Tied for 2nd one stroke back. Paul Casey with a 6 under today stormed up the charts. Tuff luck for Tiger today. Nice to be 2nd though.
Physically Tiger is spent with that back...a result of torqued up, power swinging. Yet, he's still good enough to win again. But getting several more majors to tie Nicklaus is very unlikely.
Regardless, Tiger's amazing stint from 1997-2004 were the greatest 8 seasons of golf ever strung together. It was unworldly. Nicklaus was pretty amazing too from around 1969-1978...but Tiger's domination was much better. Tiger's power and finesse reinvented the game of professional golf for everyone else to catch up....which took the pro tour about 10 yrs to do. And Tiger's A- game from 2005-2009 was still arguably the 2nd or 3rd best string of golf ever put together. No doubt in the top 2-3 pro golfers ever to play. I watched Nicklaus closely from 1968-1977. As good as he was, Tiger was probably better in nearly every phase of the game for the peak 12 yrs. of their respective careers. But both,totally dominated their era's. Sam Snead was pretty dominating though didn't win enough majors.
Nicklaus and Tiger are the top 2. I'd give the nod to Tiger as Jack's competition in the 60's and 70's wasn't as stiff as Tiger's. The far bigger golf purses in Tiger's era brought a lot more top golfers from around the world into the mix. That was hardly a factor in the 1970's were US players dominated. Jack's string of majors was around 24-26 years. Tiger's string only took around 12 yrs...very concentrated and domination of golf. I'd also have to consider the number of 2nds and 3rds Jack had in majors during the 1970's. It's uncanny. If he didn't win, he was still in the top 2-5 almost every time. So this by itself could support him being the best ever. He won 18 majors...and finished 2nd 19 times! While Tiger was a bright flame for 12 years....Jack was a torch from 1960-1978....18 yrs. Hard to refute.
Just as staggering: Jack was a runner-up in a major 19 times and finished in the top three 46 times in 164 starts. In the British Open alone, he has seven second-place showings. Even Nicklaus is left to wonder what might have been. He was "fat" Jack from 1960-1967. Then turned himself into a slimmed down Bear. What a difference!
"I went through a period from 1967 to 1970 where I was winning six or seven tournaments a year, but I wasn't winning the majors," he said in 2006. "It really wasn't a big deal to me until my father passed [in February 1970]. Then I realized I was not really working that hard at what I was doing. I passed a lot of good years there. If I knew that Tiger was coming along, I would have focused a lot earlier in my life. If Bobby Jones had won 20 majors, I would have focused a lot earlier on 20."
For the next 8-10 slots figure Byron Nelson, Sam Snead, Ben Hogan, Arnold Palmer, Gene Sarazen, Bobby Jones, Mickelson, Player, Watson and possibly some others.
Physically Tiger is spent with that back...a result of torqued up, power swinging. Yet, he's still good enough to win again. But getting several more majors to tie Nicklaus is very unlikely.
Regardless, Tiger's amazing stint from 1997-2004 were the greatest 8 seasons of golf ever strung together. It was unworldly. Nicklaus was pretty amazing too from around 1969-1978...but Tiger's domination was much better. Tiger's power and finesse reinvented the game of professional golf for everyone else to catch up....which took the pro tour about 10 yrs to do. And Tiger's A- game from 2005-2009 was still arguably the 2nd or 3rd best string of golf ever put together. No doubt in the top 2-3 pro golfers ever to play. I watched Nicklaus closely from 1968-1977. As good as he was, Tiger was probably better in nearly every phase of the game for the peak 12 yrs. of their respective careers. But both,totally dominated their era's. Sam Snead was pretty dominating though didn't win enough majors.
Nicklaus and Tiger are the top 2. I'd give the nod to Tiger as Jack's competition in the 60's and 70's wasn't as stiff as Tiger's. The far bigger golf purses in Tiger's era brought a lot more top golfers from around the world into the mix. That was hardly a factor in the 1970's were US players dominated. Jack's string of majors was around 24-26 years. Tiger's string only took around 12 yrs...very concentrated and domination of golf. I'd also have to consider the number of 2nds and 3rds Jack had in majors during the 1970's. It's uncanny. If he didn't win, he was still in the top 2-5 almost every time. So this by itself could support him being the best ever. He won 18 majors...and finished 2nd 19 times! While Tiger was a bright flame for 12 years....Jack was a torch from 1960-1978....18 yrs. Hard to refute.
Just as staggering: Jack was a runner-up in a major 19 times and finished in the top three 46 times in 164 starts. In the British Open alone, he has seven second-place showings. Even Nicklaus is left to wonder what might have been. He was "fat" Jack from 1960-1967. Then turned himself into a slimmed down Bear. What a difference!
"I went through a period from 1967 to 1970 where I was winning six or seven tournaments a year, but I wasn't winning the majors," he said in 2006. "It really wasn't a big deal to me until my father passed [in February 1970]. Then I realized I was not really working that hard at what I was doing. I passed a lot of good years there. If I knew that Tiger was coming along, I would have focused a lot earlier in my life. If Bobby Jones had won 20 majors, I would have focused a lot earlier on 20."
For the next 8-10 slots figure Byron Nelson, Sam Snead, Ben Hogan, Arnold Palmer, Gene Sarazen, Bobby Jones, Mickelson, Player, Watson and possibly some others.
