Nicklaus played against four of the greatest golfers ever and not only won 18 majors but had 19 second-place finishes, proving there was plenty for everyone. In golf, its reserved for two people: Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods. And I know I could be seen as biased because Ive been fortunate to live through Tigers prime. The overall win total in tournaments reveals one interesting thingWoods in his prime was better than prime Nicklaus. Like it or not, there are many who root against Woods because of his philandering, and that undoubtedly will affect how he's remembered. 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. My puttings good. He said, I just cant walk. And he says, If it helps where I can walk, Im willing to do it. . sinking his putt on the 18th green to win during the final round of the Masters Sit around any 19th hole for way too long and you might hear this question pop up: who is the greatest golfer of all-time, Tiger Woods or Jack Nicklaus? She has a keen eye for Woods plight. This is one argument that will wage for years to come, and I personally dont have the answer to it. 17. He could make a complete return to form and it still wouldnt guarantee anything. During the best part of Jack Nicklaus career, his main competitors were Tom Watson, Gary Player, Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino, and Billy Casper. The argument for Nicklaus is pretty simple: he won the most majors and had even more runner-up finishes in the biggest events. And I know Nicklaus had Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Lee Trevino, Tom Watson, and many others but Tigers time, especially over the last 10 years, has been much more competitive. He may yetsilence all critics (myself included) who rank him a slim tissuethickness behind Jack with the work he does over the next decade. These are all the significant stats you need to know about how two GOATs of golf performed in major championships. Tigers reign was 14 years, not including his two lost seasons of 2010 and 2011. They both had a stretch of winning at least one major title in six of nine years. Now, in 2018, a 42-year-old Tiger is making his return to golf after years of scandal and an injury so severe that it threatened to end his career. And as Tiger Woods returns to major championship competition with this weeks British Open, resuming his pursuit of Nicklaus 18 majors, the debate is officially rekindled. On the other hand, Jack Nicklaus amassed 164 starts in major championships throughout his career. Nicklaus has won more majors than Woods. What would it take for a changing of the guard? But, looking at the other side of the coin, no one has really stepped up to consistently challenge Woods the way Palmer, Player, Trevino, Casper, and Watson challenged Nicklaus. In 1972, Player, Trevino, Crampton, and Palmer won 16 percent of PGA Tour events. Woods stands at 15, and his last major title being the 2019 Masters. But man, tacos are freakin good, too. Ever. Clearly when it comesto theweek-to-week grind of the Tour, Tiger has no equal. Tiger Woods had the greatest run of any golfer whos ever picked up a club, but Jack Nicklaus put together a career that, from start to finish, was unparalleled. Hes never been challenged in the fourth round and hes never come from behind to challenge for a major title. Phil won five majors but none with Tiger in the picture. 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. The 2022 Masters can be an opportunity for Woods to tie it up, and maybe even surpass the 82-year-old later on. So well start the comparison in those years, and compare each mans first major with the others first major, second to second, and so forth. At the British Open in the summer of 72, Jack struggled in the first three rounds but shot a 66 on the final day (a course record) to get to the top of the leaderboard. Period. In Nicklaus best four-year stretch he won 22 from 1970-73 and added another 17 titles from 1964-67. Both are Hall of Famers and have been awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nations highest civilian honor. Who won the U.S. Open? Hear what our crew of Anna Whiteley, Dam. People only cared about the actual Grand Slam, which Jack was halfway toward with his wins at the Masters and U.S. Open. So hopefully this surgery will be the last of it. If we're comparing two careers, one that's complete and one that's complete for the sake of this discussion, Nicklaus is an easy winner. Woods has always been a front-runner finisher, winning 14 of his 15 majors while leading or co-leading entering the fourth round. For those paying attention, some interesting parallels existed between Tiger Woods in 2020 and Jack Nicklaus in 1986 as we entered this week. 