by Keegan Bradley’s victory at the Zozo Championship yesterday didn’t just vault him to No. 1 in the world. It also gave him his fifth PGA Tour title, which earns him admission into the exclusive Swedish Pancake Club, named for permanent member Carl Pettersson. In this club you’ll find an eclectic mix of players, ranging from bona fide superstar Collin Morikawa to marketing master Rickie Fowler to broadcasting legend Roger Maltbie. To commemorate Keegan’s ascension to the five-PGA-Tour-wins group, I’ve assembled a highly subjective ranking of the top 10 Pancakes.
Honorable mentions: Max “America’s Podcast Guest” Homa, all-time amateur Ryan Moore, Jason Dufner of Dufnering fame, Ben “Slow Play” Crane, Nick “Everyone’s Fifth Favorite Player in 2010” Watney, Tom “Dockers” Lehman, and Quad Cities Open champion Dan Forsman.
10. Carl Pettersson – I can’t possibly leave off The Namesake. True golf fans will always wonder what lofty status would Pettersson would have acheived if the long putter hadn’t been banned. Seven wins? Eight? Unfortunately, we’ll never know. After the anchoring ban went into effect on January 1, 2016, Pettersen plummeted from No. 157 to No. 1271 within two years.
9. Billy Mayfair – “Playfair” is known for two things: his outside-in “slice” putting stroke and his loose adherence to the rules of golf.
8. J.B. Holmes – If we’re going to recognize rule-bending on this list, we also need to memorialize slow play. Holmes, the “Human Rain Delay,” has made a lasting impression on anyone who has seen him play while in contention. His display toward the end of the 2018 Farmers Insurance Open, as the entire nation tuned into the CBS broadcast while waiting for the Oscars to start, singlehandedly shrunk the game.
7. Brian Gay – In the lead-up to the 2009 Heritage, there was one question on every golf fan’s mind: can anyone beat Boo Weekley at Harbour Town? The man for the moment was Brian Gay, who turned in the most dominant performance ever by a player who needs a big wind to top 300 yards with a 460cc driver head. Gay won by 10 shots over the formidable Briny Baird and fellow Pancake Club poofer Luke Donald, putting an end to Boo’s reign at Hilton Head.
6. Bob Toski – Where would millennial golfers be without Toski’s instructional VHS tapes from the 90s?
5. John Daly – A two-time major winner whose talent was never in question, Daly has a knack for keeping himself in the news, most recently via the revelation that Jonah Hill will play him in an upcoming biopic.
4. Luke Donald – Donald is a short hitter who reached No. 1 in the 21st century, a feat that has somehow flown under the radar in the years since. The current Euro Ryder Cup captain’s stats from inside 200 yards in the late aughts and early 10s were downright silly.
3. Rickie Fowler – As one of the most overrated players of all time, Rickie needs to be overrated in this ranking, too.
2. Collin Morikawa – To be honest, Morikawa has already spent too long in the Pancake Zone. With two majors to his name, he’s clearly in a class of his own among modern players who have won five times on the PGA Tour. But he hasn’t had a victory on any tour since late 2021, and that’s too long for a ball-striker of his caliber.
1. James Braid – Braid’s five “PGA Tour” wins are the 1901, 1905, 1906, 1908, and 1910 Open Championships. While some might call him a one-trick pony compared to the likes of Brian Gay, I will lean on the excuse that Braid played in a different era. On top of being a member of golf’s Great Triumvirate and an all-time Open stud, he designed a few decent courses, including St. Enodoc and Brora.
This piece originally appeared in The Fried Egg Newsletter. Subscribe for free and receive golf news and insight every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
