50 states, 50 golfers: The best native-born players by U.S. state, South Dakota to Wyoming

This is the last in a five-part series

From Maine to Alaska, from Minnesota to Texas and from Florida to California, there have been champion golfers produced by all 50 states in America.

To help commemorate the 50th anniversary of The Players Championship, the Times-Union took on a daunting task: pick the best native-born golfer from each state.

Well, some were daunting. Naturally, looking for professional winners from Delaware, Idaho or Wyoming wasn't easy. But we found World Golf Hall of Fame members in Connecticut and Kansas, PGA Tour winners in Alaska and North Dakota and in several cases, LPGA winners were the top players from their state.

So be it — as are the two states whose best players were career amateurs who no doubt would have made a mark professionally had they taken their games in that direction.

The ground rule was simple: to be considered, a player had to have been born in that state — even if he spent most of his life, including his professional life, in another state. (Hint: Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Tiger Woods are not the best golfers from Florida).

We're going alphabetically, 10 states at a time:

South Dakota

Curt Byrum, Onida (Born Dec. 28, 1958, age 65)

He and his brother Tom, who also played on the PGA Tour, spent their youth playing on a nine-hole course they used to have to mow themselves. Curt Byrum not only was a good enough golfer to get a scholarship to New Mexico, but he was also an all-state high school quarterback. He went on to win once on the PGA Tour and twice on the Korn Ferry Tour and in recent years has been an analyst for Golf Channel.

Tennessee

Cary Middlecoff, Halls (Jan. 6, 1921 – Sept. 1, 1998)

The only PGA Tour player who could fill cavities in the locker room. Middlecoff graduated from Ole Miss (where he was its first golf All-American) and then the University of Tennessee’s College of Dentistry but left his practice in 1947 to play on the Tour. He turned in a marvelous career, winning 39 Tour titles and three majors — the 1955 Masters and 1949 and 1956 U.S. Opens. He had a consistent career, winning at least once in 13 of his 15 full-time seasons. Middlecoff was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1986.

Texas

Ben Hogan, Stephenville (Aug. 13, 1912 – July 25, 1997)

Picking one golfer from Texas is tough, but in the end it had to be Hogan and his 64 PGA Tour titles (fourth all-time) and nine major championships. Hogan won five PGA Tour money titles and had one of the most impressive comeback stories in American sports, returning from a near-fatal car accident in 1949.

Doctors said he’d never walk again. He not only walked but he returned to golf and four years later won the Masters, U.S. Open and PGA Championship. He later became one of the most equipment designers and wrote one of golf’s most famous instruction books, “Five Lessons.”

Byron Nelson won 52 PGA Tour titles and five majors, and set a record that still stands in 1945, winning 11 starts in a row. But Hogan’s career, before and after his accident makes him the Lone Star King.

Utah

Tony Finau, Salt Lake City (Born Sept. 14, 1989, age 34)

The powerful 6-foot-4 Finau has six PGA Tour titles and more are likely to come. Finau turned down college basketball scholarship offers to turn professional in golf at the age of 17 and labored on mini-tours until winning on the Korn Ferry Tour seven years later. Finau is a major champion in waiting, with 10 top-10s in those events, including three in the Masters.

Vermont

Keegan Bradley, Woodstock (Born June 7, 1986, age 37)

The nephew of LPGA Hall of Famer Pat Bradley, he became one of six players to win in his first major championship start when he captured the 2011 PGA in a three-hole playoff over Jason Dufner at the Atlanta Athletic Club. Bradley also was the first to win a major using a long putter and has gone on to win six times on the PGA Tour.

Bradley won twice in playoffs in his rookie season in 2011 and seven years later beat Justin Rose in a playoff to win the BMW Championship. He has won three team events and played in two Ryder Cups.

Virginia

Sam Snead, Ashwood (May 27, 1912 – May 23, 2002)

His record says it all: 82 PGA Tour titles, which Tiger Woods tied in 2019 by winning The Masters, seven major championships and all with the most effortless swing in golf history. “Slammin’ Sammy” once joked that he played golf so he’d have enough money to hunt and fish whenever he wanted but he eventually played enough to rack up 142 professional victories.

Jack Nicklaus called Snead’s swing “perfect.” Gary Player said it was “the greatest golf swing of any human being who has ever lived.”

Washington

Fred Couples, Seattle (Born Oct. 3, 1959, age 64)

The easiest swing since Snead and the most results of any golfer from the Apple State, Couples won 15 times, highlighted by the 1992 Masters and The Players in 1984 and 1996.

Couples became the first player to shoot 64 at the Players Stadium Course, then late became the first to shoot 63. He was also the first to win two Players Championships at the Stadium Course. He is the oldest player to make the cut at the Masters in 2023 at the age of 63.

West Virginia

Bill Campbell, Huntington (May 5, 1923 – Aug. 30, 2013)

Why not at least one more career amateur who's the best ever from his state, in addition to Georgia's Bobby Jones? Campbell qualified for The Masters as an amateur 19 times and played on eight Walker Cup teams. He won the West Virginia Amateur 15 times and captured 32 amateur events in all.

Wisconsin

Steve Stricker, Edgerton (Born Feb. 23, 1967, age 57)

Yeah, we hear you Gator fans: Andy North won two U.S. Opens. But he won only one other PGA Tour event and Stricker has amassed 40 career victories, 17 on the PGA Tour Champions where he is currently the dominant player and won the Charles Schwab Cup last year with ridiculous ease.

Wyoming

Jim Benape, Sheridan (Born Oct. 24, 1963, age 60)

Benape attracted enough attention to get a scholarship at Northwestern, where he won the 1986 Big Ten Championship. He won once on the PGA Tour but it was a pretty big one, topping Peter Jacobsen by one shot at the 1988 Western Open. Benape also won professional tournaments in Australia and Canada.

Previous players

Alabama, Hubert Green; Alaska, Danny Edwards; Arizona, Billy Mayfair; Arkansas, Paul Runyan; California, Tiger Woods; Colorado, Wyndham Clark; Connecticut, Julius Boros; Delaware, Porky Oliver; Florida, Brooks Koepka; Georgia, Bobby Jones.

Hawaii, Michelle Wie West; Idahoa, Shirley Englehorn; Illinois, Bob Goalby; Indiana, Fuzzy Zoeller; Iowa, Zach Johnson; Kansas, Marilyn Smith; Kentucky, Justin Thomas; Louisiana, Hal Sutton; Maine, David Peoples; Maryland, Fred Funk.

Massachusetts, Henry Picard; Michigan; Leo Diegel; Minnesota, Lee Janzen; Mississippi, Pete Brown; Missouri, Tom Watson; Montana, Alice Ritzman; Nebraska, Mark Calcavecchia; Nevada, Robert Gamez; New Hampshire, Jane Blalock, Portsmouth; New Jersey, Vic Ghezzi.

New Mexico, Steve Jones; New York, Walter Hagen; North Carolina, Raymond Floyd; North Dakota, Mike Morley; Ohio, Jack Nicklaus; Oklahoma, Tommy Bolt; Oregon, Peter Jacobsen; Pennsylvania, Arnold Palmer; Rhode Island, Lawson Little; South Carolina, Dustin Johnson.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Each U.S. state's best native born golfers, Part 5: South Dakota to Wyoming