Go to any sports bar, and conversations invariably ensue on which sports star is the GOAT—the greatest of all time. In baseball, you'll hear Babe Ruth pitted against Barry Bonds. In basketball, the debate will center on Michael Jordan and Lebron James. In tennis, Novak Djokovic versus Rafael Nadal. The list goes on and on.
Time frame and context matter. Proponents of a given GOAT will do their utmost to highlight the importance of their preferred choice while minimizing the other’s achievements.
Golf puts two players squarely in the bulls-eye. Before the arrival of Tiger Woods, the top rung on the all-time best golfer ladder undisputedly belonged to Jack Nicklaus.
With a total of 18 majors and 19 runner-up finishes, the Golden Bear was considerably ahead of the next two great champions, Ben Hogan and Bob Jones. Few, if any, thought his place at the top would ever be challenged, let alone surpassed.
Woods’s launching pad came early—at age 2—with an appearance on the Mike Douglas show in 1978. Tiger showed his form in front of a nationwide audience, including Bob Hope and James Stewart, watching the toddler swing a golf club.
As Woods’s visibility increased—so did the expectations.
The young golfer did not disappoint and consistently pushed the bar to higher levels.
Tiger started his impressive roster of achievements by winning three consecutive U.S. Junior Amateur championships—something that had never been done before. Then came three straight U.S. Amateur titles. By the time Woods turned pro in late 1996 at age 20, he had already secured six USGA Championships. Before the year finished, he would win his first two PGA Tour titles.
The fanfare coming into the 1997 Masters was off the charts. Woods played his first nine holes in four-over-par 40, and the rumblings in the gallery were palpable. Was Augusta too big a stage for him? Tiger then played the remaining 63 holes at 22 under par, setting a new 72-hole scoring record in concert with a pulverizing all-time 12-shot winning margin.
Tiger sent the message that a new sheriff was in town and aiming to remain there.
In 2008, Jeff Rude of Golfweek asked a range of top PGA Tour professionals who was the better player. The most insightful response came from three-time major winner Billy Casper.
“I think Tiger Woods is the greatest equipped golfer I’ve ever seen—he has nothing in his game that he can’t do.” Casper’s comments were telling because he had competed against the likes of Hogan and was in his prime playing years when competing against Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, and Gary Player.
Lee Trevino, one of Jack’s fiercest rivals, also weighed in. “If they were the same age, it would be a toss-up.”
Others saw it differently. Greg Norman, who competed against both, said, “If you took a young Jack and gave young Jack the equipment that Tiger’s using, I'd put my money on Jack.”
It’s important to point out Woods’s monumental portfolio of achievements—stunning in its totality and scale.
When he won his first U.S. Open in 2000 at Pebble Beach, he did so with a record 15-shot winning margin—no misprint—15 shots. This is akin to Bob Beamon’s epic 8.90-meter long jump at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, a world record that remains an Olympic record today.
Tiger became the youngest career Grand Slam winner at age 24 when he won The Open at the Old Course at St. Andrews in Scotland. In that win, he added another remarkable dimension, never once finding the numerous devilish bunkers that dot the famed links.
As impressive as it was when Woods claimed his second green jacket at the 2001 Masters, he added another head-turning feat—holding the titles of all four of golf’s major championships at the same time. Although not in the same calendar year, the milestone was aptly named The Tiger Slam.
At age 32, he won his third U.S. Open title in 2008, playing with a broken leg and defeating Rocco Mediate in a playoff at Torrey Pines in San Diego. That win pushed Woods to 14 majors and 65 PGA Tour titles—both records given the speed of the achievement. He would earn his 9th USGA title—tying him at the top in that category with Jones.
In two four-year stretches, Woods’s insatiable desire to win was agenda item number one. Between 1999 and 2002, he played in 78 events, winning 27. Between 2005 and 2008, He played in 58 events, winning 25 times. Combined, these numbers make for a mind-boggling victory percentage of just over 38 percent.
The pathway to passing the Nicklaus mark of 18 majors seemed all but certain.
