SportsCentury profile of Sam Snead, who won a record 81 PGA Tour events. Feel cheated you never got to see Dempsey punch, Grange run, Jesse Owens jump, Nagurski block? Like to have seen Jones putt ...

Snead died on May 23, 2002, at 89, when Woods was more than 50 victories from catching him but already had displayed a repertoire of skills that all the greats, including Sam, acknowledged.

Instructor Jim McLean, who worked with Snead on the video “Sam Snead: Swing for a Lifetime,” once asked NBA legend Jerry West to name the greatest athlete he had ever seen or played with. “I thought ...