Jack Nicklaus
If you run a web search for who the best golfer of all time is, you’ll probably come back with a short list that includes Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus. While Woods has done plenty for the sport through a heck of a career, Nicklaus remains the greatest golfer of all time.
That’s not to say Woods is a bad or even mediocre golfer, but the numbers clearly show Nicklaus as an all-time favorite. For starters, there’s his record-setting 18 major championships, three more than Woods’ 15, and his status as a runner-up in 19 major championships, also a record.
Nine years before Woods had even been born, Nicklaus had become, at age 26 in 1966, the youngest player to win all four golf majors.
Even after the recognition of Woods later breaking that record, Nicklaus has plenty of other stats that back him up.
Not only has Nicklaus won a Grand Slam — the collective name given to the British Open, Masters Tournament, U.S. Open, and PGA Championship — he’s done it three times. At the very least, he goes toe-to-toe with Woods in most major categories, but what really sets him apart is the aforementioned two records.
Woods may have the higher winning percentage on the PGA Tour at 22.9 percent compared to Nicklaus’ 12.5 percent, but Nicklaus has more major wins, and with a difference of three, it’s not all that close, either.
The final divider is how each golfer has contributed to golf off the course. There’s no doubt that Woods has done plenty for the sport, but he doesn’t have the Congressional Gold Medal that Nicklaus does, nor was he instrumental in bringing golf back to the Olympics in 2016 for the first time since the 1904 St. Louis games.
Even if we ignore Nicklaus’ passion for golf and unfailing generosity in contributing to the sport, the numbers clearly show him as the best golfer of all time. And the numbers don’t lie.
Tiger Woods
A handful of names come to mind when talking about the best players in the history of golf. But, if asked, many advocates of the sport boil the conversation down to two individuals: Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus. I believe Woods deserves to lead that GOAT conversation because of the sheer and absolute dominance he showed in his prime years.
The main argument for Nicklaus over Woods is the number of major championships won, as Nicklaus has three more titles than Woods with 18. While Woods has not yet officially retired, many fans of the sport don’t see him ever catching that number. This is a great argument, but it doesn’t show how much more commanding Woods was over the sport during his time. From 1998 to 2005, Woods refused to miss a single cut in PGA Tour events, marking 142 tournaments over that span. The fact that Woods played better than a good portion of the competition 142 weekends in a row is mind boggling.
Not only was Woods consistently competing, but he was winning events. Woods sits tied with Sam Snead for the most PGA Tour event titles at 82. To put this in perspective, the next highest active golfer on that list is Rory McIlroy with 29.The number of championships is the main argument in most of the popular sports.
But considering Woods and Nicklaus are that close in comparison forces a deeper look to separate the two. And when looking at who was the more dominant golfer in their primes, there is no one with a better resume than Woods. He is the youngest ever to win the Masters at 21, and Woods did it by 12 strokes.
Need I say more?
