The 11 Most Underrated Golfers Of All Time

Is being labelled 'underrated' a compliment? We think so. It has to be better than being called 'overrated'.

We believe the following 11 players deserve a little more recognition for their achievements. However, this is subjective - and maybe you feel otherwise.

And maybe we’ve missed a few players off - in fact, we’re pretty sure we have.

Calvin Peete

From 1982-86, Peete was the winningest player on the PGA Tour - and he didn’t start playing the game until he was in his early 20s.

A former Players champion and two-time Ryder Cup winner, Peete also won the Vardon Trophy, beating a certain Jack Nicklaus to the title in 1984.

His peers knew just how talented and tough he was. Nicklaus, who captained Peete at the 1983 Ryder Cup, described him as a “remarkable player”.

For all his success, however (he won 12 times on the PGA Tour), his achievements are often overlooked.

“Other than Tiger, (he’s) the most successful African American or person of colour on the PGA Tour, and far and away the most successful,” said golf journalist Pete McDaniel, who wrote “Uneven Lies: The Heroic Story of African-Americans in Golf.”

Judy Rankin

Very few players have done as much for women in golf as Judy Rankin - she was a true trailblazer.

After joining the LPGA Tour in 1962, she won 26 times over 20 years and was the first player to earn over $100,000 in a single season, banking over $150,000 in 1976.

She was also one of the first players to travel with her children, an early iteration of the group of women now referred to as LPGA Moms.

After her retirement, she continued to break barriers, becoming an on-course analyst for ABC and ESPN.

Andy North

After winning the US Open in 2026, Wyndham Clark joined a group of seven other men to have taken the title twice without winning another Major.

North won his national Open in 1978 and 1985. Given the US Open is widely regarded as the toughest Major championship, the television analyst doesn't quite get the credit he deserves.

Or was he just a US Open specialist, one of those players who seems to thrive in demanding conditions?

North’s only other PGA Tour victory came at the American Express Westchester Classic in 1977.

Peter Oosterehuis

A pro in the commentary box and one helluva player on the other side of the ropes.

The affable Englishman won the European Tour’s Order of Merit four years on the bounce in the early 1970s and racked up 20 worldwide victories.

He could and probably should have won at least one Major Championship. Twice second in The Open, he lost out to Tom Watson in 1982 by a single stroke.

In 1973, Oosterehuis had also taken the 54-hole lead at Augusta, only to finish tied for third.

‘Oosty’ played some of his best golf in the Ryder Cup, compiling a 14-11-3 record that included two wins against the great Arnold Palmer.

Mac O’Grady

One of the sport’s most enigmatic figures, Mac O’Grady won twice on the PGA Tour and earned over $1 million in prize money.

He was also regarded as one of the finest ball-strikers in the game, and despite racking up a record number of attempts at qualifying school, he came pretty close to winning the US Open in 1987, where he led the way at Olympic Club with four holes to play.

It doesn’t begin to tell the story…

Often described as a “tortured genius”, they don’t make them like “Waco Grady” anymore.

Jan Stephenson

The highlight of the Australian’s career came in 1983, when she won the US Women’s Open at Cedar Ridge Country Club in Oklahoma.

Remarkably, Stephenson won using a borrowed set of clubs when her set went missing - and this was a very different era from the world in which top pros compete nowadays.

In 1986, she was photographed in a bathtub covered by nothing except a mountain of golf balls.

“It brought people to the gates,” Nancy Lopez said years later. As for the critics, she added, “There could have been a few players who were jealous because they didn’t look as good as Jan.”

Renowned for her hard work, Stephenson won 16 LPGA Tour titles, including three Major Championships.

Bob Charles

It’s a question that might come up in a sports quiz one day… who was the first left-hander to win The Open?

And now you know – it was Bob Charles, who put on a putting masterclass to defeat American Phil Rodgers by eight strokes in the tournament’s last-ever 36-hole playoff.

Sir Bob, 90, worked in banking for six years before turning professional – and his career change proved to be a good decision, for he went on to record 76 professional wins.

Charles, one of his generation’s greatest putters, received the prestigious Order of the British Empire from the Queen of England in 1972 and was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1992.

Billy Casper

Billy Casper frequently found himself up against the 'Big Three' in the 1960s – those, of course, being Palmer, Nicklaus, and Gary Player.

It should have been the 'Big Four', for Casper won 51 times on the PGA Tour, and only six other players have managed to do that.

Along with the long list of individual honours - which include five Vardon Trophies for low scoring average and three Major Championships - the American amassed 23½ points over the course of his eight Ryder Cup appearances, which remains a record for the US side.

Larry Nelson

After taking up the game at 21, Nelson’s career didn’t really get going until he earned his PGA Tour card at Qualifying School in 1973.

He went on to become one of the best players on the PGA Tour for nearly two decades, winning three Major Championships and 10 titles along the way.

He was rarely in the spotlight like some of his peers, not like Lanny Wadkins, Tom Watson and Fuzzy Zoeller – and that suited him just fine.

Nelson also won four times on the Japan Tour and 19 times on the PGA Tour Champions.

Meanwhile, in the Ryder Cup, he won his first nine consecutive matches before tasting defeat.

Despite his resume and his wealth of experience, he was consistently overlooked for the role of captain.

Moe Norman

Moe Norman was sometimes referred to as the 'Rainman of Golf' because he repeated his words often, and many people believe he lived within the autism spectrum.

In Canada, he was often called an “odd duck”, meaning eccentric and/or unusual.

Despite his quirky behaviour, many believe he was the greatest ball striker ever to pick up a golf club.

It didn’t win him a Major Championship. However, his golf swing is still discussed in teaching circles.

Stuart Appleby

Maybe it’s because Australia has produced several Major champions that Stuart Appleby doesn’t get the credit he deserves, or maybe it was because he was a bit too streaky.

Had he won just one, that would have been different.

Although that Major Championship proved elusive (he recorded top-10 finishes in all four blue-ribbon events), he did capture nine victories on the PGA Tour.

At the 2010 Greenbrier Classic, the Australian became the fifth player to shoot a 59, and he reached a career-high of eight in the OWGR.

Michael has been with Golf Monthly since 2008. A multimedia journalist, he has also worked for The Football Association, where he created content to support the England football team, The FA Cup, London 2012, Wembley Stadium, and the FA Women's Super League. As content editor at Foremost Golf, Michael worked closely with golf's biggest brands and has developed an in-depth knowledge of the equipment side of the industry. He's a regular contributor, covering equipment, travel, instruction, and feature content. Michael has interviewed many of the game's biggest stars and has attended and reported on numerous Major Championships and Ryder Cups around the world. A single figure golfer (just), he's a member of Formby Golf Club in Merseyside, one of the 35 Top 100 courses he’s ticked off to date.