Tiger and Annika. Annika and Tiger. Either way you look at it, they are the two most dominant golfers in the game today. Period.
My question is who is more dominant? While you can’t send them both out on the course against one another (sorry ladies), you can look at how they did against their peers. I’ve done that, and the results are interesting.
One thing to keep in mind as you look at the numbers is that Tiger started his professional career mid-way through 1996. Annika, on the other hand, started in 1994. So she’s had a bit of a head start on Tiger when it comes to totals, but we can look at their win percentages as a way of evening it out:
Wins (Win %) Year Annika Tiger 2005 10 (50.00%) 6 (28.57%) 2004 8 (44.4%) 1 (5.56%) 2003 6 (35.29%) 5 (27.78%) 2002 11 (47.83%) 5 (27.78%) 2001 8 (30.77%) 5 (26.32%) 2000 5 (22.73%) 9 (45.00%) 1999 2 (9.09%) 8 (38.10%) 1998 4 (19.05%) 1 (5.00%) 1997 6 (27.27%) 4 (19.05%) 1996 3 (15.00%) 2 (18.18%) 1995 3 (15.79%) N/A 1994 0 (0.00%) N/A ---- -- -------- -- --------- Totals 66 (26.61%) 46 (24.60%)
Annika’s winning percentage is slightly better than Tiger’s, but it’s not that much higher. One thing that is evident is that Annika has been much better than Tiger in the recent years. After his hot streak in 1999 and 2000, Tiger cooled off just enough for Annika to get past him.
It is important to note that I’m only using tournaments recognized by the PGA and LPGA tour. European Tour events aren’t included. Even though I’ve excluded some tournaments, I was a bit surprised that they have combined for over 110 wins. That’s pretty amazing for two golfers! Annika has won ten or more tournaments in a year twice and Tiger nearly did it in 2000.
Even if they didn’t win, both golfers were lurking at the top or near the top of the leader board in most of their events. This is a given, but look at the percentages:
Top 3s (Top 3 %) Year Annika Tiger 2005 12 (60.00%) 12 (57.14%) 2004 12 (66.67%) 7 (38.89%) 2003 11 (64.71%) 7 (38.89%) 2002 17 (73.91%) 9 (50.00%) 2001 15 (57.69%) 6 (31.58%) 2000 11 (50.00%) 14 (70.00%) 1999 9 (40.91%) 11 (52.38%) 1998 10 (47.62%) 5 (25.00%) 1997 14 (63.64%) 6 (28.57%) 1996 6 (30.00%) 4 (36.36%) 1995 7 (36.84%) 0 N/A 1994 1 (5.56%) 0 N/A ---- -- -------- -- ------- Totals 125 (50.40%) 81 (43.32%)
Top 10s (Top 10 %) Year Annika Tiger 2005 15 (75.00%) 13 (61.90%) 2004 16 (88.89%) 14 (77.78%) 2003 15 (88.24%) 12 (66.67%) 2002 20 (88.96%) 13 (72.22%) 2001 20 (76.92%) 9 (47.37%) 2000 15 (68.18%) 17 (85.00%) 1999 12 (54.55%) 16 (76.19%) 1998 17 (80.95%) 13 (65.00%) 1997 16 (72.73%) 9 (42.86%) 1996 14 (70.00%) 5 (45.45%) 1995 12 (63.16%) 0 N/A 1994 3 (16.67%) 0 N/A ---- -- -------- -- ------- Totals 175 (70.56%) 121 (64.71%)
This is where Annika starts to separate herself from Tiger a bit. I’m not taking anything away from Tiger, but her percentages are better enough here that it makes a difference. Annika, over her career, is in the top three over half the time. That really impresses me. Tiger isn’t too far behind at a 43% clip. But 50%? All I have to say is wow.
The split is pretty consistent with the top tens as well. Tiger trails Annika by around 6% and again, the numbers are impressive. No wonder these two are raking in the dough by finishing in the top ten 60-70% of the time. This is why when these two are in any event that people say it is their tournament to lose… before they tee it up. Again, I didn’t know that the percentages were this high.
Majors
So where do they stand on the majors?
Majors Year Annika Tiger 2005 2 2 2004 1 0 2003 2 0 2002 1 2 2001 1 1 2000 0 3 1999 0 1 1998 0 0 1997 0 1 1996 1 0 1995 1 N/A 1994 0 N/A ---- -- --- Totals 9 10
Tiger has a slight lead. Most of you have heard about how these two are good friends and that these are the only two numbers that matter to them. Being the fiery competitors that they are, they both want to finish their career with more majors than the other. Tiger has the edge now, but Annika has closed what was an 8-4 gap to the current 10-9 lead in the past three years.
Will she tie or take the lead this year? My guess is yes, but it’s hard to doubt Woods. He is already two-for-two this year and that’s been without his best golf. He likes to peak around majors and I think he is primed for another green jacket.
Thoughts
By the numbers, I think that Annika is the more dominant player. She has had no equal on the LPGA Tour or any other women’s tour. Michelle Wie or some of the other younger player may eventually reach her level, but until they do, Annika stands alone on the top.
Sure Tiger is a bit behind Annika right now, except for the majors of course. There are two things in my mind Tiger has against him. First is the level of his competition. There also may not be an equal to Tiger, but he has the likes of Vijay, Phil and Retif to face on a weekly basis. Sorry Annika, but your competition just isn’t this good.
The other thing Tiger has to deal with is fact that he plays in the tournaments that are usually loaded with most of the aforementioned players. He’ll rarely get a tournament where there are less than three of the top players in the world. Sure Tiger could play in some lesser tournaments, but that’s not his style and I don’t blame him. The fact remains though: Tiger’s numbers come against a higher level of competition.
The next couple years will be fun to watch how Tiger v Annika plays out. I’ve already made a prediction on the majors. With Tiger getting off to a hot start, he may pull a bit closer in some of the other categories. For me, it is going to make watching the women’s events that more interesting to see how this rivalry of champions plays out.
Photo Credits: © Unknown, © Unknown
Check out the Golf54 book and its philosophy for excellent clues why Annika is so successful. After having read the book, I’d highly recommend it to all golfers.
one thing that stands out for me… if you’d look at 2001 – 2005 only Annika is hands down dominating; Tiger started hot, but then began to tinker with the swing. Annika started slow, but last 5 years – lights out. She’s the man ! (no stupid comments please, I didn’t mean it literally 😉 )