J.C. Snead stared down one of the greatest golfers of all time, Jack Nicklaus, and didn’t flinch with the 1995 Senior Players Championship on the line. His birdie on the first playoff hole secured his lone major championship and cemented his status as one of the biggest names in Timesland golf history.
That victory was the Hot Springs native’s highlight during an illustrious professional career that spanned more than four decades.
J.C. Snead holds the trophy after beating Jack Nicklaus in a playoff to win the Senior Players Championship in 1995.
Snead, 84, died Friday from complications with cancer in Hot Springs. He was a part of a legendary golf family that was led by his late uncle, World Golf Hall of Fame member Sam Snead.
“J.C. Snead carried on the legacy of the Snead name for the 42 years he was a regular either on the PGA Tour or PGA Tour Champions,” PGA Tour Champions president Miller Brady said in a statement. “J.C. was a brilliant competitor, and like his Uncle Sam, he came from a small town only to end up competing and succeeding on the biggest of stages. We mourn his death and send our love to his family.”
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Snead’s playoff win over Nicklaus was his penultimate professional victory. He won the 2002 Greater Baltimore Classic by one stroke over Bobby Wadkins, John Mahaffey and Doug Tewell.
He set a senior tour record for longest gap between victories spanning 6 years, 11 months and 7 days.
“I felt like if I kept plugging away, I could win,” Snead said after his final triumph.
Snead won eight times on the PGA Tour and four more times on the PGA Tour Champions. He also won once on the PGA Tour of Australasia in 1973.
Snead won more than $7 million in his professional career. He finished runner-up in the 1973 Masters, was tied for second in the 1978 U.S. Open and was tied for third in the 1973 PGA Championship. He also had a pair of second-place finishes in the Players Championship and earned a spot on three Ryder Cup teams (1971, 1973, 1975).
Snead played in 1,097 tournaments during his time on the PGA Tour and PGA Tour Champions.
J.C. Snead hits out of the bunker during the 2003 Constellation Energy Classic at the Hayfields Country Club in Hunt Valley, Maryland.
His long list of accomplishments led to him being inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame in 2003.
He was part of a star-studded second Virginia Golf Hall of Fame class in 2017. He was joined in the class by another Timesland golf great — Martinsville’s Keith Decker — and Donna Andrews and Wallace McDowell.
His uncle, Sam, was part of an illustrious inaugural class that included Vinny Giles, Curtis Strange, Lanny Wadkins, Clyde Luther and Chandler Harper.
“It’s a great honor,” Snead said in a 2017 interview with The 166su Times. “I appreciate being selected and going in with some other great players. Sam was my uncle, but he was my friend, too. It’s an honor to be in the same hall with him.”
Snead was born on Oct. 14, 1940, and grew up near The Homestead Resort and the championship Cascades Course. He was a multi-sport standout at Bath County High School and attended East Tennessee State University.
Snead played in the Washington Senators farm system with the Middlesboro Senators, Statesville Owls, Raleigh Capitals and Geneva Senators from 1961-63.
He hit .285 with 22 homers over 247 games.
Snead followed in his uncle’s footsteps and switched to golf in 1964.
The move led to a historic career that featured Snead exchanging shots with some of the greatest to play the game.
