Golf has produced relatively few elite left-handed players, but seven of the best golfers of all time in the game have been lefties.
The game’s southpaws have created some of its most memorable major-championship moments and wins in all four corners of the globe.
From Bob Charles breaking the major barrier in 1963 to Phil Mickelson building a Hall-of-Fame resume.
Our shortlist of the seven best left-handed players stand out for a blend of winning, major pedigree, longevity and influence.
The Best 7 Left-Handed Golfers of All-Time
- Phil Mickelson – 45 PGA Tour wins, six majors
- Sir Bob Charles – First left-hander to win a major; 75+ international victories
- Bubba Watson – 12 PGA Tour wins, two Masters titles
- Mike Weir – 8 PGA Tour wins and the 2003 Masters
- Brian Harman – 2023 Open champion and four PGA Tour wins
- Steve Flesch – 4 PGA Tour wins and four PGA Tour Champions wins
- Russ Cochran – PGA Tour winner, Senior Open champion and five Champions wins
The top four form a clear Mount Rushmore: Mickelson for total achievement, Charles for the breakthrough, Watson for his two Green Jackets and unique shot-making and Weir for his historic Masters triumph.
Harman’s Open victory more recently have kept left-handed golfers in the conversation along with fellow PGA Tour winner Akshay Bhatia.
1. Phil Mickelson
Phil Mickelson is on the best players of all-time in golf and as a result is the clear No. 1 in this list of lefties.
His 45 PGA Tour victories put him tied eighth on the Tour’s all-time wins list, while his six majors – three Masters, two PGA Championships and one Open Championship – place him in rare historical company.
Mickelson’s greatness was not merely about volume. He was a sustained contender across multiple eras, regularly challenging the dominant players of his generation and producing an unusually complete major record.
The one missing piece is the U.S. Open, where he finished runner-up six times, but it does little to diminish the scale of his career.
His 2021 PGA Championship win at Kiawah Island sealed the argument. At 50, he became the oldest men’s major champion, collected his sixth major and demonstrated that his creativity, short-game imagination and shot-making could still prevail on an exacting championship course.
No other left-handed golfer comes remotely close to Mickelson’s combination of major wins, Tour victories, longevity and cultural impact. For generations of golfers, “Lefty” made playing from the other side look like an advantage rather than a limitation.
2. Sir Bob Charles
Before Mickelson, there was Sir Bob Charles – the original standard-bearer for left-handed tournament golf.
The New Zealander won the 1963 Open Championship at Royal Lytham & St Annes, becoming the first left-handed player ever to win a men’s major.
Charles’s influence is even greater when viewed in the context of his era. He had few left-handed role models, limited equipment choice compared with modern players and faced a game far less accustomed to southpaws.
Yet he won six times on the PGA Tour, accumulated more than 75 international victories and later added 23 Champions Tour titles.
In 1963, he became the first left-hander to win on the PGA Tour at the Houston Classic, then broke through at The Open. He was also the first left-handed inductee into the World Golf Hall of Fame.
Charles combined historical firsts with a remarkable global and senior-career record. Mickelson may be the most accomplished lefty, but Charles was the pioneer who proved a left-handed golfer could win the biggest prizes.
3. Bubba Watson
Bubba Watson brought a radically different version of left-handed golf to the top level – high-speed, aggressive, creative and almost entirely self-taught in feel.
His 12 PGA Tour victories include two Masters titles, in 2012 and 2014. The 2012 victory remains one of Augusta National’s defining moments.
Watson escaped trouble in the playoff with an extravagant hooked wedge from the trees, then went on to defeat Louis Oosthuizen.
Two years later, he won the Green Jacket again by three shots, confirming he was not merely a one-week specialist.
Watson’s peak was excellent rather than as long as Mickelson’s, but he was a genuine superstar of the 2010s and one of the most distinctive ball-strikers the modern game has seen.
Two Masters titles and a dozen PGA Tour wins give Watson the second-best PGA Tour winning record among left-handers. His flair and ability to shape shots made him a uniquely influential figure.
4. Mike Weir
Mike Weir is one of Canadian golf’s central figures. He won eight PGA Tour events, highlighted by the 2003 Masters, when he beat Len Mattiace in a sudden-death playoff to become the first Canadian man to win a professional major championship.
That victory also mattered enormously for left-handed golf: it was the first Masters won by a left-hander and the first left-handed major winner since Charles’s 1963 Open, a 40-year gap.
Weir’s 2003 campaign was especially impressive, as he also won the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic and Nissan Open before taking the Green Jacket.
Weir did not possess Watson’s raw power or Mickelson’s longevity, but his controlled, repeatable game and putting excellence made him a world-class player at his best. He also represented Canada on five Presidents Cup teams.
An eight-win PGA Tour career and a historic Masters title outweigh the shorter duration of his peak. He remains Canada’s most significant male major champion.
5. Brian Harman
The modern day leader of the lefties, Brian Harman’s place on this list strengthened decisively at the 2023 Open Championship.
He took a five-shot lead into the final round at Royal Liverpool and closed with a one-under-par 70 to win by six strokes – an emphatic performance under Open Championship pressure.
The win made Harman the third left-hander to capture The Open, following Charles and Mickelson. It was also his third PGA Tour victory at the time and he has since moved to four career Tour wins.
Unlike several famous left-handed golfers, Harman does everything except play golf right-handed. That makes his left-handed golf swing all the more distinctive, and his major triumph showed that precision, patience and scrambling remain a winning formula in the power era.
Harman does not yet match the career totals of the four players above him, but an Open Championship won by six shots is a major achievement that elevates him above many more prolific non-major winners.
6. Steve Flesch
Steve Flesch is the strongest non-major-winning left-hander in PGA Tour history, but is a successful leftie.
He won four times on the main tour – including the 2004 Bank of America Colonial and two victories in 2007 – and added four PGA Tour Champions titles.
His major results also show he was more than a regular-tour winner: Flesch recorded a fifth-place Masters finish, sixth at the PGA Championship and seventh at the U.S. Open.
Flesch initially learned the game right-handed before changing to his natural left side. That background makes his eventual success especially interesting for amateur golfers considering whether to play according to handedness rather than convention.
Four PGA Tour wins place Flesch among the most successful left-handed winners outside the major champions, and his senior-career wins reinforce the depth and durability of his game.
7. Russ Cochran
Russ Cochran may not have the same mainstream profile as the names above, but his importance to left-handed golf is substantial.
For much of the 1980s through 1992, he was the only left-handed player competing regularly on the PGA Tour.
His lone PGA Tour victory came at the 1991 Centel Western Open, where he beat Greg Norman by two strokes.
His second act was stronger as Cochran won five times on the PGA Tour Champions, including the 2011 Senior Open Championship.
Cochran also deserves credit as one of the few naturally left-handed players to win on the PGA Tour. In a period with little left-handed representation and fewer specialist equipment options, he remained competitive and helped keep the pathway visible for the players who followed.
His main-tour record is modest relative to the top six, but his senior success, longevity and role as a rare left-handed Tour presence give him a strong claim to this final place.