The 11 best English golfers of all time

While the sport may have been founded across the border in Scotland, England also boasts its fair share of golfing history.

English golfers are amongst some of the very best to play the game, across a period spanning over 150 years, so picking the greatest 11 in history was no mean feat. However, we’ve done our best to select the cream of the crop of English pro golfers (as well as a couple of amateurs) in no particular order.

1. Sir Nick Faldo

Born: 18th July 1957
Turned pro: 1976
Professional wins: 41
Highest world ranking: 1st 

There was nowhere else to start. Simply put, no one is more synonymous with English golf than Sir Nick Faldo.

After going pro in 1976, his career began as it would go on, defeating the reigning Open Championship champion Tom Watson in his maiden Ryder Cup appearance in 1977.

Come the late 1980s and early 1990s, he wasn’t just the best English golfer—he was the best in the world. His first major triumph came in 1987 at The Open Championship, and over the course of the next nine years, he’d win five more majors.

In 1990, he became the first player to win back-to-back Masters titles in 24 years, and he’s also won more major golf championships than any European since before World War I.

Faldo represented Europe at the Ryder Cup 11 times, picking up 25 points in the process. In 2008, he’d return to the competition as captain.

Individually, he won the PGA Tour Player of the Year award in 1990 and was named European Tour Player of the Year three times. Combine those awards with his MBE in 1988, the 1989 BBC Sports Personality of the Year award, his induction into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1998, 97 weeks atop of the Official World Golf Ranking and a knighthood in 2009 and, well, it’s hard to keep up with just how many successes Faldo managed to rack up.

There may never be a better English golfer than Sir Nick. 

2. John Henry Taylor

Born: 19th March 1871 (died 1963)
Turned pro: 1890
Professional wins: 19 
Highest world ranking: N/A

Hailing from Devon and orphaned at a young age, J.H. Taylor is one of the ultimate rags-to-riches stories of all English golfers.

At age 11, he began working as a caddie at the Royal Devon Golf Club, carrying the bag of famed amateur golfer Horace Hutchinson.

Taylor would go further than Hutchinson ever could, becoming a professional at the age of 19 and going on to win five Open Championships, only second to Faldo in terms of majors won by English golfers.

His status was immortalised by his place alongside Harry Vardon and James Braid in the Great Triumvirate, the first ever ‘Big Three’ in golf.

Only one year after winning The Open in 1900, Taylor also became the co-founder and maiden chairman of the British Professional Golfers’ Association, the first of its kind in the world.

In short, his legacy is far larger than that of just a great golfer. The sport we know and love today might have looked very different without Taylor’s input. 

3. Dame Laura Davies

Born: 5th October 1963
Turned pro: 1985
Professional wins: 86
Highest world ranking: 1st (unofficial)

As far as English golfers go—male or female, old or new—Dame Laura Davies deserves a spot right at the top. A tally of 86 professional wins is nothing short of remarkable, and four major honours isn’t a bad total, either.

Her first year as a professional couldn’t have started much better, as Davies picked up the Rookie of the Year and Order of Merit titles at her maiden Ladies’ European Tour appearance in 1985 (then known as the WPGET).

Things would only improve from there. She won the Women’s PGA Championship twice, as well as the U.S. Women’s Open in 1987 and the Canadian Women’s Open in 1996. In 1994, she prevailed on five different golf tours, becoming the first golfer to do so in one calendar year. That same year, she was ranked as unofficial world number one on the Ping Leaderboard. She is also the leading points scorer in the Solheim Cup.

She also has many individual awards, including being named the Sports Journalists’ Association Sportswoman of the Year in 1995 and 1996, becoming a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2014, and being inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2015. 

4. Sir Henry Cotton

Born: 28th January 1907 (died 1987)
Turned pro: 1924
Professional wins: 37
Highest world ranking: N/A

It might be hard to believe, but at first, golf wasn’t Henry Cotton’s calling. A keen cricketer first and foremost, what started as a second sport soon became a professional career and later transformed into something far bigger. 

Cotton went pro in 1924, beginning as an assistant teaching professional at Fulwell Golf Club before moving to Rye Golf Club to become an assistant. At just 19, he’d become the professional at Langley Park Golf Club.

However, it wasn’t until the 1930s and 1940s that he started to find real success. His first major honour came in The Open Championship in 1934, and he’d be crowned victorious again three years later. His final major win—another Open—came in 1948.

The reason for that 11-year gap is that Cotton served with the RAF during World War II, playing exhibition matches to raise money for the Red Cross.

He was also a competent figure in three British Ryder Cup teams. He captained the team in 1947 and 1953, although he didn’t play in the latter. Cotton was knighted as part of the New Year’s Day Honours in 1988. He accepted the award in 1987 but had sadly passed away by the time it was announced. 

5. Lee Westwood OBE

Born: 24th April 1973
Turned pro: 1993
Professional wins: 44
Highest world ranking: 1st

In the pantheon of famous English golfers, Lee Westwood will always be something of an enigma because, despite spending a total of 22 weeks on top of the Official World Ranking and picking up 44 professional wins, he has never won a major championship.

