J.C. Snead joined the PGA TOUR in 1968 at a time when the TOUR already featured another Snead, a player of some renown, someone who happened to be J.C.’s uncle.

Throughout his life, Sam Snead, the winner of 82 PGA TOUR titles, always referred to his nephew as Carlyle, not using his first name—Jesse—or his initials. Instead, Sam went with his nephew’s middle name.

Once they were both on the PGA TOUR, Sam saw no need to change. Meanwhile, whenever J.C. saw his father’s younger brother, he always used “Uncle Sam” when talking to the TOUR’s all-time winningest player.

After J.C. won the 1971 Tucson Open for his first PGA TOUR title, Sam weighed in on his nephew’s success.

“Just because he’s won a tournament now gives him no right to start calling me ‘Sam.’ I’m still ‘Uncle Sam,’ and Carlyle knows it,” Sam said, laughing.

Carlyle never quite reached the success of Uncle Sam, but the Tucson Open win was the first of eight victories the younger Snead enjoyed during a 22-year PGA TOUR career. He added four more titles on PGA TOUR Champions after turning 50 before retiring from golf. J.C. died April 25, 2025, in Hot Springs, Virginia, of complications from cancer. He was 84.

J.C. was born Oct. 14, 1940, in Hot Springs, to Jesse and Sylvia Snead. Jesse was seven years older than his younger brother Sam, the entire Snead family residing for generations in Bath County in Western Virginia, not far from the West Virginia border. Because of family proximity, J.C. spent plenty of time with his Uncle Sam when Sam was not playing tournaments.

During his growing-up years, living in the shadows of The Homestead Resort and its championship Cascades Course, baseball was more J.C.’s game than was golf, and J.C. played baseball throughout high school. Upon graduation, he began attending East Tennessee State University and later signed a professional baseball contract. Beginning at age 20, Snead, a natural athlete, played two seasons with the Statesville (North Carolina) Owls of the Western Carolina League. The outfielder was one of the Owls’ stars in the short-season league, in 1962, leading the WCL in runs scored (75) and tying for the home-run title, with nine. Snead played one more baseball season before hanging up his cleats and following in his famous uncle’s footsteps, giving pro golf a try.

For most of his early life, J.C. had merely played golf recreationally and only became serious about the sport once his baseball days concluded. It didn’t take Snead long before his golf skills surpassed his baseball abilities.

Snead earned his PGA TOUR card prior to the 1968 season and began his rookie year playing on the TOUR-sponsored Latin American circuit, competing in tournaments in Colombia (tied for 38th), Panama (tied for 28th) and Venezuela (tied for 30th). Snead made his official TOUR debut at the Jacksonville Open, where he missed the cut.

He played in 10 official TOUR tournaments that first season, making five cuts and earning $690. The following year, the outlook significantly improved, as Snead, late in the season, posted a tie for third at the Michigan Golf Classic. He began the final round at Shenandoah Country Club in Walled Lake a stroke off the lead. Snead fired a Sunday 67 only to fall a stroke shy of the Larry Ziegler-Homero Blancas playoff that Ziegler won.

Snead’s breakthrough came in 1971, when he posted rounds of 66-71-70-66 at Tucson National to beat Dale Douglass by a shot. Snead didn’t qualify for the following week’s PGA Championship, so, fresh off his Arizona victory, he returned to Virginia before traveling to Miami for his next tournament, the Doral-Eastern Open. There, Snead recorded four more sub-par rounds at Doral’s Blue Monster. Weekend scores of 66-69 resulted in a second consecutive victory, by a shot over Gardner Dickinson.

Snead was pleased to note that Uncle Sam was also in the Doral field, the 58-year-old Sam tying for 51st.

On the 72nd hole, standing under an umbrella on the fairway as a defense against the hot South Florida sun, J.C. prepared to hit his approach shot when a fan in the gallery yelled, “Miss it.”

A visibly angry Snead regrouped and didn’t miss, his ball settling 13 feet from the cup. All he needed was to two-putt from there to beat Dickinson. Snead’s birdie putt lipped out, and he routinely tapped in from a couple of inches for par and the title.

After his second win in three weeks, Snead said, “I always was kind of streaky. I’d go five for five in baseball then strike out five times. I’d score 20 points in one quarter in a high school basketball game then get two the rest of the game.”

Snead ended the 1971 season with four more top-10s, including a runner-up finish at the Greater Hartford Open. His resume was impressive enough for him to earn a spot on the U.S. Ryder Cup team, captained by Jay Hebert. The Americans beat Team Great Britain, 18 1/2 to 13 1/2. Snead teamed with Jack Nicklaus to win their foursomes match. He then paired with Frank Beard and Gene Littler in separate four-ball matches, Snead on the winning end of both of those matches, as well. Snead completed his perfect, rookie Ryder Cup week spent outside St. Louis with a 1-up singles win over Tony Jacklin.

Snead played on two more U.S. Ryder Cup teams, in 1973 and 1975.

His biggest TOUR win came at the 1987 Manufacturers Hanover Westchester Classic, then offering the richest purse on the PGA TOUR. Snead beat Seve Ballesteros in a playoff.

Snead also became known for his close calls. He was runner-up in the inaugural PLAYERS Championship, in 1974, losing to Nicklaus. He fell to Nicklaus again at the 1976 PLAYERS. Snead was also a runner-up at the 1973 Masters and the 1978 U.S. Open.

He teamed with his uncle at the 1972 National Team Championship in Ligonier, Pennsylvania, and they tied for 17th. In 24 PGA TOUR seasons, Snead made 632 starts. His last full year came in 1990, the same year he turned 50.

Snead then gave full attention to PGA TOUR Champions. He enjoyed three top-10s in his four 1990 starts on the senior circuit and won the first of his four PGA TOUR Champions titles in 1993, at the Vantage at The Dominion in San Antonio, outlasting Gary Player and Bobby Nichols. Three more wins followed, including at the 1995 Ford Senior Players Championship.

Snead had to fight demons that week, remembering his collapse in the same tournament in 1992 when he led after the first three rounds and held a two-shot lead going to the 72nd hole. He looked destined to win that year until his drive landed in the wetlands bordering No. 18, leading to a double bogey. He lost to Dave Stockton by a shot.

J.C. waited three years to atone for that disappointment, finally able to get the better of Nicklaus. The two battled all week at TPC Michigan and ended 72 holes of regulation tied.

Playing the same 18th where disaster struck, Snead on the first sudden-death hole hit his approach on the par-4 to four feet, while Nicklaus had a 30-footer for birdie. Snead made his, and Nicklaus didn’t, giving Snead the title.

“Like everybody else, I’ve lost my share to Jack. But at least one time it was my day,” Snead explained in the interview room following his victory. “Guys like me don’t peak very long before we drop back into a valley. It seems that throughout my career, Jack peaked at the same times as me.”

He then added with a laugh, with the crystal trophy sitting in front of him, “Of course [Jack’s] peaks were higher and lasted longer.”

“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,” said Miller Brady, PGA TOUR Champions president. “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.”

Snead played a part-time schedule after 2006 and made his last PGA TOUR Champions appearance in 2012. He played in an impressive 1,097 PGA TOUR and PGA TOUR Champions tournaments combined.

The Virginia Sports Hall of Fame inducted Snead in 2003, with the Virginia Golf Hall of Fame following, in 2017.

Snead is survived by his wife, Suzie, and his son, Jason. He also has two grandsons.

The family is still planning funeral services.