The most exciting golfer ever?

[buj77]

I have been thinking about all the thrills that major championships produce (with the first major of the year coming up)...more so than what other tournaments would produce (other tournaments are exciting as well...but I guess the majors (plus the ryder cup) provide it more consistently).

Who in your view has been the most exciting golfer to watch...ever? I have limited the questions to those players who could be watched on TV and the poll contains the names of those whom I   consider to be (or have been) the most exciting to watch.

[GonnaBreak70]

I'll not pretend that I saw the old greats play as much as I have seen Tiger play, But from what I have seen, there is NO comparison. Tiger Woods is the most exciting golfer the game has ever seen by a Bubba drive.

[Shorty]

Nothing comes close to Norman in full flight in his prime. Except Tiger.

[Golfingdad]

Phil Mickelson.  Tiger is the most amazing, but Phil is more exciting because you never know what he's going to try and pull of next.

[Mr3Wiggle]

For me it's Norman.  Hands down. No one even close.

Saw him one time at the Kemper Open (TPC at Avanel).  Short Par 4, 300 yards long.  Very narrow, water all the way down the right.  Everyone was hitting irons off the tee.  Norman steps up and hits a driver and not one of these new fangled drivers...this was in 1995 so it was the old school Cobra steel headed driver.  Hits a towering shot that lands right in the middle of the green with no roll.  Amazing.  He then proceeded to 3 putt for par, but that is beside the point.  On the next hole he drained a 40 footer for birdie.

[newtogolf]

I selected Tiger but might have chosen Phil if he was an option for the same reason as Golfingdad.  I didn't watch golf when the other guys were in their prime (except Daly) so I don't have a point of reference for them.

[allin]

I have seen all of these guys play in person, most in their prime. Seve wins easily for me. He did not have the power some of the others but I once saw him play 9 holes where he only hit only 2 holes in regulation a par 3 and a par 5 in 2 from another holes fairway, no fairways and was 4 under par for the aide. On 5 of the holes he played from heavy rough, he birdied one par 4 going from a fairway bunker to a greenside bunker and holed a buried bunker shot. Not a major tournament but awesome anyway.

[sean_miller]

I like the options. I was going to pick Norman, Watson or Seve since I don't find it overly exciting when someone wins by 10 strokes, but then I noticed Daly at the bottom of the list - JD always kept me on the edge of my seat.

[mvmac]

My heart say Arnie but the brain says Tiger.  I voted for Tiger.  To me exciting is about hitting shots only a few players could pull off and making things happen.  Tough to go against Tiger

[Gioguy21]

Tigger...the man hits shots no other human in that specific situation can hit, and in his prime did it with regularity that almost made it common. stupid good.

[bwdial]

John Daly... hands down.  Daly and Woods are like roller coasters.  The difference is that Woods is like a Disney ride; precise and exciting.  Daly is like those crazy roller coasters that kills a person or two every decade.  You simply never know what you're going to get with Daly, but you know there'll be plenty of crazy involved.

Viva la Daly!

[sean_miller]

Originally Posted by mvmac

My heart say Arnie but the brain says Tiger.  I voted for Tiger.  To me exciting is about hitting shots only a few players could pull off and making things happen.  Tough to go against Tiger

I suppose if pure shotmaking comes into play I'd go with Tiger, JD, and Seve in that order, but guys like Phil, Lanny Wadkins, Bubba Watson, and Rory will be in the conversation.

[bwdial]

Originally Posted by mvmac

My heart say Arnie but the brain says Tiger.  I voted for Tiger.  To me exciting is about hitting shots only a few players could pull off and making things happen.  Tough to go against Tiger

Originally Posted by Gioguy21

Tigger...the man hits shots no other human in that specific situation can hit, and in his prime did it with regularity that almost made it common. stupid good.

That's what made it kind of ho-hum.  You just expected him to pull it off.

Driver out of a bunker... now that's excitement!

[x129]

Seve is a little before my time but I would vote for him for pretty much the same reason. Tiger has a bit of wildness also. Arnie is way before my time but some of the shots like trying to hit off a stump would put him in that category. Guys like Norman, Nicklaus and Watson seemed like  much steady players. They all hit terrific and exciting shots but they were more execution (i.e 5 feet from the pin from 200 yards out) than crazy (5 feet from the pin from 175 from the trees). Being consistantly good is a much better way to play but it isn't as exciting.

Too me right now the most exciting guy to watch with a driver or an iron is Bubba Watson. The amount of ball shaping he tries is crazy. I am not going to say it is more effective than what a guy like Rory or Donald does but it sure it fun to watch.

Originally Posted by Golfingdad

Phil Mickelson.  Tiger is the most amazing, but Phil is more exciting because you never know what he's going to try and pull of next.

[buj77]

Well I started the thread and my vote actually went to Seve. The idea of the list, was to put down the names of golfers who you'd follow whether they were in contention or not, just because they could hit one shot in a round that defied all logic (to us normal golfers anyway) . To my mind Seve did this more aften than the others. In his prime, he could and did play every possible shot and then some (all the stories about hitting bunker shots with a 3 iron with spin are all true...as is the story Jack tells about the best shot he's ever seen in golf-250 plus yards out of a fairway bunker, over a six foot lip, with a 3 wood to within 10 feet!). But even when Seve wasn't at his best (which was for a long time post 1991), you would watch him just for that one piece of magic, because quite frankly no one could do it the way he did. Thinking about him always makes me emotional- the reason I started to watch and play golf!

[Golfingdad]

Originally Posted by buj77

Well I started the thread and my vote actually went to Seve. The idea of the list, was to put down the names of golfers who you'd follow whether they were in contention or not, just because they could hit one shot in a round that defied all logic (to us normal golfers anyway) . To my mind Seve did this more aften than the others. In his prime, he could and did play every possible shot and then some (all the stories about hitting bunker shots with a 3 iron with spin are all true...as is the story Jack tells about the best shot he's ever seen in golf-250 plus yards out of a fairway bunker, over a six foot lip, with a 3 wood to within 10 feet!). But even when Seve wasn't at his best (which was for a long time post 1991), you would watch him just for that one piece of magic, because quite frankly no one could do it the way he did. Thinking about him always makes me emotional- the reason I started to watch and play golf!

I believe you.  I wish I was a little older (actually, scratch that, I wish that Seve was younger) so I could've seen him in person at some point in his prime.

[buj77]

Originally Posted by Golfingdad

I believe you.  I wish I was a little older (actually, scratch that, I wish that Seve was younger) so I could've seen him in person at some point in his prime.

Well...my old coach told me a wonderful story about Seve. Can't remember which golf course/tournament it was but Seve, Jack and Watson were playing a practice round and had a bit of a wager going (my old coach was in the crowd following it). Thye were on a par 3 (an island hole/surrounded by water)...Tom and Jack play 5-6 irons to within 10 feet...Seve pulls out his 3 iron, tops the ball and it skips off the water and onto the green, inside of Jacks and Tom's ball...Jack bets him double that he can't do that again...and Seve does the same thing...only this time its even closer to the hole!

[logman]

Greg Norman!