© Ian Rutherford-USA TODAY Sports
Sports talk radio really began with debates about which players were better, which teams were better, and, of course, ridiculous trade proposals that often make no sense.
But the “Greatest of All-Time” debate in many sports are often amusing because the time, era, equipment, competition, lack of diversity, etc are never taken into account. Certainly they factor into many results, but sometimes the answer is so obvious, and yet “recent” results seem to dominate— usually incorrectly (see Jordan, Michael).
But the Greatest Golfer of All-Time is not debatable currently. And it’s NOT Tiger Woods.
While Tiger doesn’t think Ryder Cup results matter, they certainly factor into golf results in pressure situations. In case you ever get into the “Greatest Golfer of All-Time” debate, please use the following:
Jack Nicklaus won 18 Major championships. Tiger has won 14.
Nicklaus won eight Majors coming from behind on the last day. Tiger has NEVER come from behind on the last day to win a Major.
Nicklaus finished second 19 times in Major championships. Tiger has six second-place finishes.
Nicklaus finished top-three in Majors 48 times. Tiger has 24 top-three finishes in Majors.
Nicklaus won the Masters at 46 years old. Tiger is currently 42. We will see if he wins another Major at an advanced age.
Nicklaus was 16-8-3 in the Ryder Cup and played on teams that went 6-0.
Tiger’s Ryder Cup record is 13-21-3. And his teams are 1-7.
The Greatest of All-Time? The Golden Bear eats Tiger’s lunch.
