Of the four, only Yang beat Tiger, taking him down at the 2009 PGA Championship. It also reignited an old debate: Can Tiger break Jack Nicklaus' record for the most major championship wins . At various points in his career, Jack won three of six majors (1966 Masters to 1967 U.S. Open) and four of eight (1970 British Open to 1972 U.S. Open). But you dont want to see anybody in pain. 1 in the world, he was followed by David Duval, Colin Montgomery, Davis Love III, and Ernie Els. Hear what our crew of Anna Whiteley, Dam. 1, 2 and 3-ranked players in the world share the lead after 36 holes, which is the first time the top three ranked players in the world are tied at the top of any major ever. Woods made his debut as a U.S. captain at the 2019 Presidents Cup, where he also played and went 3-0-0. Woods withdrew during the rain-delayed third round of this years Masters in April after showing considerable discomfort walking the hills of Augusta National in bad weather. Jack finished higher 38 times to Tiger's 22, with the twogreats tying four times. Thatd be the first time a Masters champion has gone back-to-back at Augusta since Tiger in 2001 and 2002. But theres been nobody as good as Tiger. While Jack does have more major victories, Tiger still has more PGA Tour wins. 1959 Colonial National Invitational (46) arnold palmer. That was never the case for Tiger. So hopefully this surgery will be the last of it. You dont want to see anybody, theyre hurting. In this ever-competitive world, a debate often pops up asking who is the best among the two. But what about golf? 3, Palmer No. Jack, of course, never won four straight, though he did come close. Owing to his injuries, the chances of Woods playing like he used to are bleak. With one exception, that comparison neatly pits Masters against Masters, U.S. Open against U.S. Open, etc., for the first 17 years of each mans career as a pro taking Nicklaus to the end of 1978 and Woods to the end of 2013. On the other hand, Nicklaus won 54 tournaments in his first 300 starts. Yep the same exact position with Tiger looking to match Jacks record of six Masters titles. Nicklaus is 1-1 as a U.S. captain in the Ryder Cup and 2-1-1 leading the Americans in the Presidents Cup. You Into Another Realm. The only leaderboard that matters is the one on the 72nd hole. AUGUSTA, GEORGIA APRIL 14: Tiger Woods of the United States celebrates after Who has more major wins: Tiger Woods or Jack Nicklaus? But, Tigerhas also hadto compete against the likes of Rocco Mediate, Boo Weekly, Woody Austin, Hunter Mahan, Chad Campbell, Stephen Ames, J.B Holmes, Johnson Wagner, Ryuji Imada, Anthony Kim, Kenny Perry, and Chez Reavia. conversations in every sport, but obviously theres a lot more to golf than just four weekends per year. Devika Pawar is a Golf and NBA writer at Essentially Sports. Tiger won his first major as a pro, the 1997 Masters, at age 21, destroying the rest of the field by a record 12 shots. Jack has 18 majors and Tiger has 14 majors, therefore Jack is the greatest of all time. These two generational talents can never be compared with each other. In the end, both men will go down as the two greatest golfers in the games history, but Nicklaus has to be given the title of GOAT because when it mattered most, he was the more successful of the two. The No. Jack Nicklaus is a legend, but like Jordan, his accomplishments were years ago and didnt receive the same amount of media coverage as Tiger Woods. But lets get back to the golf and what Tiger has done on the course. In a particular major where they are both playing theirbest, Tiger wins in a playoff. The fact that over his career he didn't win as many medals as Carl Lewis does nothing to convince me that Carl was better. He took the PGA Tour to a whole new level and continues to make many golfers absolutely filthy rich because of all the money Tiger brought into the game. https://ftw.usatoday.com/2018/04/tiger-woods-jack-nickalus, Golf fans worried about Tiger Woods after he withdrew from Masters Sunday, Tiger Woods clobbered an overwhelming amount of bettors who didn't think he'd make the cut at the Masters, Justin Thomas saved his pal Tiger Woods by dropping a shot at the Masters and moving the cut line back, Why Fred Couples is using a yellow ball at the Masters. In the 70 majors that Jack played from the 62 Masters tothe 79 U.S. Open, he was out of the top 10 just 16 times while winning 15. How much does Jacks longevity help his cause? To keep up with stronger junior golfers, Woods learned how the short game . While both have had to face quality competition to get their wins, Id have to side with Tigers era being deeper than Nicklaus era. Privacy Policy. Follow along here. Yang and Michael Campbell. After a disappointing Masters in 2000, Tiger had won just one of the last 12 majors and despite his historic victory in Augusta three years before, it felt like he was underperforming. But the circumstances of a time and generation do not provide a level playing field. and Who won the U.S. Open? A record-setting streak of cuts made. (Photo by Woods' highs have been greater. While Jack Nicklaus has the most major