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

[allin]

I vote we dig Bobby up, get samples from Tiger, Hogan, and Jack. Send them all to Hitlers Dr. in Argentina, clone all of them, then they can grow up again under the same conditions and play against each other all the time. Then maybe we can tell who is really the best. Numbers, titles, statistics won't ever tell you, because of the differences in time, equipment and competition. This months golf digest online has an interview with the little pro, he draws a distinction between winners and champions. These guys are all champions and I have decided I don't care who is best, I will just gaze in awe at each ones unique greatness.

[duke]

Jack was great but Tiger is better.

When he retires he is going to have so many majors it will be amazing. The guy has his best years ahead of him.

Fun argument, one of the joys of golf is discussing all the great players

[BASHERBAKER69]

Hi

it's hard to say who is better but Jack is definitely greater than Tiger.

In his prime, Jack was stronger and longer than anyone else on the Tour and could hit it 290 with equipment that we would consider to be terrible these days.

Jacks biggest asset was his mind, not his swing-reverse pivot and reverse c finish.

Jack is and was a real gentleman on and off the course- no gobbing all over the greens-Tiger is not a team player either.

Is anyone else sick of the ridiculous amount of coverage that TW gets in tournaments?!-there are other people playing on the course!

BB69

[Guest]

Difficult question, since one has past prime and one is approaching prime. that being said, Tiger has been more productive to date than Jack.
I would not accept that one is "greater than the other".
Different era's different conditions.
Bill

[uglande]

The idea that Tiger plays against weaker competition is one of the most persistent myths in the Tiger-Jack debate.

It is true that Jack's principal rivals were legends of the game (Palmer, Watson, Player, Trevino), but Tiger plays in fields that are solid from top to bottom. The worst players on the tour today would have been elite golfers in the 1960s and '70s.

In Jack's day, there were only a handful of golfers in each event, particularly the majors, who had a reasonably good chance of winning. Today, just about anyone on tour has the ability to win if they can string four good rounds together (E.g., Chad Campbell, Rich Beam, Ben Curtis, Michael Campbell, Todd Hamilton, Paul Lawrie, Shaun Micheel).

Also, the argument that Tiger plays against guys who haven't won majors is also false. Ernie, Vijay, Retief, Jose-Maria, Phil, Jim F., Freddy -- these are guys who have proven their talent on the big stage and provide just as much competition as Watson, Kite, Miller and the other guys Jack played against on a regular basis. (Also, one of the reasons these guys don't have more major wins is because Tiger keeps winning them. Ernie would have won 5 or 6 majors by now if not for Woods).

Yes, it's too early to tell who is the best, but Tiger is on pace right now to blow Jack away. I predict 100 tour wins (plus 30 more worldwide) and 24 majors. And I think he will retire when he's in his early '40s and will never tee it up on the Champions Tour.

[Lefty]

Like a few of you have said, I don't think you can compare Jack and Tiger. And I will go further to say you can't compare Jones with these too. I say this because look at the difference in equipment to start out with. Compare the shafts, drivers, irons, wedges, putters, even the clothes are "better". Imagine how good Bobby would be if he hadn't been wearing a suit and work mock turtle necks and dress pants that were very good at cooling you. And look how far jack could hit it with old wooden clubs.

Then if you look at golf fitness looks at all the advances that have come along. An example would be TPI, they have 100s of excersices you can do that are all targeted at golf. They didn't have those back then.

Another thing is teachers and the swing changes and ideas that have come along.

IMO Tiger, Jack, and Bobby were all amazing golfers but just in diffrent eras. If you think you can compare a guy with playing with wooden clubs to a guy playing the latest greatest clubs your nuts, well maybe not nuts but you get what I am saying.

I could go on for a long time talking about how much the game has changed from equipment to longer courses. They were all great and won a ton but I don't think one is greater then the other. Some of you may think that you can compare stats like how many majors one but Tiger isn't pass his prime.

I didn't vote for this because I think that they are all amazing golfers just in different eras and its like comparing apples to oranges.

[asianpsuation]

its tiger and its not even close

-everyone that says "jack had more competition" is wrong, the only reason tiger doesnt have "competition" is because hes beaten the crap outta everyone.
think about it all of the people who have challanged tiger they are great golfers and will all be in the hall of fame someday (vijay, goosen, els, phil, luke donald, adam scott, david duval etc. etc.) Theyre not competition only because of how dominating tiger is.
-courses are harder, and tigers ability to do everything incredibly (driving, short game, ball striking) puts him ahead of jack.
-p.s. jack was awsome, but his swing looks like garbage next to tigers and no one can debate that-

[ApplebyFan]

Tiger is just now in his prime, and he's already on Jack's tail. I think that by the end of Tiger's career this thread will be useless because tiger is going to show his strength in the coming years.