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. Tiger Woods' epic 2019 Masters win sent the golf world and internet into a frenzy. 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. Tiger was the ultimate front-runner, winning all 14 of his majors while leading or co-leading entering the fourth round. I play a lot of golf. Let's review Jack's stats in 1968 compared to Tiger's today: This gives us some idea about the performance of each golfer and how they ranked against the field. In comparison, Jack Nicklaus' 36-hole outright conversion rate was 63. This week we dedicate to the G.O.A.T. https://golfweek.usatoday.com/2022/12/24/jack-nicklaus-tiger-woods-pga-tour-career-major-stats/, Mexico, Caribbean, Atlantic islands, Central America, Top 50 Classic Courses in Great Britain & Ireland, Top 50 Modern Courses in Great Britain & Ireland. Nicklaus made just $5,734,031, placing him 338th. It must be noted that this comparison involves only majors; if you expand it to include regular Tour events Tiger wins easily. Aside from him, there are just two other players with three major wins during the Tiger era: Ernie Els and Vijay Singh. 82. Tiger's best 33-major streak featured 21 top 10s. Tiger had 14. 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. Both players have set records with most cuts made as Jack had 105, but Tiger trumped it with 142! Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus are the two greatest golfers to have competed in major championships. In the end, major titles arent given more weight because of their timing. Nicklaus is in third at 73. 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. 1 in the world, he was followed by David Duval, Colin Montgomery, Davis Love III, and Ernie Els. See trending; Company. They account for a large amount of success in this aspect, as theyve won a combined 33 major titles together. Woods might be a few majors short, but he still has time to catch Nicklaus (though the chances of that have greatly decreased since his single-car accident in 2021). You have one golf tournament to win. While the 46-year-old is confident about a win this year, Woods clinching the Masters title is not easy. Nicklauss best streak was 105. But then again, I have no way of knowing whether Nicklaus toughest competitors were indeed better than Woods toughest competitors, or whether Woods is that much better than Nicklaus that he has been able to distance himself from players that are equally as good as Nicklaus competitors were. 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. Lets look at a breakdown of their major championship statistics: Woods has played in 87 major championships. Mickelson hasn't, and neither has Els. Thats too good. Then the back surgeries happened and we didnt know if hed ever be back again. Its more evidence that Peak Tiger > Peak Jack. 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. Tiger has played 74 rounds at Augusta National and has a scoring average of 70.86, the best in history. In the two in which he didn't, he tied for 11th and 13th. The question of who is the greatest golfer of all time comes down to two men: Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus. Let's look at the numbers: Most wins in golf 1 Tiger WoodsSam Snead 82 3 Jack Nicklaus 73 4 Ben Hogan 64 5 Arnold Palmer 62 Tiger Woods is tied with Sam Snead for the most wins in golf with . Mixed in there was the Tiger Slam his streak of four-straight majors which will likely serve as the lead on his sports obituary. Maybe Jack could call Tiger the greatest golfer of all time and Tiger could call Jack the greatest champion of all time. Republic World for around two years now. You can pick any player from any point in their career. But the circumstances of a time and generation do not provide a level playing field. In 1972, the best year of Nicklaus career; a year that saw him win three out of the four majors, Nicklaus was ranked No. Insanity. He dominated in an era of chokers. Until that time, Nicklaus holds the advantage in that category. Clearly, Woods has a larger number of legitimate competitors to worry about each week than Nicklaus did. Thru their 55th Major Tournament (Masters, U S Open, British, PGA), here's how they compare: Age - Tiger 33 Jack 33 Wins - Tiger 14 Jack 11 2nd Place - Tiger 5 Jack 11 3rd Place - Tiger 3 Jack 5 Top 10's - Tiger 31 Jack 36 Top 25's - Tiger 44 Jack - 45 Missed Cuts - Tiger 4 Jack 6 Scoring Average - Tiger 70.63 Jack 71.64 Who is your ultimate GOAT? Both Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus dominated golf in their respective eras. It just