titles, Tiger Woods has the most overall PGA Tour tournament wins in his career with 82, tied with Sam Snead. How long Woods will be sidelined this time is anyones guess, but his participation in this years remaining three majors the PGA Championship in May, U.S. Open in June and British Open in July seems unlikely. Tiger won eight of hisfirst 22 majors; Jack won seven of his first 22. Insanity. after undergoing surgery on his right ankle, withdrew during the rain-delayed third round, List of Tigers injuries through the years. But back to golf. Woods made more on Tour in one year than Nicklaus did in his entire career 11 times: 1999 ($6,616,585), 2000 ($9,188,321), 2002 ($6,912,625), 2003 ($6,673,413), 2005 ($10,628,024), 2006 ($9,941,563), 2007 ($10,867,052), 2008 ($5,775,000), 2009 ($10,508,163), 2012 ($6,133,158), 2013 ($8,553,439). Starting at the 2000 U.S. Open, Tiger locked in like nobody before or since, winning four-straight majors by 25 strokes, with a combined score of 65-under. What if Tiger Woods suddenly announced his retirement from golf after the Masters and never played again. The last category to compare Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus is the level of competition each player faced on a weekly basis. When Tiger was 24 he completed the career Grand Slam at the 2000 Open Championship, two years ahead of the age that Jackwas when he completed the feat in 1966, also at the Open Championship. birdie putt in 1986 on No. Neither did Ernie, Vijay, Retief, David Duval or any other top golfer of the last 20 years. Without Tiger Woods or Jack Nicklaus, the PGA Tour might not be what it is today. Woods was able to monetize his talent more in his era, topping the PGA Tours all-time earnings list at a whopping $120,895,206. Nicklaus has played in six, with a 17-8-3 record. Im hitting the ball great. He may yetsilence all critics (myself included) who rank him a slim tissuethickness behind Jack with the work he does over the next decade. This list of players is simply comprised to show that Tiger Woods is faced a far wider pool of legitimate competitors than Jack Nicklaus faced during his career. If Augusta National is the best test in golf, Nicklaus earned slightly better marks. Tiger played on the weekend in a record 142-straight tournaments. How much money has Tiger Woods won in his career? More: List of Tiger's injuries through the years. Woods has always been a front-runner finisher, winning 14 of his 15 majors while leading or co-leading entering the fourth round. Of course, it will take an extraordinary effort with such a talented leader board. Nicklaus is in third at 73. Heres why. From 1962-1978, Jacks prime, just two foreign players (Gary Player and Tony Jacklin) won at the Masters, U.S. Open or PGA Championship. While five players have won the Players twice (Woods included), Nicklaus is the only player to win the Tours flagship event three times, doing so in the events first 5 years. Woods has won 79 PGA Tour events which is second only to Sam Snead's 82 and is already six ahead of Nicklaus. And then theres the money element. All comparisons, he would bellow, referring to those that involved athletes of different generations, are onerous.". Championships monopolize the G.O.A.T. An unprecedented run of seven majors in 11 starts. Woods stands at 15, and his last major title being the 2019 Masters. United States on the 19th tee during the Paynes Valley Cup on September 22, From 1997 through this year, Woods played in 17 Masters, won four and had 13 top-10 finishes. In comparison, Jack Nicklaus' 36-hole outright conversion rate was 63. Some fun stats, for sure. Result: Tiger by 37. 2, Casper No. Also, as noted by stats guru Justin Ray on Twitter, Jack sat six shots back of the lead after 36 holes in 86, whereas Tiger is just four back. In terms of his golf legacy, Woods' past shouldn't count any more or less than Nicklaus' scandal-free career. One of the most distorted views in golf is that Jack Nicklaus had far more competition during his playing years than Tiger Woods has today. How many titles does Tiger Woods have? In 1972, the best year of Nicklaus career; a year that saw him win three out of the four majors, Nicklaus was ranked No. Jack won six Masters, four U.S. Lets look at a breakdown of their major championship statistics: Woods has played in 87 major championships. See trending; Company. A psychology "He's the greatest champion that's ever lived," Woods said of Nicklaus after winning the Memorial in 2012. This is a simple debate. And will be good for him. Heres a reminder: Jack Nicklaus won 18 major championships in his career, while Tiger Woods clinched 15. Is Tiger just that much better that his skill level allows him to exceed that of his direct competitors by a larger gap than Nicklaus was able to achieve? Nobody had seen players like them. There have been few worthy adversaries. First, Tiger has played against a deeper, more international field. Mickelson hasn't, and neither has Els. Still, we give this to Tiger for two reasons: Jacks contemporaries included Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Tom Watson and Lee Trevino, each of whom won six or more majors. 