Then, the unexpected happened.
Several surgeries were required to repair Tiger’s ailing body, with the most recent taking place in 2024.
In November 2009, the public learned of numerous marital infidelities that resulted in subsequent divorce from his wife, Elin Nordegren. Less than eight years later, on May 29, 2017, he was arrested in Florida for driving under the influence.
Woods returned to competitive golf and showed success, claiming the 2018 Tour Championship and then, after nearly 11 years since winning the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines, his 15th major title—a 5th Masters in 2019. Later that same year, Woods would add a triumph at the Zozo Championship for a record-tying 82nd PGA Tour title.
And just when it seemed Tiger had turned the corner, there was another setback.
On Feb. 23, 2021, Woods nearly killed himself in a car accident in California, suffering serious injuries to his right leg and requiring additional surgeries. No charges were filed.
Tiger has continued to play, but it is clear his best days at the elite level are in the rearview mirror now. Since winning at Augusta in 2019, he’s played in 14 majors. The results show seven missed cuts, two withdrawals, and no finish higher than 21st.
With his 49th birthday in December, Woods is now contemplating playing primarily competitive golf on the Champions Tour when he turns 50. If that should happen, one can expect Woods to use a power cart to do so.
Nicklaus’s presence remains large and is still felt. The Golden Bear’s epic final major triumph at the 1986 Masters still shines bright. Now 84, Jack is the sport’s grand statesman. In addition to his 18 major wins, Nicklaus won 73 times on the PGA Tour.
Those advocating Jack’s position as the game’s all-time greatest mention the upper echelon of those he played against. They include Palmer, Player, Trevino, Casper, Tom Watson, Johnny Miller, Ray Floyd, Tom Weiskopf, et al. The Tiger camp counters, pointing out the sheer depth of quality players globally in the sport now.
As Norman alluded to, the gains made in equipment technology have also impacted the sport’s landscape. Incredibly, Nicklaus won a long-drive exhibition prior to the start of the 1963 PGA Championship with a belt of 343 yards using a 43 1/2-inch wooden shaft driver and balata golf ball. There is no telling what he might have achieved if placed in today’s technology-driven game.
Mixing and matching sports stars from different generations is fraught with uncertainty, and any set conclusions invite unproven speculation. Nonetheless, the debate rages on.
Nicklaus certainly benefited from a long and relatively injury-free career. Both he and Tiger claimed major wins in three different decades and have won the career Grand Slam no less than three times. Only three other golfers have ever won the career Grand Slam just once.
Jack played in 164 majors with 56 top-five and 73 top-10 finishes. Tiger has played in just 95 with 33 top-five and 41 top-10 placements. The key dimension rests on the percentage of such wins. Tiger’s PGA Tour victory total of 82 represents nearly a 22 percent winning rate. For Jack, his PGA Tour winning percentage was 12.5 percent over 586 starts.
Woods’s percentage of wins when majors are played is nearly 16 percent. If one calculates Tiger’s percentage with a cut-off after his 2019 Masters victory, that number rises to 18.5 percent.
Jack’s winning percentage in majors is nearly 11 percent. If one were to drop all of the majors played since his 1986 Masters win, the total would jump to just over 17 percent.
Ultimately, fans remain loyal when supporting one over the other. Tiger’s career was on a clear heading to secure an array of records that would have shattered all that had been done previously.
What might have been can never replace what is.
Both men respect what the other has done. In the final analysis, the battle for supremacy to secure the top rung on the golf ladder is as close as the narrow space that separated Affirmed over Alydar when winning horse racing’s triple crown in 1978.
Jason Gore said it aptly during the Rude interview: “I got to go with Tiger. With all due respect to Mr. Nicklaus, I just think that Tiger’s got parts of the game that Jack never had to really use.”
Two-time U.S. Open winner Curtis Strange noted the difficulty in selecting one over the other. “I think they'd be 50-50. I would not want to bet against either one.”
So, which golfer is Affirmed?
Tiger Woods.