wasnt a thing back then. I can just see it from a fans standpoint, Sorenstam said. Because Im comparing majors by the specific number they were in each mans career, I have compared the 1971 PGA, Nicklaus 37th major, with the 2006 Masters, Woods 37th major. Second, could it be that Tigers competition is inferior because of Tiger? The oldest player to win a major:. He went on to win 28 of them (84.8 percent). That's more than one stroke better than Nicklaus' per-round average of 71.98. Now most tournaments are over a million bucks, with majors and the Players going over two million bucks. Tiger had 15 such tournaments in the 2000s (counting the two events. As of 2019, Tiger Woods has won 82 PGA Tour events, while Jack Nicklaus has won 73. Tiger Woods is out indefinitely after announcing Wednesday that he underwent another surgery on his injured right leg. Woods won 77 tournaments in 300 starts. How many titles does Tiger Woods have? So heres how these two legends faired in major championships in their respective careers. Starting four. As far as individual major tournament statistics go, over the span of time it took both Jack and Tiger to reach their first 14 major victories, the comparison looks like this: Jack: 55. No predictions for the future or presumed milestones. While the 46-year-old is confident about a win this year, Woods clinching the Masters title is not easy. Lefty won five major championships. Tiger's 15-shot win inthe 2000 U.S. Open set a record for widest margin of victory, but his scoreof 272 only tied the record (since bettered by Rory Mcilroy) that Jackset in the 1980 U.S. Open. 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. My naming this group of players as Tigers competition, all of whomhappen to bePGA Tour winners, is not to say that these players are comparable to Palmer, Player, Trevino, etc. 4, and Trevino was ranked fifth. A year later, Tiger made the pages of the venerable sports magazine again and a more apt analogy was made: Hes the next Nicklaus, maybe better.. 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. For the casual golf fan, hearing the names Palmer, Player, Trevino, and Casper coupled together as Nicklaus main competitors immediately leads one to believe that Nicklaus faced some of the toughest competition imaginable during his career. Nicklaus main competitors won 29 percent of all major championships played during the prime of Nicklaus career. There have been few worthy adversaries. Both are legends of the game, but who deserves the greatest title? GOLF DIGEST MAY EARN A PORTION OF SALES FROM PRODUCTS THAT ARE PURCHASED THROUGH OUR SITE AS PART OF OUR AFFILIATE PARTNERSHIPS WITH RETAILERS. In other words, each time Nicklaus teed off in a major championship, there were four other legitimate contenders who were capable of taking home the trophy. With every passing year, however, the Tiger Slam becomes more and more remarkable. His winning percentage was 26% and won 14 majors in his first 63 starts. Nicklaus finished in the Top-5 56 times and achieved a Top-10 finish 73 times in 164 starts! If only considering normal events, Woods can be the GOAT for many. Another impressive Woods number is cuts made. You Into Another Realm. Nicklaus had 57 runner-up finishes in his career and 269 top-10s while Woods had 31 runner-up finishes, or 26 behind Nicklaus, and 199 top-10s, 60 less than the Golden Bear. Copyright 2023 Endgame360 Inc. All Rights Reserved. I think hes in more pain than he lets everybody know. Aside from Jack Nicklaus, Player, Casper, Palmer, and Trevino won nearly 18 percent of PGA Tour events. Woods holds the record for both the lowest adjusted and unadjusted scoring average . Arjun manages the Golf division and its content, and primarily covers news https://ftw.usatoday.com/2019/08/tiger-woods-or-jack-nicklaus-golf-greatest-of-all-time-goat, 2023 Mexico Open at Vidanta: 3 sleepers worth betting on to upset Jon Rahm, Jon Rahm's odds at the 2023 Mexico Open are a callback to Tiger Woods' prime, Videos showing how slow Patrick Cantlay plays golf are the funniest new memes, Matt Fitzpatrick won an additional $1.42 million at RBC Heritage thanks to an unreal shot, 7 golfers (Max Homa!) Usain Bolt made me look harder at the careers of Carl Lewis and Jesse Owens. The two icons have changed golf, making it into the commercialized tour sport we know today. Of course, Nicklaus won his last major at age 46, and now that Tiger has completed his comeback from golf oblivion, he still has time to catch the Golden Bear. Director of Professional Golf isnt a normal position at golf club, but Quail Hollow isn't a normal club.
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