1986 Masters (46) ben hogan. pertaining to the NBA as well. (Forget all the talk of four wins you hear on television no one ever sets out to tie a record.) And now, with Tiger making his comeback amidst more international winners than ever, the field is even deeper because of the wider reach that Tiger brought to the game. He adds so much to the game every time he tees up. Tiger Woods has 198 top ten finishes with 82 wins and has won $120,954,766 in his career. Tiger is still a man at work. But man, tacos are freakin good, too. Jesse Owens was 5-10, Carl Lewis is 6-2 and Usain Bolt is 6-5. Nicklaus has won more majors than Woods. Nicklaus finished second in 19 majors, and Woods has six runner-up results. Director of Professional Golf isnt a normal position at golf club, but Quail Hollow isn't a normal club. Not all professional golf wins are equal. Tiger, in defense of his 2019 Masters title, sat 33rd . So, whose career would you rather have, Woods or Nicklaus? Copyright 2023 Endgame360 Inc. All Rights Reserved. Thats about as good an explanation for why Woods agreed to go under the knife yet again as weve heard to date. Life is good if youre a great golfer, thanks to Tiger Woods. Now, at this very moment you are probably thinking that I have completely lost my mind by naming players such as Hunter Mahan, Stephen Ames, and Chez Reavia as competition comparable to the likes of Palmer, Player, Trevino, Casper, and Watson. Of course, Tiger Woods is still active, which leaves the G.O.A.T. In Nicklaus best four-year stretch he won 22 from 1970-73 and added another 17 titles from 1964-67. Woods benefited from being slow to mature physically, in contrast to Nicklaus, who was 5-feet-10 and 165 pounds at age 13. (They pretty much won those titles in the same time span, though Nicklaus went 17-straight seasons with a win, compared to Tigers 14.). (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images for Paynes Valley Cup). Nicklaus finished in the Top-5 56 times and achieved a Top-10 finish 73 times in 164 starts! While Woods' win at the 2019 Masters finally ended a decade-plus drought in the game's biggest events, it's this lesser-known record that has come into focus since Major No. Tiger's best 33-major streak featured 21 top 10s. In the end, major titles arent given more weight because of their timing. Tiger has been the rare athlete to live up to unimaginable hype, be brought back down by scandal and injury and then absolutely crushing all the expectations (and doubts) in historic fashion. Overall, the current depth of fields and reach of international talent exceeds that in the days of Nicklaus. Those dominating wins at Augusta National, Pebble Beach and St. Andrews. Granted, Woods is too young and too busy to have such a global golf footprint, but it feels safe to say that 20 years from now we'll still be debating who was the greater golfer, but there won't be an argument about golf's best ambassador. Jacks best four-year runs were 22 (from 1970-73) and 17 (from 1964-67). Tiger was untouchable in the 2000s but its easy to forget that in 2013 he won five times and was the PGA Tours Player of the Year. Even in a sports such as sprinting, where numbers on a stopwatch tell what appears to be a cut-and-dried story, theres more than meets the eye. From the 1973 Masters to the 1976 Masters , Nicklaus had 13 straight top-10 finishes in majors. Woods has, to this point, only finished second on six occasions. GOLF DIGEST MAY EARN A PORTION OF SALES FROM PRODUCTS THAT ARE PURCHASED THROUGH OUR SITE AS PART OF OUR AFFILIATE PARTNERSHIPS WITH RETAILERS. While the 46-year-old is confident about a win this year, Woods clinching the Masters title is not easy. Through last month's Masters, the 37-year-old Tiger Woods has 14 wins in 63 major championship starts as a professional; through the 1977 Masters, the 37-year-old Nicklaus had 14 wins in. On the other hand, Jack Nicklaus amassed 164 starts in major championships throughout his career. Were the Nike guys who came up with the swoosh and jumpman logo on vacation when it came time to design Woods' emblem? - In four of the five majors where Nicklaus . Mixed in there was the Tiger Slam his streak of four-straight majors which will likely serve as the lead on his sports obituary. Despite all the numbers, the GOAT debate might never have a conclusion. Tiger Woods is out indefinitely after announcing Wednesday that he underwent another surgery on his injured right leg. (And the first is debatable too.) Their win totals are basically a wash given how the modern era of golf has a number of smaller events (WGC and FedEx Cup) and, thus, a better win probability. who shockingly missed the cut at RBC Heritage, Patrick Cantlay drained a hole-in-one at the RBC Heritage and was promptly roasted for his slow pace, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. Can all the kings horses and all the kings men put golfs Humpty Dumpty back together again? Then last April, Tiger turned back the clock and won the Masters, leaving fans in tears as he pumped his fist on the 18th green Sunday afternoon at Augusta National. RELATED: