Best post-WW2 season

[turtleback]

 

 

In the post World War 2 period what do you think is the single best season any male pro golfer has had?

For me it comes down to Ben in 1953 and Tiger in 2000.  Three majors is a pretty hard hurdle to ignore so I would have a hard time putting any other years on the short list.   

In 1953 Ben played 6 times and won 5 times.  He won the 3 majors he competed in and almost everything else he played in.  But he did not play much.

In 2000 Tiger played 20 events including 4 majors.  He won 9 of them, including 3 majors.

In a way it is a little like the Jack/Tiger comparison where you have one player who was more dominant in a smaller number of attempts and another who was less dominant who played a lot more.  Obviously in the Jack/Tiger comparison I personally come down on dominance for a sufficiently long period as the decider.  Basically I am saying that Tiger's peaks were enough higher than Jacks that they more than make up for the longevity with which Jack was able to play at a top-3 level.

So how does that play out between 1953 and 2000?  It is hard not to say that Hogan was more dominant.  5/6 is a better winning record than 9/20.  But while Ben was more dominant than Tiger, I think it is fair to say that it was just by a relatively small margin.  IN 2000, not only did Tiger win 9 of 20, he only finished out of the top 5 3 times all year.  He set records in margin of victory in  a couple of majors (the 2 Opens).  He blew away the whole tour in stroke average to an extent not seen in the post ww2 era.  

So I will give Ben the nod on pure dominance level, but just by a little bit.  IMO, that is not enough to outweigh the quality and texture of Tiger's complete 2000 season.  Ben's peak is only a little higher than Tiger's (if at all - it is debatable) but in Tiger's season he maintained his level for more than 3 times as many events.  Unlike the Jack/Tiger case I do not think that the slightly higher dominance level of Hogan is enough to outweigh the # of events in which Tiger as able to maintain his slightly lower level of dominance. 

So on balance I have to say that Tiger's 2000 is the best single season, with Ben's 1953 a very very close second.  

[iacas]

I will give Tiger the nod, not by a lot, but based on strength of field.

If they competed against similarly deep fields, 5/6 is better. But finishing top five as often AND netting nine wins… against a deeper field, I give the slight edge to Tiger.

But both were great years. And arguably, as you've done, the two best.

(How long until someone mentions Nelson's 1945…?)

[mvmac]

Tiger in 2000 for me. Strength of field, winning the U.S. Open by 15 shots, British by 8 and basically just dominating all year put him on top of Hogan's '53 season.

[saevel25]

I'm going with 2000. Just the dominance and the way he beat his competition into submission.

2000: 3 majors, 45% win percentage, 17 out of 20 evens in the top 10. Finished 5th, 1st, 1st, 1st in the majors. 

 

 

[turtleback]

23 hours ago, iacas said:

I will give Tiger the nod, not by a lot, but based on strength of field.

If they competed against similarly deep fields, 5/6 is better. But finishing top five as often AND netting nine wins… against a deeper field, I give the slight edge to Tiger.

But both were great years. And arguably, as you've done, the two best.

(How long until someone mentions Nelson's 1945…?)

Specifically why I made it post-ww2.  I think we are on the same page here, but the circumstances made the results not remotely comparable to non-war-impacted years.  Just as DiMaggio's hitting streak would not be nearly as impressive if it had happened inn 1944.

[iacas]

Just now, turtleback said:

Specifically why I made it post-ww2.  I think we are on the same page here, but the circumstances made the results not remotely comparable to non-war-impacted years.  Just as DiMaggio's hitting streak would not be nearly as impressive if it had happened inn 1944.

Yeah, my mistake. I didn't think about the "post-WW2" part when I added that.

[turtleback]

19 minutes ago, iacas said:

Yeah, my mistake. I didn't think about the "post-WW2" part when I added that.

I wasn't just concerned about Nelson, I also wanted to avoid all of the pre-ww2 stuff, because there is really no rational way to compare 2000, with 1930.

[PEZGolf]

I voted for The Hawk for three main reasons:                                                                                              

1. Hogan's winning percentage in majors that year was. 100%  (3 for 3)and Tiger's was 75% (3 for 4). He knew he could not play in both the Open Championship and the PGA because they overlapped.
2. Hogan was told by Sam Snead, Gene Sarazen, and others that he needed to win "across the pond" if he was to be considered a truly great golfer. Hogan decided he would go only once to see if he could earn the claret jug.
3. The venue was Carnoustie, regarded by the Brits and the Scots as THE TOUGHEST course on the rota, and has been nicknamed "Carnastie". Inspite of "nasty" weather,  the Wee Ice Mon not only won, he broke the course record!  The Scots begged him to return in 1954 to defend his title, but he knew he COULD NOT. the pain in his legs and hips from the horrific 1949 car accident was too intense. He had come on a mission, and he went back home with "mission accomplished".

