Johnny Miller: "Tiger is a very good putter, but not a great putter."

[enarhi]

He proved this week why he's the best putter in the history of the game. 49 of 50 putts made from within 10 feet going into the final round is enough to convince me. Seeing him make so many clutch putts, both long and short, doesn't hurt either.

[soup]

When did Miller make that statement? Was it a few years ago?

At the time he made that statement....if you put a ball 15 feet from the cup, put a gun to Johnny's head and told him to pick someone to make that putt, he'd choose Woods. And that tells you how good of a putter he is, and has been. Some of these older guys like hanging on to the past with the Ben Crenshaws and other "great putters" - but when push comes to shove, it's not a debate.

[Harrison]

Personally...... I can't stand JM. That guy gets on my nerves.

There are just a few GREAT putters. Crenshaw, Bob Charles, Mark McNulty, Loren Roberts, and TIGER. I'm not much of a Tiger fan everyone. Bash me if you will. I respect the guy b/c he is probably going to be flat out the Greatest Player ever. Tiger may be the best pressure putter of all time. When he needs to make a putt to win........ he does. I do believe that Tiger has had to work on his putting whereas the others, it just came naturally. Look at Mark McNulty...... he uses a freakin' Bullseye putter that's about 30 years old! Occasionally he'll use an Oddy but always goes back to that old ass Putt Putt looking thing. You know you're one hell of a putter when you use something like that.

[Dr. Manhattan]

That said, NOBODY hit their irons better than Johnny Miller in his prime. Tiger included.

Hogan did.

[SpacklersEdge]

Hogan did.

I disagree, I think Tiger is way up there when it comes to irons, watch the front 9 from the WGC on Sunday again, that was a clinic.

[Dr. Manhattan]

I disagree, I think Tiger is way up there when it comes to irons, watch the front 9 from the WGC on Sunday again, that was a clinic.

He was referring to Miller. I said that Hogan was a better iron player than Miller. Hogan was probably the best iron player to ever live, at least when it comes to the big stage of golf. Moe Norman is also considered one of the best ballstrikers to ever live, but he was very shy and chose to play on the Canadian Tour. He was more of a driving range guy. Yes it's impressive to watch him hitting shots on the range, but Hogan actually went out and won on the biggest stages of golf. That gives him the edge over Norman in my book.

And Tiger is a phenomenal iron player in my opinion. You don't drive the ball in the trees and score as well as he does JUST because you can chip and putt your tail off. Yes he can chip and putt his tail off, but you have to be a good iron player to make as many birdies as he does. He doesn't make that many long putts. He's mainly a great putter inside 10 feet. So you have to look at his iron game and figure it's pretty damn good. And we know from some of the shots he's hit over the years that he has the ability to strike a ball so well that it would impress Hogan. That shot at Hazeltine in the 2002 PGA out of the bunker at 18 during the second round was one of the best iron shots ever hit by anyone. It was truly Hogan-esque.

[SpacklersEdge]

He was referring to Miller. I said that Hogan was a better iron player than Miller. Hogan was probably the best iron player to ever live, at least when it comes to the big stage of golf. Moe Norman is also considered one of the best ballstrikers to ever live, but he was very shy and chose to play on the Canadian Tour. He was more of a driving range guy. Yes it's impressive to watch him hitting shots on the range, but Hogan actually went out and won on the biggest stages of golf. That gives him the edge over Norman in my book.

Sorry, I quoted wrong. I was trying to say what you just did, that I think Tiger is a better iron player than Miller.

[jldavis73]

Only one man is better than Hogan with an iron in his hand: Jack "The Hammer" Hamm...POWWWWW!

[Dr. Manhattan]

Only one man is better than Hogan with an iron in his hand: Jack "The Hammer" Hamm...POWWWWW!

LOL!

Meanwhile, I think Johnny made this statement around 10 years ago. Since that time, Tiger has clearly demonstrated uncanny ability in the clutch, to the point that I think you can already say he's the best clutch putter to ever live. He might not be the best on a day-to-day basis. I would think guys like Stricker are better over an entire season of putting on Tour. But when it gets down to crunch time, I would take Tiger over anyone in history to make a crucial putt. Jack is a close second, although if Tiger keeps making clutch putts at the rate he is, there won't even be a discussion about it by the time he's retired.