Kirk Herbstreit said no to THREE separate Augusta National invites from a legendary college hoops coach. That's more than one stroke better than Nicklaus' per-round average of 71.98. Tiger has three more majors than any other man and five more than anyone whos played in the last 60 years, but he still cant compete with Jack in the number that matters most. Phil won five majors but none with Tiger in the picture. Sign up for the For The Win newsletter to get our top stories in your inbox every morning. More: List of Tigers injuries through the years. For some, choosing one is almost an impossible task whereas others believe the answer is clear. I dont know a whole lot about what hes been through, Nicklaus began. The two icons have changed golf, making it into the commercialized tour sport we know today. After all, there werent many majors to be had when Woods was taking seven in three years. Who would go down as the best in history? Who is your ultimate GOAT? Now most tournaments are over a million bucks, with majors and the Players going over two million bucks. Jacks best streak was 105. Not that we wont keep arguing about it for the next 25 years. . Nicklaus had 48 top-three finishes at Slams, twice as many as Woods. I dare say that his winning percentage is the most untouchable of all of hisaccomplishments. In order to surpass him, Woods needs to win five more majors. Woods, who has won 14 times in the Majors, has been struggling with form and fitness recently, but Nicklaus believes that the world number one still has enough time to set a new record. Its tricky comparing athletes from different generations. Woods stands at 15, and his last major title being the 2019 Masters. Andrew Redington/Getty Images). 2020 on the Paynes Valley course at Big Cedar Lodge in Ridgedale, Missouri. Jack won his second major as a pro, the 1962 U.S. Open, at age 22, beating Arnold Palmer in a playoff. She has a keen eye for Woods plight. My puttings good. He said, I just cant walk. And he says, If it helps where I can walk, Im willing to do it. . Jack had a top 10 at a major in 24 straight years. You can pick any player from any point in their career. In 2007, aside from Tiger Woods, the remaining members of the worlds top five won just 10 percent of PGA Tour events. Nicklaus did still own the advantage in major titles, 18-16, after all. During Tiger Woods' career, his main competitors in majors have been Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els, Retief Goosen, Vijay Singh, and Jim Furyk. That feeling didnt last long. In 1991, a 15-year-old Tiger Woods was the subject of his first Sports Illustrated profile. Tiger Jack. Who is the GOAT in golf? An incredible achievement for both are their major wins, Nicklaus currently is in the lead with 18 major titles. Tiger had a still-impressive run of 17 straight seasons with a top 10. Who knows.. His rivals were killers too Palmer got him at Cherry Hills, Trevino took him down four different times including on an 18-hole playoff at Merion and Tom Watson won three majors over Nicklaus, all in heartbreaking fashion. he pursued a Journalism degree and graduated from Madras Christian College. In 1999, the start of the "Tiger Slam," Tiger Woods was ranked No. While Nicklaus finished second more than 10 times to players on that list, Woods' runner-up finishes have been to one-hit wonders like Trevor Immelman, Zach Johnson, Rich Beem, Y.E. The longtime CBS producer, hailed as the father of televised golf, was right, of course. But it will. Let us know in the comments below. Gesture at The Open Championship 2021, Full Spectrum Services LLP 2022 | All Rights Reserved. Tiger won four majors in a row from the 2000 U.S. Open through the 2001 Masters, a Tiger Slam instead of a Grand Slam only because all four wins did not come in the same calendar year. He won seven of 11 major championships from the 1999 PGA to the 2002 U.S. Open and then, almost as an afterthought, had a run of four of eight (matching Jacks best) in the majors held in 2005 and 2006. When Woods was growing up, he had a poster of Nicklaus on his wall. The late Frank Chirkinian hated it when anyone would try to compare Jack Nicklaus to Ben Hogan. since early 2020. We've been debating the Jack Nicklaus vs. Tiger Woods question ever since that historic 1997 Masters and we'll be debating it for decades to come. Come on; theres no debate: Its Tiger Woods in the aforementioned summer of 2000, when he was in a two-month stretch of playing golf as well as anyone has ever played any sport. Its Jack and its not that close. The count is still 18 to 14 in favor of Nicklaus. Why do golf fans often consider major victories as the most important? That Nicklaus was able to keep his average under par for his career after playing so many non-competitive rounds is an underrated and remarkable achievement. Who do you choose? But what if we had to have that discussion today? Finishing as a runner-up or in the Top-5 of a major is also considered a good result. This is one argument that will wage for years to come, and I personally dont have the answer to it.
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