The best golfer from every U.S. state

Oklahoma: Bob Tway

There is a strong case to be made for Charlie Coe as the greatest golfer to ever come out of Oklahoma. Though he remained an amateur — and not even a full-time one at that — throughout his career, he was highly successful in amateur tournaments and made a living off of having success at Augusta, coming in as the low amateur at The Masters on six separate occasions. That’s certainly memorable in its own right.

Having said that, a phenomenal amateur career and success as an amateur at The Masters ultimately falls short of winning a major championship, which is what Bob Tway, a native of Oklahoma City, was able to do in his career.

Tway’s rise to notoriety first started while at Oklahoma State, where he was a freshman on the 1978 National Championship team. He then led the Cowboys to another title two years later, while also being named a first-team All-American his final three years competing in Stillwater. Following his collegiate success, he turned pro in 1981 before joining the PGA Tour full time in 1985.

It was just one year after joining the PGA Tour when Tway was able to capture his lone major championship, topping the great Greg Norman in the 1986 PGA Championship by two strokes. That major and three other victories for the season earned him PGA Player of the Year honors for that year.

While Tway only racked up eight overall wins on the PGA Tour, he did have the one major win and a top 10 finish in the other three as well. That’s a career that he can his hang his (Oklahoma State) Cowboy hat on any day.