Mac Doesnt Rate Tiger!

[jpvegas1]

Way to go Brian

Brian:

I completely agree with your assessment. I have seen this type of complaing before. In the 60's and 70's, Jimmy Demeret and others were moaning about the lack of skill with Nicklaus and Palmer and how the players of his era had more shots, could work the ball better, had more imagination etc..

This has been going on throughout golf's history. Here is a quote from Golf Illustrated in 1910 -- "If the carrying power of golf ball is to be still further increased all our courses will be irreversibly ruined as a test of the game."

Today the athletes in every sport are bigger, stonger and better coached and this holds true for golf as well.

 

[tongzilla]

Good post Brian. Like your anecdotes.

 

[curtisj76]

I can only say, "Mac, get a life". That sounded flat out stupid.

I'm sorry but I believe Tiger is the best ever. He pulls off the most amazing shots in clutch situations. Stuff that doesn't even make sense. Stuff that makes me pick my jaw off the ground. That is NOT technology, that is SKILL. If it was technology EVERYBODY would be doing this. He has the complete game.....and it even gets better when he wears that red shirt.

Hey Mac, maybe you should research the technology change in a basketball or Nike Air shoes. Cuz you know Jordan sucked!

Peace

 

[MrMichael]

You simply have players that are the best of their time. You can't compare things from one era to another. Saying that Tiger couldn't compete isn't fair to Tiger and saying that Tiger would destroy Jack or Arnie is not fair either. The advantages in courses, physical fitness and equipment would be available to them as well. Plus the knowledge of the game that people have picked up from the greats of the generations of golfers before. It is fun to discuss but it isn't fair to either generation.

 

[aaron_lohan]

Troll?

Does mac make these sort of remarks to sh#t stir, i mean does he do it deliberately to provoke people? could he even possible be reading all this on this forum?
It seems like attention seeking to me, ex pros will always talk about how good their generation is it just makes them look better, gary player is alot like this.

 

[golfbulldog]

Devils advocate... in defence of Mac...

If Mac had said something like :

"... for the greatest player of his generation and the winner of 2nd most amount of majors - therefore a contender for greatest player ever on the planet - Tiger's bad shots with his driver are far worse than the "greats" of the past such as Hogan, Snead, Jack and Arnie..."

DO you think that this is what he meant? Do you think that the above is reasonable statement?

PLEASE do not rant at me I do not live my life as a Mac apologist but when I read intelligent people spouting tripe i try to understand why... the article as printed has been so well dissected by Brian that , as it stands, it can not be defended... but the article supposedly reports what Mac said and not neccessarily what he meant...

 

[joeparr]

I dont know who is the best , Its hard to compare,BUT every teacher has hogans bible and books by nicklaus,palmer,player etc and teach how they swing but Noooone teaches how tiger swings and his swing is knocked, but yet he still beats everyone,why is that?

 

[kshoren05]

My perception of that is that Tiger is the fiercest competitor out there. All the greats hated to lose but I think where Nicklaus and Tiger especially are different is when it comes performance under pressure. Brian mentioned some of Tiger's unreal performances and I would like to add Nicklaus's final round in the 1986 Masters. I could watch that over and over and not get sick of it, that could be the best performance on the final back 9 in a major ever. So what is the difference? I think it is a variety of things but Tiger's will to win is probably the biggest differentiating factor. Don't worry, I am sure he'll add a few more books later in his career...I certainly would like to have 1+ swing like his=)

 

[lia41985]

Brian, that was an incredible read. Thank you.

 

[bew69]

The equipment doesn't matter

The equipment is irrelevant because they are ALL playing with the same advanced technology. They could be playing with plastic wands and it wouldn't change the fact that Tiger has dominated the tour for 10 years. He's clearly the best of this era and likely the best ever.

It's just more sour grapes from Mac.

Bruce

 

[Tom Bartlett]

Sorry Mac.
O'Grady said he used the qualifying event as research for his book, taking note of driving distance and players' performance.

If you playing in a 4-spotter qualifies as research, than doing this forum ought to win me the Nobel prize.

Maybe, one of the best quotes ever.

 

[birdie_man]

You need a shrink if you can’t understand that Tiger was TOTALLY better with the long irons, and with his length and short game, would demolish a Snead or Hogan score wise.

Brian...........demolish???

The players are better. Period.

More good players sure.......what about great ones tho boss? Coming thru big at big times.....down the stretch etc?

Lacking?.....or are Miller and Jack full of hot air?

 

[Brian Manzella]

Short Game, Dude.

Birdie,

The SCORING difference is almost ALL short game.

Sooooooooo many more putts going in outside 10 ft and Sooooooooooo many more wedges from ALL SORTS OF PLACE up there NAKED.

Tiger was the best ever.

 

[tobell]

Nicklaus' putter

Let Nicklaus put the greens of today--simply the best clutch putter including Tiger of all time. Tiger's short game was in a different league than Jacks's however. In fact, Tiger's only real rival around the greens would be Seve, but if you don't count Seve among the greats, Tiger has no rival with the wedge.

 

[Brian Manzella]

Short Putter.

Jack Nicklaus was a GREAT short putter when the heat was on.

Tiger made BOMBS.

There has always been putters who made bombs, butr NONE of them were long as Tiger, or as good.

 

[JamesBurg]

Birdie,

The SCORING difference is almost ALL short game.

Sooooooooo many more putts going in outside 10 ft and Sooooooooooo many more wedges from ALL SORTS OF PLACE up there NAKED.

Tiger was the best ever.

I agree with that last statement. I wonder if he will ever get back there.

 

[priceunderpar]

Tiger upgraded some of his equipement to the new stuff to make sure that his TALENT didn't get beaten by another guys tech. If everyone played the old stuff, Tiger would be even more dominant over his competition.

 

[lia41985]

priceunderpar--EXACTLY! THANKS FOR THAT!!! Anyone remember the context of Lefty's "inferior equipment" comment?

 

[Jim Kobylinski]

The book Q School Confidential has the scoring average that it took each year to get a tour card. When I graduated from high school in '73 it was around +15 for for six rounds. Twenty years later, or so, it was around -15. So the marginal TOUR player is maybe 5 shots a round better today than in Nicklaus' time?! That is substantial improvement. Of course that is not to say that the improvement at the top is anywhere near that, it is probably around the same. But I think this statistic is substantial and certainly reveals that there are many more good players today than 30+ years ago.

-8 would have got you a T30 in this past years Q-school over 6 rounds.

 

[birdie_man]

Tiger upgraded some of his equipement to the new stuff to make sure that his TALENT didn't get beaten by another guys tech. If everyone played the old stuff, Tiger would be even more dominant over his competition.

Again not a Tiger fan......but I have to say I think I agree.