Tiger catching Nicklaus
Tiger Woods’ stunning loss to Y.E. Yang in the PGA Championship drew Tiger closer to Jack Nicklaus.
Tiger vs. Jack is perhaps the greatest historical debate in sports history. What other sport has produced this kind of matchup? Tennis? Federer vs. Sampras? Please. NASCAR? Mark Spitz vs. Michael Phelps? No chance. Jordan vs. Wilt? No. Ruth vs. Bonds? No way. Jim Brown vs. Barry Sanders? Not even close.
Tiger vs. Jack is a thriving rivalry. And one of Nicklaus’ great records is his 19 runner-up finishes in majors, to go with his 18 titles. We’ve already conceded the victory record to Tiger, who has 14 at age 33, though too many more major-less seasons like 2009 and breaking Nicklaus’ record is no sure thing.
But Tiger now has six second-place finishes in his career, which is a far cry from Nicklaus, but same reasoning goes with this chase as it does with the victory chase. Tiger is only 33.
Tiger has entered his prime years. Golfers in their 30s are at the apex of their games. Nicklaus is the prime example.
Of all the great achievements of Nicklaus’ career, this might be the most impressive: In the 1970s, which correlates exactly with Nicklaus’ 30s, Nicklaus played in 40 majors. He finished in the top 10 36 times.
That’s another bonus of the Tiger Woods era. It makes us go back and appreciate the Nicklaus era. In the same way that Henry Aaron made Babe Ruth come alive again, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar made us salute the greatness of Wilt Chamberlain, Tiger Woods reminds us how great was Jack Nicklaus.
Here’s how great was Nicklaus’. Tiger’s age-edge is slowing considerably. Through age 33, Nicklaus had 12 major titles. Tiger has 14. Through age 33, Nicklaus had 11 runnerups in majors. Tiger has six.
Second-place finishes should be a badge of honor in golf. This is not tennis, where about four or five guys possibly can win. In golf, literally 100 players every major can win. If you don’t believe it, check out Y.E. Yang and 59-year-old Tom Watson. Titles are paramount, but runnerup is a sign of greatness, too. Especially repeated runnerups.
At the PGA, Tiger cut a little into Nicklaus’ lead. Not the lead he wanted to reduce, but still, a significant piece of golf history. It’s a fabulous rivalry, played out not head-to-head, but in the historical record, and it’s the greatest historical rivalry ever.
-------------Berry Tramel can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including AM-640 and FM-98.1. You can e-mail him here and follow him on Twitter @BerryTramel. Visit Berry's website here.
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Comments
Woods has brought a professionalism to the game that has seen all professionals working on their nutrition/training/mental game/golf swing. In a perfect world it would be incredible to see the Nicklaus at his peek play against Tiger at his peek. In honesty, you would say Tiger would out-distance Nicklaus so would most likely win. The contextual differances between the two players times (courses, players, level of professionalism) to make comparison near impossible in my eyes.
The field of players today is far deeper than in Jack’s era but the number of players in Jack’s era who had the mental game to compete with him is far greater. Has YE Yang become Tiger’s Frazier or Jack’s (Palmer, Player, Trevino and Watson)? I don’t think so but YE’s the only golfer that’s demonstrated in the 13 years Tiger has played, a mental capacity to compete with Tiger and close the deal in a major. Jack played in 3 decades and faced mentally tougher closers who WANTED a piece of him and occasionally beat him. For Tiger, it’s Tiger vs. the rest of a physically more talented and deeper field than Jack’s but except for Yang the rest of the field has been mentally challenged with the game that goes on between the ears. It’s not Tiger’s fault and he shouldn’t be penalized for it but it’s a reality and for the first time someone stared him down and legitimately beat him. Hopefully we can get 4 or 5 other MEN out there who can challenge and close. Really, If you take Tiger out of tournment, who wants to watch? In Jack’s day there were many great golfers and exciting matches that kept us captivated.
Jack’s career and his era needs to be better appreciated. Unfortunately his career is over shadowed by Tiger’s run at his records and the media frenzy it has created. Jack was the first to ever come out and say he put a priority on the majors. He surpassed the previous record of 11 majors held by Walter Hagan and I think Jack did it at age 33 in his 12th season. After that accomplishment, which basically went unnoticed, Jack chased no one for the remainder of his career. Not to say he was ever chasing Hagan at all. How many times did Jack ever say, “I play to beat Walter Hagan’s records or if I beat Hagan’s records I’m the greatest golfer who ever lived”? Answer ZERO. Jack proceeded to win 6 more majors and placed 2nd 8 more times. An amazing achievement considering his level of competition and the fact he was chasing no one. Would Jack have pushed a little harder, managed his game a little differently if the record he was chasing was 23? Could he have turned all of those 2nd place finishes (19) into wins if the record was even higher?
Tiger is great and there is no debating it. I’ve only made a case for Jack to make a point. I think it’s an insult to Jack, his fan base and also to Tiger and his fan base to put one over the other. They played in different times under different conditions. No matter who each has played, Jack never played the likes of a Tiger and lets face it no matter how the the numbers end up, Tiger will never play anyone like Jack except for an occasional aberation like YE Yang.
Why don’t sports writers give them the title of “The 2 greatest golfers of any era”. College football splits titles, why can’t golf do the same?