BillBuckeye

It was far enough off line to put it in the rough or behind a tree. Typically the worst position I end up with with my 3-wood is rolling through the fairway and into the light rough. Given the loss of 20-30 yards and better position, I will continue to hit my 3 off the tee. It's all a matter of risk/reward. To me, the reward of the 25 extra yards, does not warrant the risk of the poor position I could put myself into. With few exceptions (really none I can recall) reaching a par 4 in 2, or par 5 in 3 can be accomplished without hitting a driver. I hit the shot I know I can hit, confidence is a huge factor.

I stopped carrying a driver 10 years ago. My driving club is Callaway Big Bertha 3-wood, 15 degrees, with the stock Callaway Graphite shaft Firm. 250+ off the tee, and nearly always in the fairway. My previous driver was a Taylor Made Burner Bubble, 9.5 degrees, the added length never made up for keeping it in the fairway consistently. The advice I got from an old teacher, "If you want to improve your driving, keep the driver in the bag, hit the 3-wood". It was good advice, and improved my game. I doubt I will ever go back to hitting a 1.

I must admit, joining this discussion forum was a mistake. You guys have already decided who the greatest so why have the thread at all? Empirical facts? You folks state opinions and call them facts. You’ve all decided which opinion/facts matter to you and reject any other people’s thoughts. So, try not to strain yourselves patting yourselves on the back for your narrow minded views and pompous posts, I’m sure all your clone buddies will enjoy reading them, I won’t.

Is there a point to stating one’s opinions on this string? Nope....it’s all been brought up before and that’s good enough for some of you. The simple fact is they were both amazing golfers, not only them but a few others, Hogan comes to mind. Had Hogan not been nearly killed by a bus, would we be talking about him instead? Tiger had the best 10 year run of anyone who’s played the game, Jack sustained his place at the top for about 20 years. In my opinion, the sustained greatness of Jack surpasses Tiger’s accomplishments.

Weaker field is the answer? Please!?!?! Weisskopf, Watson, Player, Palmer, Miller, Trevino.....etc. are you kidding? Tiger had only Mickelson, any of the other greats he faced were at the tail end of their competitive careers. Tiger had a great run for about 10 years, probably better than any we’ve ever seen, but Jack was at the top far longer. He was TOP 2 at 30 majors, keep your weaker field argument, it doesn’t hold up. Why not Ben Hogan, Bobby Jones or Walter Hagen? Whoever is the latest, must be the greatest. We’ll never know for sure, but Jack was the man to beat for about 20 years, Tiger flamed out and has been out of contention for pretty much the last 10 years, with no signs of getting back to the top.

If you are comparing their stats, keep in mind the the clubs and balls they were using very different. Jack was using woods made of wood. You can’t fairly compare their driving stats because the equipment of today is so much different than the 60’s and 70’s when Jack was in his prime. I think you’re selling Jack short, he was every bit as good as Tiger was in his prime. Remember, Jack won 18 majors and 2nd place 15 times, he could handle the pressure situations.

It looks like I’m a little late getting my opinion in, but......I never considered Tiger to be as good as Jack. Had they played head-to-head it would have been an excellent match. Jack did it for so many years, which I figured would be Tiger’s downfall. His game was such a huge stress on his body there was no way his body could withstand that pressure over time. I did not expect his decline to be as rapid as it was, but that’s how things go sometimes.

I’ve been using a set of Ping Eye 2’s, Callaway Big Bertha 3 and 5 Woods, and an old Ping Zing putter.