he is due. Yeah you would actually give Tiger an additional 14 victories which now that he has 82, the 82nd officially was that Zozo Championship win in 2019, he would be up to 96."

How can Tiger Woods add 14 more PGA Tour victories by following the ‘Sam Snead criteria’?

If the ‘Sam Snead criteria’ is applied, then Tiger Woods can add 14 more PGA Tour wins to his tally. Here is how, according to Myers:

"Where do I get 14 from? Well again I mentioned the grand slam of golf, he played against three other guys like Snead did in the World Championship of golf. It was a 36 hole event like Snead did at the World Championship golf. And unlike the Snead wins, Tiger had to win a freaking major championship to get into those fields that year."

Now let's elaborate this in details.

Grand Slam of Golf (7 Wins)

Tiger Woods has won seven Grand Slam of Golf tournaments, an event that takes place at Poipu Beach in Hawaii. This is a 36-hole tournament with four golfers playing in it. Woods won this tournament in 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2005, and 2006.

Hero World Championship (5 Wins)

Woods hosts this tournament, and it has a limited-player format. Woods, being the host, has also fared well in this tournament. He has won the Hero World Championship in 2001, 2004, 2006, 2007, and 2011.

World Cup of Golf (2 Wins)

The World Cup of Golf is a team event, and Tiger Woods has won this tournament twice—first with Mark O’Meara in 1999 and then, with David Duval in 2000.

Speaking on Wood's tally and how he could possibly be credited for these 14 wins, Myers said:

"I suspect at some point Jay Monahan or whoever is the commissioner down the line puts together a similar panel of historians. I would love to be on that panel because I would love Tiger Woods to get credit for these wins and have him be the rightful owner of the PGA Tour record for most wins.”

Tiger Woods last competed at The Open Championship in 2024, where he failed to make the cut.