Edited January 2, 2016 by iacas
cleaned up

[boogielicious]

3 hours ago, PEZGolf said:

I voted for The Hawk for three main reasons:                                                                                               1. Hogan's winning percentage in majors that year was. 100%  (3 for 3)and Tiger's was 75% (3 for 4). He knew he could not play in both the Open Championship and the PGA because they overlapped.                                            2.  Hogan was told by Sam Snead, Gene Sarazen, and others that he needed to win "across the pond" if he was to be considered a truly great golfer. Hogan decided he would go only once to see if he could earn the claret jug.                                                               3. The venue was Carnoustie, regarded by the Brits and the Scots as THE TOUGHEST course on the rota, and has been nicknamed "Carnastie". Inspite of "nasty" weather,  the Wee Ice Mon not only won, he broke the course record!  The Scots begged him to return in 1954 to defend his title, but he knew he COULD NOT. the pain in his legs and hips from the horrific 1949 car accident was too intense. He had come on a mission, and he went back home with "mission accomplished".

You edited this and yet it still looks like you fired the words at the post with a cannon. Please take time and make your posts readable. It is really easy. I can teach an eight year old how to do it. You post a lot, but you do not care how the posts look!

I will delete posts that look like this going forward.

[iacas]

@PEZGolf, I cleaned it up, but that's the last post of yours I will clean up.

[turtleback]

6 hours ago, PEZGolf said:

I voted for The Hawk for three main reasons:                                                                                              

1. Hogan's winning percentage in majors that year was. 100%  (3 for 3)and Tiger's was 75% (3 for 4). He knew he could not play in both the Open Championship and the PGA because they overlapped.
2. Hogan was told by Sam Snead, Gene Sarazen, and others that he needed to win "across the pond" if he was to be considered a truly great golfer. Hogan decided he would go only once to see if he could earn the claret jug.
3. The venue was Carnoustie, regarded by the Brits and the Scots as THE TOUGHEST course on the rota, and has been nicknamed "Carnastie". Inspite of "nasty" weather,  the Wee Ice Mon not only won, he broke the course record!  The Scots begged him to return in 1954 to defend his title, but he knew he COULD NOT. the pain in his legs and hips from the horrific 1949 car accident was too intense. He had come on a mission, and he went back home with "mission accomplished".

Only your first point bears on the issue.

[PEZGolf]

2 hours ago, iacas said:

@PEZGolf, I cleaned it up, but that's the last post of yours I will clean up.

OK. Thanks. I do understand.  I did use the icon at the top, and everything looked good, and then when I saved it, the numbered paragraphs were shifted over.  And I did edit it, as you can see from the marking. I am going to practice, and in the meantime, keep my posts nice and short.  I guess I can do multiple replies on one post, and the system will merge them, correct?  As I have said before, I used to use Print Shop software, and got help from the printing company that did the printing for my magazine and other publications.  I do NOT want to waste your time and you have been patient with me.  I will get better, believe me.  By the way, I am at the library, and it is so much easier to do replies and edit them.  The NH library is closed only on Wednesday and Sunday, when there are no holidays, so that should give me plenty of opportunities to use their computers.

[iacas]

Spaces are not new paragraphs. You seem to add a bunch of spaces to get text onto a new line on your display, when a RETURN key is the way to create a new paragraph.

[PEZGolf]

10 minutes ago, iacas said:

Spaces are not new paragraphs. You seem to add a bunch of spaces to get text onto a new line on your display, when a RETURN key is the way to create a new paragraph.

You are right, of course.  On my cell phone, which is 5 years old, I cannot figure out how to hit the return button.  It is easy on the computer here, and I am used to doing that---see

all I did was hit the return button.

[Phil McGleno]

I voted for Tiger in the year 2000.

[newtogolf]

I voted for Hogan, but I'm biased.

[PEZGolf]

5 hours ago, newtogolf said:

I voted for Hogan, but I'm biased.

I see the photo of The Hawk on your Profile, but how are you prejudiced? Are you related to Mr. Hogan aka Hennie Bogan?

[jbishop15]

I am a Hogan fanatic, but I think Tiger's 2000 season is the clear winner. Deeper fields, more wins, and total dominance overall.