Ian Woosnam: Wales’ greatest ever golfer

When looking at the history of British golf, Wales has not enjoyed a great amount of success compared to other British nations.

Scottish golf stars have captured 55 major championships in the professional games’ all-time history, and England’s greatest stars have managed to accumulate 35 titles.

Wales has still had some impressive golfers, however. They are not quite the hotbed of talent that their rival British nations have been through history, but they produced one of the all-time greats in Ian Woosnam.

Woosnam was once a world number one due to his endeavours at individual events, and he was also one of Team Europe’s greatest-ever players in the Ryder Cup.

The European Ryder Cup great

Woosnam was a regular for Team Europe across the 1980s and 1990s which was one of the most successful periods in European Ryder Cup history. He featured in eight tournaments as a player and helped Europe to retain the trophy on five occasions.

The Welshman played an integral part in changing the momentum in the all-time series against Team USA. He helped put an end to a 13-winning streak by the Americans which ran from 1959 to 1985. Ever since Europe have been a much stronger force at the biennial event. In the Ryder Cup 2023 odds, Europe is the favourite to win their 12th title offered at even money.

Team USA has generally dominated the competition in regard to its overall history, they have 27 victories to their name with Team Europe/Great Britain & Ireland having 14 wins in total. However, the greatness of legendary stars like Woosnam created the foundations for the Europeans to be the more successful team in the modern era.

Europe were once Ryder Cup minnows, but since Woosnam made his debut in the 80s, they have achieved more victories than their North American opponents. The Welsh star was a genuine great who had a significant impact on altering his team’s long-term fate in the competition.

Wales’ only major champion

Wales’ British rivals of course have many titles to their name which have been accumulated by a wide variety of past golfing legends. But in Welsh golfing history, there has only been one major winner that the nation has nurtured.

Woosman won his only major title in 1991, and he brought none other than the most prestigious honour in golf for his nation. He won the Masters Tournament that year in a tense finale, where he bettered Spaniard Jose Maria Olazabal by a single stroke.

His single success may not seem incredibly impressive, but put in perspective his contributions still made him one of the greatest players of all time.

He competed in an immensely competitive era, where he was part of the ‘famous five’ European legends all born within a 12-month period – Seve Ballesteros, Nick Faldo, Bernhard Langer and Sandy Lyle were all great helps in the Ryder Cup, but at the individual level, they made major success a huge challenge.

Despite playing in an era which boasted many remarkable talents, Woosman managed to win 52 professional competitions throughout his career, which puts him in sixth place on the all-time wins list.

The Welshman was awarded a place in the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2017 to recognise his exceptional playing career, which cemented his place as an undisputed great.

Woosman is undoubtedly Wales’ greatest-ever player by some distance, and it is unlikely his legacy will ever be improved upon by a future player who represents the British nation.