Only seven golfers have more European tour wins than Westwood’s 25, and only five have more than his eight Asian tour wins. He’s finished second or third in six major championships and in the top 10 a further 13 times.

He has been European Tour Golfer of the Year four times and the European Tour Players’ Player of the Year twice, most recently in 2020. In 2000, he won seven tournaments across the globe. And yet, despite all the personal accolades, that major championship has always eluded him.

Having been appointed OBE in 2011, he may forever be known as one of the best English golfers, but also one of the best golfers never to win a major.

6. Tony Jacklin CBE

Born: 7th July 1944
Turned pro: 1962
Professional wins: 29
Highest world ranking: N/A

At the peak of his powers, no English golfer could rival Tony Jacklin.

After discovering golf through his father, Jacklin turned pro in 1962 and wasted no time making a name for himself. He first competed in the 1963 Open Championship, where he finished 30th, but the best was yet to come. 

In 1969, Jacklin won his first major championship at The Open, and a year later, he also added the U.S. Open to his resume. For this, he was rewarded with an OBE.

After captaining Europe at the Ryder Cup in 1983, that OBE became a CBE. He’d go on to captain the team on three further occasions, winning twice, including a first European victory in nearly 30 years in 1985.

For that period of roughly two decades, Jacklin was the crème de la crème of English golfers, and he was deservedly inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2002. 

7. Jim Barnes

Born: 8th April 1886 (died 1966)
Turned pro: 1906
Professional wins: 29
Highest world ranking: N/A

Despite moving to the USA in his youth, Jim Barnes never acquired American citizenship, meaning his four major championship titles remain English.

In fact, he won nine majors during his professional career, although only four came in the modern majors. He first took a major win eight years after going pro, when he scooped the Western Open in 1914. Two years later, he’d win the also defunct North and South Open as well as the maiden PGA Championship.

Over the course of 11 years, Barnes would also win the U.S. Open and The Open Championship. He won 22 times on the PGA Tour, including in 1937, when he became the first player to win the tour over the age of 50.

Barnes would see out his days stateside, but he’s still regarded as one of the very best English golfers to play the game.

8. Harold Hilton

Born: 12th January 1869 (died 1942)
Turned pro: N/A
Major championship wins: 7
Highest world ranking: N/A

Despite never going professional, Harold Hilton still had remarkable successes in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including scooping seven major championship victories.

Of course, there’s the caveat that, of those seven, only two would be considered majors in the modern era, but it’s still a remarkable haul nonetheless. His Open Championship victories in 1892 and 1897 are perhaps the most impressive of his triumphs, but he also won the U.S. Amateur in 1911—becoming the first foreign player to do so, and the British Amateur on four occasions.

His importance to golf went beyond just his sporting successes, having also played a key role in designing Ferndown Golf Club, one of the top 100 courses in Britain. 

Hilton’s significance was formally recognised when he was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1978. 

9. Justin Rose MBE

Born: 30th July 1980
Turned pro: 1998
Professional wins: 25
Highest world ranking: 1st

Few English golfers have a more impressive track record than Justin Rose since the turn of the millennium. 

While he’s only won one major championship (the 2013 U.S. Open), he’s put together an impressive Ryder Cup record with four wins in six appearances. He also took home the gold medal at the 2016 Olympics and spent 13 weeks as world number one between 2018 and 2019.

In 2017, Rose was also awarded an MBE for services to golf.

He’s hardly shown signs of slowing down either. As recently as 2024, he tied for second place at The Open Championship. 

10. Joyce Wethered

Born: 17th November 1901 (died 1997)
Turned pro: N/A
Major championship wins: 4
Highest world ranking: N/A

Like Harold Hilton, Joyce Wethered never turned professional, but in the amateur women’s game, she was untouchable.

Between 1922 and 1929, she won the Women’s Amateur Championship (then known as the British Ladies’ Amateur) four times, the joint-highest tally in history along with Cecil Leitch. This was considered one of the two major amateur championships in women’s golf.

She is also the most successful ever player in the English Women’s Amateur Championship (then known as the English Ladies’ Amateur Championship), having won the competition five years in a row between 1920 and 1924.

Even without having gone pro, Wethered was a trailblazer in women’s golf and was recognised with induction into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1975. 

11. Ian Poulter

Born: 10th January 1976
Turned pro: 1995
Professional wins: 17
Highest world ranking: 5th

While his record in majors flatters to deceive, with a runners-up position at the 2008 Open Championship the peak, what sets Ian Poulter apart from other English golfers is his record in the Ryder Cup.

He’s competed in the competition seven times, earning 16 points in the process. Of those appearances, five have been wins, garnering him the nickname ‘The Postman’ because of just how consistent he was at delivering European points.

Whatever happens going forward, he’ll always be remembered as Mr. Consistent when it comes to serving his continent, earning him a deserved spot as one of the top English golfers of all time.

Specialist golf insurance with Golf Care

Feeling inspired? You might want to consider protecting yourself with specialist golf insurance for peace of mind before you next hit the course or driving range.

With Golf Care, policies include Equipment Cover up to £7,500, Public Liability of up to £10m, and Personal Accident Cover up to £50,000. Get a quote online today.