Brandel Chamblee makes bold Tiger Woods claim

The only active player on the PGA Tour with more wins than Rory McIlroy? Tiger Woods. 

McIlroy has moved into 23rd for all-time PGA Tour victories after capturing his 25th title alongside partner Shane Lowry at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans on Sunday.

He moved one ahead of Gary Player and Dustin Johnson with his victory at TPC Louisiana and claimed a winner’s cheque of $1.286million. No wonder the Northern Irishman was in the mood for a sing-song.

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McIlroy’s win was on debut at the Zurich Classic, which is the only team event currently staged on the PGA Tour. That in itself has sparked a debate over its legitimacy. As McIlroy was partnered with his good mate Lowry, did the win need an asterisk in his overall Tour record?

Brandel Chamblee certainly seems to think so.

“Team wins should have their own category amongst “tour wins”… most golf fans, if not ALL golf fans assume “individual” wins when a player’s total tour wins are named,” the Golf Channel analyst wrote on X, sparking a lively debate on golf social media.

Team wins should have their own category amongst “tour wins”… most golf fans, if not ALL golf fans assume “individual” wins when a player’s total tour wins are named… but Sam Snead has 5 team wins counted amongst his 82 wins while Tiger has ZERO team wins in his 82 wins… so I… https://t.co/TYC1ItRlwJ

— Brandel Chamblee (@chambleebrandel) April 29, 2024

Woods famously sits on 82 PGA Tour wins, the same number as the great Sam Snead.

But Snead’s record is dubious, given that the team victories picked up in his garlanded career have counted in the history books.

“Sam Snead has 5 team wins counted amongst his 82 wins while Tiger has ZERO team wins in his 82 wins… so I ask you who has won the most tour events of all time??? It is Tiger.” Chamblee concluded.

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Woods and Snead could remain locked on 82 wins at the top forever, barring another remarkable comeback from the 15-time major champion.

But the debate will rage on as to whether Snead’s total is “flawed”. Woods has zero team wins attributed in his 82, while, as Chamblee notes, five of Snead’s victories are not solo titles.

Throughout his long period of dominance, Snead’s official wins include an 18-hole event, as well as a fourball tournament that included only eight teams.

Had all of Woods’ “unofficial” victories counted, like the 2000 World Cup with David Duval, he’d be well into the 90s.

McIlroy, already building his own hall-of-fame career, will care not.

Ben Parsons joined bunkered as a Content Producer in 2023 and is the man to come to for all of the latest news, across both the professional and amateur games. Formerly of The Mirror and Press Association, he is a member at Halifax Golf Club and is a long-suffering fan of both Manchester United and the Wales rugby team.