Sorry Jack, but Tiger's already the greatestby Ian O'Connor
Ian O'Connor is the author of "Arnie & Jack: Palmer, Nicklaus, and Golf's Greatest Rivalry," which Kirkus Reviews calls an "exemplary sports history." His Web site is
www.ian-oconnor.com.
Updated: April 8, 2008, 9:01 PM EST 390 comments add this RSS blog email print AUGUSTA, Ga. - So Tiger Woods shows up at Augusta National Thursday and pulls the wrong muscle on the wrong swing at the wrong time, and promptly parks himself under the old clubhouse oak to announce his retirement.
Here's a question for you: Who's the greatest player of all time?
Are you going with Jack Nicklaus or Tiger Woods?
I'm going with Tiger Woods.
The Masters
It isn't an easy concession to make. Nicklaus and his family made my life a whole lot easier as I was writing and researching my new book, Arnie & Jack: Palmer, Nicklaus, and Golf's Greatest Rivalry. Jack gave me five hours on his private jet, and then some.
Tiger gave me 11 minutes in the locker room at Doral, and he spent seven of them searching for a way to end the conversation.
But sentiment can't stand in the way of fact. Woods at his best would've beaten Nicklaus at his best, and I no longer believe Tiger needs to break Jack's record of 18 major championships to prove the point.
If the 32-year-old Woods stays healthy, he's a death-and-taxes lock to get to 19 and beyond, with the smart money on beyond. Tiger posted Jack's records on his childhood walls for a reason. He's planning to do to Nicklaus' No. 18 what Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire did to Roger Maris' No. 61.
Smash it, not pass it. And without the sinister help of some bottled-up friends.
For Arnie & Jack, I asked Nicklaus how he would've fared in a showdown with Woods.
"I'd get my share of wins," Nicklaus said, "and he'd get his share."
Nicklaus has an immense amount of respect and appreciation for Woods. Loves his game, his focus, his unmitigated commitment to excellence. He sees Tiger as a most worthy successor. He says he wants to be there to shake the young man's hand when he wins major No. 19.
"Arnold and I both agree that you could take his Masters and my Masters and add them together, and this kid should win more than the both of us," said Nicklaus, back when Woods was just getting started.
Jack was actually declaring — only half in jest — that Tiger would win at least 11 Masters.
Tiger vs. BearPlayer Career wins Major titles Career winnings
Jack Nicklaus 73 18 $5,723,192
Tiger Woods 64 13 $80,194,376
"The kid is the most fundamentally sound golfer I've ever seen at almost any age," Nicklaus said.
But the Golden Bear is also fiercely proud of the standards he set. In the early stages of his prime, Bobby Jones' 13 major titles represented the magic number. Nicklaus was shooting at 13 the way Woods has been shooting at 18.
Today Jack wishes he had a bigger target — a Nicklaus-sized target — to aim at.
"Should my record have been better?" he said once. "In my opinion, if I felt like I knew Tiger was coming along, I would have focused a lot earlier in life. If Bobby Jones had won 20 majors, I'd have focused a lot earlier. Yes, but who knows.
"My priorities were certainly not golf. My priorities were my family. I certainly skipped a lot of golf tournaments and a lot of preparation to do things with my kids. I went through a period from '67 to '70 when I was playing six or seven tournaments a year, and I wasn't winning majors and it really wasn't that big a deal to me until my father passed away, until I realized I sort of wasted a lot of my prime.
"I passed a lot of good years there, and I don't think Tiger has done that."
No, Tiger has not. And Jack's prediction that Woods would become an even better player as a father — Nicklaus won all 18 majors as a parent and believed children would give Woods extra incentive to succeed — is closing fast on prophecy.
By pushing his career tour victory total to 64, Woods has pulled into a tie with Ben Hogan. Nicklaus is next at 73.
But if Woods quit playing this week, quit because of an injury (God forbid) or a need to spend more quality time with his daughter (a far better reason), he's already done enough to earn the distinction of greatest ever.
Nicklaus never won more in a single season than the seven events he took in 1972 and '73. Woods won nine times in 2000, eight in 2006 and 1999, and seven last year.
Entering the season following his 32nd birthday, Nicklaus had claimed nine Grand Slam events, or four fewer than Woods. Entering the season following his 32nd birthday, Nicklaus had won 38 tour events, or 23 fewer than Woods.
With his Tiger Slam, Woods held all four Grand Slam trophies at once. Nicklaus never held more than three at the same time — he won the '71 PGA Championship (staged in February that year), the '72 Masters, and the '72 U.S. Open, but was beaten at the '72 British when a dejected Lee Trevino got lucky and holed out what Nicklaus called "a give-up shot."
So the numbers tilt heavily toward Woods. Even so, Nicklaus still has his backers. Asked to referee a Jack-vs.-Tiger bout, Gary Player said: "If you gave Jack [modern] equipment, I think Jack would've been better."
Player qualified his judgment, adding that Tiger's fitness regimen will make him a better player in his 40s than Jack ever was, and therefore will leave him with the better career.
That's not the argument here. This is about whether Tiger merits the No. 1 spot on the all-time list right now.
Tiger's tour has a deeper field than Jack's tour did, that's for sure. But at the top of his field, Nicklaus faced contenders who were tougher than those at the top of Tiger's.
Just do the math. Trevino won six majors, Palmer won seven, Tom Watson won eight, and Player won nine. On Tiger's tail, Phil Mickelson has won three majors, Vijay Singh has won three, Ernie Els has won three, and Retief Goosen has won two.
Jack's backers can also point to the 1998 Masters, where a 58-year-old Nicklaus outplayed the 22-year-old defending champ, Woods, on one good hip.
I'd rather point to the 1997 Masters, where Woods turned Augusta National on its ear with his 18-under 270, beating Nicklaus' best Masters score by one stroke.That's the size of the gap between Woods and Nicklaus — one lousy putt. Until Tiger gets to 19, Nicklaus remains golf's greatest champion.
But he's already surrendered the title of golf's greatest player.
