I was on course to be the greatest, then I teed off!
Personally I hope he comes back with a roar as he is great to watch
Tiger the greatest ???
- Thread starter golfdub
- Start date
I was on course to be the greatest, then I teed off!
Personally I hope he comes back with a roar as he is great to watch
bobmac
Major Champion
He stopped to sign my autograph book during a practice round at Carnoustie.
I was about 9 at the time.
He was then and still is a gentleman, still giving back to golf.
But then, golfers aren't judged by being nice people alone, it's their record that stands them apart from the also rans....
Oops he has that too.
Tiger, a great golfer?....no doubt about it.
The greatest ?
Sorry, not by a long way
I was about 9 at the time.
He was then and still is a gentleman, still giving back to golf.
But then, golfers aren't judged by being nice people alone, it's their record that stands them apart from the also rans....
Oops he has that too.
Tiger, a great golfer?....no doubt about it.
The greatest ?
Sorry, not by a long way
sweatysock41
Q-School Graduate
does.not.compute
Young Tom Morris?????
bobmac
Major Champion
Apologies.
I thought we were comparing the no.1 and 2 golfers in the record books
I thought we were comparing the no.1 and 2 golfers in the record books
lobthewedge
Challenge Tour Pro
The greatest is Ben Hogan.
Tiger and Jack have both stated as much in the past.
Tiger and Jack have both stated as much in the past.
Crawfy
Tour Rookie
Agree - its a simple "show me yer medals son!"
If Tiger regains his form and gets back to winning Majors he has a chance of being seen as the greatest of all time. If he continues on present form, he may struggle to keep his second place on that list
ArnoldArmChewer
Tour Winner
No I don't
lobthewedge
Challenge Tour Pro
Disagree completely.
If you are using that logic Michael Campbell is higher up on the all time great list than Lee Westwood. The number of majors won does not always define greatness.
bobmac
Major Champion
It does when you've won 18 of the blighters :thup:
garyinderry
Ryder Cup Winner
didnt pele say that george was the best? lol
oh and poor tiger would be back playing off about 5 if you add up all his recent o.1's! i feel sorry for the billionare. hope he gets it back some day. when hes involved, there is no lack of excitment!
golfdub
Tour Rookie
I suppose it's what era you began the sport in. As I never really see the other greats play live.
Still a young pup
Still a young pup
Ethan
Money List Winner
Another vote for Nicklaus here.
Aside from his superior number of wins, Jack also behaved like a true champion, and was gracious in his conduct on the course, and in victory and defeat.
Aside from his superior number of wins, Jack also behaved like a true champion, and was gracious in his conduct on the course, and in victory and defeat.
Mungoscorner
Journeyman Pro
Ditto.
S
Snelly
Guest
Woods is not even close. If you think he is then you must be very short sighted with little grasp of golfing history.
There is a far, far stronger argument for saying that Jack Nicklaus is the greatest and I am tempted to agree but I won't as I still feel that Bobby Jones was probably the world's greatest golfer.
Here is Jones' record in his majors:
U.S. Open
Events played.....11
Events won.........4
Second Place......4
Top 5..................9
Top 10................10 (he never finished out of the top 11)
U.S. Amateur
Events played.....13
Wins...................5
Second place......2
British Open
Events played......4
Wins..................3
British Amateur
Events played.....3
Wins...................1
Second place.......1
Total
Events plays....29
Wins...............13
Jones' career major winning percentage was an astounding 44 percent, compared to 29 percent for Vardon, 25 percent for Hagen, and 16 percent for Nicklaus. If you strip the amateur tournaments out and only include his records in the U.S. and British Opens, his winning percentage actually goes up to 47 percent.
I am aware of the argument against Jones being classed as the greatest ever but I don't subscribe to it and feel that he is the number 1.
Finally, just to note that I am not one for thinking the achievements of those in the distant past must always be better. Quite the contrary in fact. For example, I would absolutely argue that Lionel Messi is the greatest footballer that has ever lived. And I can remember watching Pele and Maradonna.
Edited to add the following about Mr Robert Jones Jr:
He is most famous for his "Grand Slam," when he won all four majors in the same calender year of 1930. What he is less famous for is a blazing eight-year streak between 1923 and 1930, when he finished either first or second in 18 of the 21 majors he entered. This included winning three out of three British Opens. No golfer has ever come anywhere close to being that dominant over the similar length of time.
Another important argument in Jones' favour is his success at match play. Match play events are much more difficult to win than stroke play events. Six of Jones' 13 majors were match-play victories. This makes his eight-year streak that much more impressive.
Cheers,
Snelly.
There is a far, far stronger argument for saying that Jack Nicklaus is the greatest and I am tempted to agree but I won't as I still feel that Bobby Jones was probably the world's greatest golfer.