[jrbechthold]

You have all missed the point.
John Daly is the greatest.

[ipark1303]

Tiger, Tiger, Tiger!!!
Nobody has shown the shots that Tiger made to win his tournaments!
Jack used to be great in his prime time, but his game/shot repertoire was a bit smaller than Tiger's one... nonetheless, look at the media influence that Tiger is getting... the money prize he is earning at each tournament... he is the man... absolutely!

[ronaldkuntoro]

Before Tiger rules the PGA, all we know that golf is a game played by businessman, rich white people and retired granpas which we used to call "gentleman". I don't even know Jack Nicklaus before I start playing golf in 2001. I start golfing when I see this black guy teeing off for 300 yards or more, which latter I recognize him as Tiger Woods in Master 2001.

Tiger has changed Golf from a rich man game to a Sport just like Tennis and Football.

I would just say Tiger is the best golfer ever, not only because of his ability but also he has changed the image of golf to anyone's sports. Thanks to tiger... I would have never started to play Golf if I didn't see his 300 yards drive.....

[Hogan Fan]

I don't even know Jack Nicklaus before I start playing golf in 2001. I start golfing when I see this black guy teeing off for 300 yards or more,

If you don't even know who Jack Nicklaus is, how can you distinguish who is better.

To my knowledge not one single golfer on the planet has accomplished the things that Jack has to date. This my friend is Jack Nicklaus! 73 official PGA Tour victories 2nd place 58 times 3rd place 36 times Total victories around the world 113 #1 in lowest scoring avg 8 times- runner up 6 times 18 PGA majors - 6 Masters, 5 PGA, 4 US Open, 3 British 8 Champions tour majors 2 Amateur Championships Career Gland Slam: 3 professional, 1 Champions tour 19 hole in ones Won at least one tournament 17 years in a row! This must be why he is called "the Golden Bear" Just thought I'd help you with your vote . Sure Tiger is great, but lets not forget Jack just yet. Tiger still has a way to go, and he has to get there before we crown him king! Don't get me started on the great Ben Hogan! He was even better than Jack.

[Camx]

I agree, Tiger has many more years ahead of him and as long as he stays healthy and wants to compete, there will be no telling how far he can go.

[TheFush]

Tiger: Not for his Golfing ability (which still is unreal) but for his actions towards the game of golf; making it exciting, getting younger people to play, his morals, and helping stop racism in golf

[alockrem]

I'm too young to remember a lot of Jack's prime. I think Tiger's better today :)

[popey]

Has anyone read about Dave Pelz short game bible where he talks about Jack Nicklaus.

He talks about PEI (percentage error index). He says that for his full swing his PEI was 42nd on tour, for putting he was 25th, short game 35th, sand play 128th, although he was a good lag putter so aimed away from bunkers.

This seems a bit poor for such a great player of our ggreat game. I sure if Dave Pelz plotted the same data for Tiger then im sure tiger would be in the top 10 for all if not most of them.

I cannot judge in this arguement as i have not been able to see Jack Nicklaus play but i have seen Tiger so i no that if Jack is better that Tiger he was one heck of a golfer.

They both have there positives like for tiger the way has changed the game of golf but are we forgetting one of the most important things in Jack favour, he is one heck of a guy. He would not ignore his fans. Tiger has set up the Tiger foundation which has helped a lot of people.

BUT JACK IS A GREAT GUY AND THAT STANDS HIM VERY HIGH IN MY EYES

No one is ever going to agree on this unless like in the new rocky film Jack is transformed to his peak in a one of match with tiger. (i could be onto something here)

[arsenic954]

Why does everyone mention the equipment they used? Does that truly make a difference to how great they are compared to everyone else on tour at the same time? Bobby Jones won using the equipment everyone else was using at the time. Same with Jack, same with Tiger. I don't think you can honestly make a good comparison between the three, because everyone is biased. My dad grew up watching Jack, and thus favors Jack when we talk about it. I've watched Tiger, and I favor Tiger. Two things I throw at my dad when we discuss it is that Tiger grew up learning in the late 70's and 80's, using the same equipment that Jack used. I don't think Tiger would have been at a great disability if they were forced to use old equipment. Another thing is that I think the average professional these days might be slightly better than that of the 70's because of all the childhood training and such, and many have referred to Tiger as "simply better than us." I don't think you would catch Johnny Miller or Tom Watson in an interview talking about how much better Jack is than them. But that's all for arguments sake, because I really don't think there can be a true comparison. They were all great at different times of the game. It would be interesting to see what Bobby Jones would have done if he had ever turned professional and went at the game full time. Just something to think about.

[jmb731]

I voted for Tiger because of what he has accomplished in so short of a time. Jack is great for all of his accomplishments but perhaps Bobby Jones is the greatest ever.

John B