Jack vs. Tiger: Who's the Greatest Golfer?

[RC]

Old Tom Morris, just because he is from my time.

[thegambler]

Tiger is in a league of his own. Jack was great, but Tiger will have accomplished more when he is done.

[dsagem]

TIGER! I'm excited to see him finally win a major after the knee surgery

[higdonp]

Tiger, after he get's used to all the muscles and good knee... but for now and today it's :

YANG!

[Bobz007]

I would say tiger because he has been dominant at every stage of his life from young child through college and now prob, jack was very good as a junior and amateur and the best pro to date but tiger i think has been better if you compare their first 33 years.

[BASHERBAKER69]

In an interview with Lee Trevino entitled 'Hate to be Rude', Trevino says that if Jack had Tiger's equipment in his prime he would hit it 370 off the tee consistently. The improvement in equipment has been massive, you need to bear in mind how heavy the shafts were in Jack's day and the relatively poor performing balls that he used.

I have to re assert my choice of Jack in this thread for the reasons stated above above as he also had more competitive competition (this is a bone of contention) and he is more of a gentleman than Tiger.

[rjal4296]

Equipment... equipment...

Jack had persimon & crummy balls and shaft... compared to today.

Tiger has no: Palmer, Trevino, Player...

[Elvisliveson]

I would say tiger because he has been dominant at every stage of his life from young child through college and now prob, jack was very good as a junior and amateur and the best pro to date but tiger i think has been better if you compare their first 33 years.

Jack was more than just a very good junior and amateur. Nicklaus was a child prodigy just like Tiger. And, he won two U.S. Amateurs when it was MUCH HARDER to do so. He almost won the 1960 U.S. Open as a 20 year old Amateur; only one of the greatest rounds ever by Arnold Plamer kept him from doing so.

[rack04]

Living in the Tiger Woods era I have to say that he is the greatest.

[grubbgolf]

Tiger gets my vote, but only because he is part of my generation. They are both amazing!!!!

[navig8r]

I love Jack don't get me wrong, but I gotta give this one to Tiger, he nothing short of Amazing, too bad about Sunday though, Yang definetly earned that one though

[DollarBet]

I grew up watching Jack and read "Golf My Way" many times. I feel like his way is more suited to my abilities and physical strength than Tiger's way. I can't do that. I think Tiger is the greatest that ever played and enjoy watching history being made.

[supr4]

Tiger for the simple reason that there are more diverse golfers in our era (than that of Jack who was a big fish in a smaller pool) and of course more competition and more challengers for the crown.

We will see how Tiger fares in the future in the light of his defeat by an Asian golfer.


It used to be European & American Female golfers (Nancy Lopez, Anika etc.) dominated LPGA, however with the recent influx of Asian female golfers you will find that it is difficult for one player to dominate like in the case of Lorena Ochoa. Could we say that Anika is the greatest compared to Lorena or Yani or whoever? You see my point?


Are we comparing Tiger (with better clubs) against Jack (with inferior clubs) or are we comparing Tiger facing against Lefty (both having no advantage with equipment) or current generation of golfers. This shouldn't be the yardstick.

[Bug Bunny]

You have to compare apples to apples. I get the equipment thing but also, the competition is much better today as well. I mean, Tiger is not the only one with this great equipment. If you put Jack in this era, I honestly think he has less wins. However, put Tiger back in the day and I think he still wins.

Just my $.02!!!!!!

[PrairieParson]

Its a tough comparison. Jack gets the nod for various reasons.
1. I think that Jack had a more competitive field with AP, Player, Tom Watson.
2. Jack was always a gracious gentleman to all his competition. I wasn't a fan of Jack, but at least in public, you didn't get the sense of arrogance that TW displays.
3. He could hit 300 yd drives with the old equipment and hit 600 par 5's in two.
4. I don't think they had the number of tournaments in those days that we have today. Seems to me that once the PGA was over, the golf season pretty well ended and football took over most peoples interest. Few tournaments per year means less chances to win tournaments= fewer wins.

[34isdatruth]

Tiger woods is the best hands down

[Parker0065]

Its a tough comparison. Jack gets the nod for various reasons.

You hit the nail on the the head there dude!!!!

Jack's competition was so much tougher it's not even close as we think it is! Guy's just didn't lay down back then like they do today! I'm sure it's probably because of the money but it will be interesting to see how Tiger does as the economy gets worse and the belts tighten in the corperate world. I still rate Jack as #1 and probably Ben Hogan as the #2 best to ever play with Tiger sitting at #3 right now. Hogan had to overcome so much, the man was pure guts! Tiger has only had to beat fluff, up until last Sunday,,,lol!!!!!

[MX 876]

Its a tough comparison. Jack gets the nod for various reasons.

I agree except for the first point. I think this year has shown the depth of talent on tour right now. Jack may have had a few better players to contend with on a weekly basis, but TW has had to play against (and sometimes get beaten by as we've just seen) guys from a broader field. I'll also give Jack the nod, but I don't know for how much longer - tiger will be in his prime for a while yet.