Year of the great Tiger comeback?

[harsh.ag]

Is this the year Tiger Woods gets back on the trail of his manifest destiny, the one involving Jack Nicklaus and the promise of a young genius we spent much of the late 90s and early noughties cheering on?

 

[King Pietersen]

It's happening. All he needs is a good week with the driver and he wins. He's striping it on the range just not been able to translate that perfectly onto the golf course yet, it'll come. I think he'll win at Augusta.

 

[Anil]

Is this the year Tiger Woods gets back on the trail of his manifest destiny, the one involving Jack Nicklaus and the promise of a young genius we spent much of the late 90s and early noughties cheering on?

i don't think he will catch nicklaus at this point, 4 majors is a career for most people...and he also has to stay injury-free for the next 4-5 years to have a chance at the majors...but he is back, playing well, maybe at 70% of his 2013 form and playing pain-free now...if he continues this trajectory, he should win tournaments for sure, potentially another major or two...

 

[harsh.ag]

It's not like this is a sport with a major age limit as such.

 

[vcs]

Doesn't Nicklaus's overall record (2nd place finishes in Majors, general consistency, longevity, Ryder Cup record etc) comfortably overshadow Tiger? I'm not too clued up on golf history but vaguely remember reading something like that. So Tiger reaching his Major tally wouldn't necessarily make him GOAT. I mean, Federer reached 15 in 2009 and he has had a solid 9 years at the top of the game after that point.

 

[Anil]

@harsh sure that's true, but there aren't too many occurrences of people winning majors past the age of 45...and with all his injuries to date, tiger is a pretty old 42 at this point.

 

[Anil]

Doesn't Nicklaus's overall record (2nd place finishes in Majors, general consistency, longevity, Ryder Cup record etc) comfortably overshadow Tiger? I'm not too clued up on golf history but vaguely remember reading something like that. So Tiger reaching his Major tally wouldn't necessarily make him GOAT. I mean, Federer reached 15 in 2009 and he has had a solid 9 years at the top of the game after that point.

true especially the 19 2nd place finishes in majors is an out-of-this-world stat to go with his 18 majors...but there are similar things in tiger's favor as well, like his winning % (which has diminished in the past few years but it was an insane % for golf in his first 14-15 years), number of missed cuts career-wise (which is still a spectacularly low number for someone who has played as much and speaks to an unmatched consistency), his 18 world golf championships (the next best is 5), the number of weeks at no: 1 (close to 700 i think), he is already ahead of nicklaus in number of tournaments won (79 to 72), if he gets 4 more majors, he would have probably won 90+ pga tour events...add to that the fact that tiger is playing in a much more competitive era compared to jack, i think he has a clear case for GOAT if he reaches 18 majors (which i don't think he will)...

 

[flibbertyjibber]

No chance of him catching Jack and I doubt he will win one anyway. Encouraging comeback so far but how long will it last till he breaks down again?

 

[vcs]

true especially the 19 2nd place finishes in majors is an out-of-this-world stat to go with his 18 majors...but there are similar things in tiger's favor as well, like his winning % (which has diminished in the past few years but it was an insane % for golf in his first 14-15 years), number of missed cuts career-wise (which is still a spectacularly low number for someone who has played as much and speaks to an unmatched consistency), his 18 world golf championships (the next best is 5), the number of weeks at no: 1 (close to 700 i think), he is already ahead of nicklaus in number of tournaments won (79 to 72), if he gets 4 more majors, he would have probably won 90+ pga tour events...add to that the fact that tiger is playing in a much more competitive era compared to jack, i think he has a clear case for GOAT if he reaches 18 majors (which i don't think he will)...

Interesting. Some pretty impressive statistics there.

 

[Anil]

No chance of him catching Jack and I doubt he will win one anyway. Encouraging comeback so far but how long will it last till he breaks down again?

yep...this more or less...

 

[King Pietersen]

With 18 missed cuts in his career - Tiger has missed less cuts than Jordan Spieth, let that sink in. He's missed 14 of those since 2009 as well, meaning from 96 to 2009 he missed 4 cuts. Mental.

Also, here's the most up to date record of wins in WGC's:

18: Tiger
17:
16:
15:
14:
13:
12:
11:
10:
9:
8:
7:
6:
5: DJ
4:
3: Ogilvy, Mickelson

I'd put Tiger as GOAT personally. His record is remarkable.

 

[Anil]

sure...if we are talking about the best golfer to ever pick up a club, for me it would be tiger, without question. however if we are talking about the most accomplished golfer, that's where nicklaus has a strong case, we add achievements/consistency in majors, longevity etc...unless tiger catches jack in majors, he won't be the GOAT in most people's eyes.

 

[Niall]

sure...if we are talking about the best golfer to ever pick up a club, for me it would be tiger, without question. however if we are talking about the most accomplished golfer, that's where nicklaus has a strong case, we add achievements/consistency in majors, longevity etc...unless tiger catches jack in majors, he won't be the GOAT in most people's eyes.

Did Nicklaus have much draw factor when he was bossing it? I genuinely don't know. Woods who obviously I'd be more familiar with is pretty much up there with Jordan, Roger as guys who transcend the sport. Viewing figures for the 3rd round were crazy last week at the valspar.

 

[Anil]

Did Nicklaus have much draw factor when he was bossing it? I genuinely don't know. Woods who obviously I'd be more familiar with is pretty much up there with Jordan, Roger as guys who transcend the sport. Viewing figures for the 3rd round were crazy last week at the valspar.

golf wasn't as popular when nicklaus was "bossing it"...golf owes much of his improved popularity around the world, the staggeringly improved purses for the players, improved athleticism etc to tiger woods...the tiger fans phenomena (casual fans who only tune in when he is playing)...i don't think it has happened to that extent for anyone else in golf...maybe bobby jones and arnie too but it is a short list...

 

[Burgey]

Jack still had a big draw factor though. Not as bog as Arnie’s but right up there

 

[vcs]

Golf is dull as **** to watch. Unless you play the game regularly, I can't imagine how people could derive much pleasure out of watching it.

 

[Anil]

Golf is dull as **** to watch. Unless you play the game regularly, I can't imagine how people could derive much pleasure out of watching it.

i used to think that several years back and then i took time to understand the rules, nuances, history and i have been hooked ever since...tiger woods being at the top of the game when i started tuning in definitely helped hold my interest while i ramped up...