Larry Nelson
Consider it a Rodney Dangerfield list. They’re PGA Tour players who don’t get the respect they deserve. Here’s Golf.com’s most underrated players of the last quarter century:
Larry Nelson
John Daly
Jose Maria Olazabal
Mark Calcavecchia
Tom Kite
Bernhard Langer
Rory Sabbatini
Calvin Peete
Larry Nelson. OK, I’m on board. Nelson won three majors. Yes, three. Probably the stealthiest Hall of Famer around.
John Daly. Huh?
Jose Maria Olazabal. Fine player, with two Masters and 27 worldwide wins. Agree.
Calc. I don’t know. He’s had many good moments, including a British and 13 tour wins but I don’t think of him as underrated.
Tom Kite. No.
Bernhard Langer. Golf.com makes a good case for Bernhard. Two Masters, 61 worldwide wins (wow, did you know that?) and a Ryder Cup record of 21-15-6. I give him the nod.
Rory Sabbatini. Not buying it.
Calvin Peete. Definitely. Some of you may not even know him, but Peete was the most-successful African American on the PGA Tour (pre-Tiger) and one of the best players of the 1980s with 12 tour wins. The straightest driver of the golf ball in PGA Tour history.
−The Armchair Golfer