Here is Jones' record in his majors:
U.S. Open
Events played.....11
Events won.........4
Second Place......4
Top 5..................9
Top 10................10 (he never finished out of the top 11)
U.S. Amateur
Events played.....13
Wins...................5
Second place......2
British Open
Events played......4
Wins..................3
British Amateur
Events played.....3
Wins...................1
Second place.......1
Total
Events plays....29
Wins...............13
Jones' career major winning percentage was an astounding 44 percent, compared to 29 percent for Vardon, 25 percent for Hagen, and 16 percent for Nicklaus. If you strip the amateur tournaments out and only include his records in the U.S. and British Opens, his winning percentage actually goes up to 47 percent.
I am aware of the argument against Jones being classed as the greatest ever but I don't subscribe to it and feel that he is the number 1.
Finally, just to note that I am not one for thinking the achievements of those in the distant past must always be better. Quite the contrary in fact. For example, I would absolutely argue that Lionel Messi is the greatest footballer that has ever lived. And I can remember watching Pele and Maradonna.
Edited to add the following about Mr Robert Jones Jr:
He is most famous for his "Grand Slam," when he won all four majors in the same calender year of 1930. What he is less famous for is a blazing eight-year streak between 1923 and 1930, when he finished either first or second in 18 of the 21 majors he entered. This included winning three out of three British Opens. No golfer has ever come anywhere close to being that dominant over the similar length of time.
Another important argument in Jones' favour is his success at match play. Match play events are much more difficult to win than stroke play events. Six of Jones' 13 majors were match-play victories. This makes his eight-year streak that much more impressive.
Cheers,
Snelly.
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Ethan
Money List Winner
Jones had a short career, and would have been unlikely to maintain that winning average for another decade. Also, a couple of those events were matchplay and it is hard to compare matchplay with strokeplay. Tiger Woods won 3 of the 6 US amateurs he entered (and the first time he entered, he was only 15).
Jones is undoubtedly a legend, but can he really be called the best of all time?
Andr3w
Assistant Pro
Tiger Woods is the best, there is not even any debate in my eyes. But for injuries and personal issues I'm pretty sure he'd already have surpassed the major record but that is only a smalll part of it in my view.
Sure Nicklaus had great opponents but the Majors tended to be shared out among a small group of top players. Nowadays you've got a far more deep pool of players that can have a random great weekend. Is it something like the last 10 majors have been won by 1st timers? Didn't see that happening in Nicklaus' era.
Then just go on wikipedia and look at how many green 1s he has in for WGC events which are essentially major equivalent fields. He's got a ton of them.
I don't have access to the stats but Tiger's win % on the PGA tour is something ridiculous as well and I don't think Jack is even close.
We talk about people having short memories and forgetting the achievements from yesteryear. But seem to forget that only recently Tiger spent about 10 years not just winning tournaments but utterly destroying top class fields by several strokes.
Sure Nicklaus had great opponents but the Majors tended to be shared out among a small group of top players. Nowadays you've got a far more deep pool of players that can have a random great weekend. Is it something like the last 10 majors have been won by 1st timers? Didn't see that happening in Nicklaus' era.
Then just go on wikipedia and look at how many green 1s he has in for WGC events which are essentially major equivalent fields. He's got a ton of them.
I don't have access to the stats but Tiger's win % on the PGA tour is something ridiculous as well and I don't think Jack is even close.
We talk about people having short memories and forgetting the achievements from yesteryear. But seem to forget that only recently Tiger spent about 10 years not just winning tournaments but utterly destroying top class fields by several strokes.
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S
Snelly
Guest
I am not sure he can Ethan no. But I am sure that adding Jones into the discussion helps to broaden the debate. Other great names from the past also merit consideration; Hagen, Hogan, Snead and Vardon are the most prominent in my mind.
And I would say Seve is my favourite golfer of all time and when it comes to certain elements of the game, he is clearly the best ever!
Maybe it is Jack, maybe it is Woods when you look at how the game has become more competitive in the era he competes in? Even though the statistics can point to clear winners of the title, best ever, these are still subjective to an extent and basically it comes down to personal preference.
From my perspective, I would say that my opinion on top 5 golfers ever would be as follows: Jones, Nicklaus, Hogan, Vardon and then Snead. Woods is probably better than at least two of these but he would not make my top 20 as I just can't get past the spitting, swearing, club chucking, tight-fistedness, duplicitousness and downright poor manners.
It is an interesting debate and no real right answer I suppose.....
thegogg
Head Pro
ColinStevens
Hacker
Tiger lost my vote with all his personnel issues. You could say that all that has nothing to do with golf, but it says alot about him.
