Winner in 4 different decades

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

Lee Westwood joined a very select club in golf today, his win in Abu Dhabi meaning he has won tournaments on the main tour (not junior or senior events) in the 90s, 00s, 10s and now 2020s. Off the top of my head I can only think of Sam Snead and Gary Player doing that before (30s to 60s and 50s to 80s respectively).

Tiger Woods may well join Westwood in that respect, this year, and slightly less probably Phil Mickelson. There are a few who can do it in snooker, I think - I forget exactly who apart from Ronnie and John Higgins)? The bowls being back on the telly made me realise that Foster and Marshall can both do it together this week if they win another world pairs. Any others from these or other sports who can claim this achievement in 2020, or who have done it in the past?

[Kevin S]

Aaron Wilbraham has scored League or Cup goals in four decades.

[Sporting]

David Bryant in various bowls competitions?

[Sporting]

I think Joe Davies won various snooker tournaments over 4 decades.

[San Bernardhinault]

Venus might, this year, right? Federer I think just misses out.

[Sean of the Shed]

Serena already has. She won her first ATP title in 1999 and has just won the Auckland Open this year.

[longeared]

John Higgins could win the world championship in four different decades. I'll have a more detailed look at other possibilities when this session finishes.

[longeared]

Of currently active snooker players Ronnie O'Sullivan, John Higgins and Mark Williams could all do it in ranking tournaments. Jimmy White also has ranking wins in 80s / 90s / 00s, although you'd need a pretty active imagination to see him ever winning one again. There's not been any ranking snooker yet this decade, the first tournament is the European Masters in Austria next week. Higgins and Williams are both still in that, White lost in qualifying before Christmas, O'Sullivan didn't enter.

In specific tournaments, O'Sullivan and Higgins could both do it in the UK Championship. Ronnie could also manage it in the Masters, should he ever deign to participate again. Higgins is the only player who can do it at the World Championship, Williams and O'Sullivan just miss out here as their maiden triumphs were in 2000 and 2001 respectively.

Sporting is correct up thread - Joe Davis won the World Championship in the 1920s / 30s / 40s then won the News of the World Championship in the 50s. There wasn't a regular tour or ranking system at the time so it was all a bit different to the present. So far as I can make out nobody has ever managed to win ranking tournaments across four different decades.

[San Bernardhinault]

Serena already has. She won her first ATP title in 1999 and has just won the Auckland Open this year.

Oops! I meant Serena... although Venus still might

[Satchmo Distel]

Fred Davis spans 5 decades - 1948 world snooker champion, 1980 world billiards champion, but only reached the final in the 60s and the semis in the 70s.

John Lowe, 1979 world champ, lost 17-15 to Phil Taylor in the 2002 World Matchplay SF

[jwdd27]

Lester Piggott won flat racing Classics from the 50s to the 90s, winning the Oaks in all 5 decades, and the Derby 50s-80s

Frankie Dettori can join him as a four decade Classic winner this year (or next, or the one after) if he wins the Oaks, and as a four decade Group 1 winner if he wins any number of Queen this-and-that Ascot trash.

The jump boys and girls don't have quite the longevity, but if Richard Johnson gets a winner at Cheltenham he'll have done it in four decades, his first was in 1999, back when he was a putative royal son-in-law.

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

To update my OP in respect of golfers, the only two others to have done this on the USPGA tour are Ray Floyd and Davis Love III. I should have remembered Floyd, he won majors in the 60s 70s and 80s and lost a playoff to Faldo for the 1990 Masters (his last win came two years after that).

[Satchmo Distel]

Golfers who rise early in a decade are unlucky here. Nicklaus won majors spanning 35 seasons (1962-1986) so if he were 3 years older he'd have done 50s-80s. Some of this thread is accidents of chronology in that sense.

Tendulkar's career as an international batsman spanned 1989-2013. He was world class (i.e. automatic World XI pick) for most of that at both Test and ODI level (even more remarkably: No. 4 batting position in Tests, opener in ODIs).

I'm pretty sure that Bradman could have kept playing until the 1950s, having debuted in the 1920s, had he not wanted to expand his financial interests and move into administration.

George Headley, Test career 1930-1954, unlucky to miss the 1928 tour to England.

[Kevin S]

Not sure we'll get a road cyclist. Alejandro Valverde's first World Tour win came in 2003 and I can't find a contender among the women riders either (e.g. Wild, Vos, Zabelinskaya). So not one for the 90s to 2020s at least.

[Kevin S]

Carlos Sainz (senior) got his first rally win in 1990 and won the Dakar rally earlier this month. He had three podium finishes in the 1989 WRC season, so falls just short of getting in five decades of rally wins.

[jwdd27]

Wilfred Rhodes played test cricket from 1899-1930, so just makes 5 decades.
Slightly more recently Brian Close began as an 18 year old in 1949, making his final appearances at 45 in 1975 as target practice for the West Indies quicks.

[Tony C]

Lester Piggott won flat racing Classics from the 50s to the 90s, winning the Oaks in all 5 decades, and the Derby 50s-80s

Frankie Dettori can join him as a four decade Classic winner this year (or next, or the one after) if he wins the Oaks, and as a four decade Group 1 winner if he wins any number of Queen this-and-that Ascot trash.

The jump boys and girls don't have quite the longevity, but if Richard Johnson gets a winner at Cheltenham he'll have done it in four decades, his first was in 1999, back when he was a putative royal son-in-law.

My instinct when I saw this thread was to think of Piggott. Nobody's idea of a nice guy but his career was astounding.

[Foot of Astaire's]

George Foreman must be the most remarkable surely? Turned professional in 1969 and won the heavyweight title again in 1997.

[Simon G]

According to Darts Database Phil Taylor won tournaments in the 80s (British Professional and Canadian Open), 90s (7 world titles), 00s (7 World titles) and 10s (2 World titles).

I looked at John Lowe and Eric Bristow but they were only 3 decade winners.

[Various Artist]

Golfers who rise early in a decade are unlucky here. Nicklaus won majors spanning 35 seasons (1962-1986) so if he were 3 years older he'd have done 50s-80s. Some of this thread is accidents of chronology in that sense.

Very true that of course.

Nicklaus is 'only' 25 seasons, by the way. Though I had to compare it with Tendulkar's equal length of time (1989-2013) in order to work that out, weirdly – when wondering how the latter managed 4 decades to Nicklaus' 3 despite playing 10 years shorter, accidents of chronology or not.