Depending on who you ask, golf legend Sam Snead may have 82, 84, or as many as 90 Tour victories to his credit.

While the issue may seem trivial, it’s a question that becomes more pertinent as Tiger Woods steadily accumulates victories. Assuming that Eldrick gets five victories a year, he could be as close as five years to passing Snead’s totals.

And that’s where some of Snead’s friends and supporters come in. The claim that Snead, who died in 2002 at the age of 89, is being cheated of victories.

It certainly seems that way. For example, the Tour doesn’t count his three victories in the Green Briar Invitational and two in the Sam Snead Festival because the purses were too small. And yet, those tournaments were 72-hole events that featured top fields that included Ben Hogan, Gary Player and Arnold Palmer. The Tour also discounts Snead’s 1939 Ontario Open and 1942 Cordoba Open because they were outside the United States; at the same time, however, the Tour counts the 1945 Montreal Open as part of Byron Nelson’s 11-tournament winning streak.

Either Snead gets credit for the Ontario, or Byron only won 10 straight. It seems to me that you can’t have it both ways.

More here.

A bit earlier today, I wrote a piece about Hubert Green, inspired both by his election to the hall of fame, and (in light of recent events at Virginia Tech), the death threats that he received and the chaos they caused at the 1977 US Open. But I thought that Curtis Strange also ought to get his due. So here it is.

Newly elected Golf Hall of Fame Member Curtis Strange was one of the best players on Tour in the 1980s, with 16 of his 17 victories coming during that time. Strange was the leading money winner in 1985 and 1987 and was the first to win a million dollars in official money during a season.

Strange won two majors: the 1988 and 1989 US Opens. He also played on five Ryder Cup teams (1983, 1985, 1987, 1989, and 1995) and captained the team in 2002. He now plays on the Champions Tour.

Strange is another of those players that I might put on the Underachievers’ list. While he did win back to back US Opens, and sixteen victories in ten years, it seemed as though he had a lot more in the bag. Still, a Hall of Fame Career pretty much speaks for itself.

Along with Curtis Strange, Hubert Green was recently elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame.

Unfortunately, Green often is remembered for the death threats he received prior to the 1977 US Open at Southern Hills. Dave Kindred tells the story far better than I could. His article from a couple of years ago in Golf Digest is worth re-reading.

I’m sure that Greem would rather be known for being among the top 33 all-time PGA Tour Winners with 19 victories during his 26 years on the PGA Tour. He won two major championships: the 1977 U.S. Open which was held at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma and the 1985 PGA Championship which was held at the Cherry Hills Country Club in Cherry Hills Village, Colorado. He played on three Ryder Cup teams: 1977, 1979, and 1985.

He also has four victories on the Champions Tour.

Broadcaster Johnny Miller will return to the fairways and greens in next week’s Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf tournament. It will be his first competitive round since 1997.

For those who know Miller only as an acerbic broadcaster, a little background is in order:

For a short period of time in the early through mid 1970s, Johnny Miller was as good a golfer as any who has played. He won the 1973 US Open at Oakmont, where he came storming back from 12th place with a final round 63. That’s an incredible feat at any US Open, but especially so at Oakmont.

He was the leading money winner on the Tour in 1974, winning eight tournaments. In 1975, he finished second to Nicklaus at the Masters, and third at the British Open. In 1976, he won the British Open for his second Major.

Following that, however, his brilliant play tailed off, and he was not nearly as successful. Miller finished his career with 25 PGA Tour wins, played on two Ryder Cup teams and was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1996.

It’ll be good to see him play again.

Johnny Hart, creator of the classic comic strip BC died at his storyboard Saturday at age 76.

His brainchild, the “BC” Comic strip, was launched in 1958 and appeared in 1,300 newspapers. It also may be the only comic strip to have a tournament named after it—the BC Open in Endicott, New York. The BC Open was played from 1971 to 2006. This year, it becomes the Dicks Sporting Goods Open, a Champions Tour event.

The origin of the naming of the BC Open is somewhat in question. According to some sources, it was originally named the Broome County Open, after its geographic location. Hart was a native of Endicott, however, and his cartoons have been used as the logo for as long as anyone can remember.

Thanks for many years of enjoyment, Johnny Hart.