Golf Majors by Age

[Galileo]

Golf Majors by Age

Jack Nicklaus & Tiger Woods

[does not include the 2008 Masters, TW at age 32]

21

TW 1, JN 0

22

TW 1, JN 1

23

JN 3, TW 2

24

TW 5, JN 3

25

TW 6, JN 4

26

TW 8, JN 6

27

TW 8, JN 7

29

TW 10, JN 7

30

TW 12, JN 8

31

TW 13, JN 9

32

JN 11

33

JN 12

35

JN 14

38

JN 15

40

JN 17

46

JN 18

NOTES:

1st in a Major

JN 18, TW 13 (JN 9 through age 31)

Top 2

JN 37, TW 17 (JN 19 through age 31)

Top 3

JN 46, TW 20 (JN 23 through age 31)

Top 4

JN 54, TW 22 (JN 24)

Top 5

JN 56, TW 23 (JN 26)

Top 6

JN 63, TW 23 (JN 28) [in 1998, JN, at age 58, finished 6th and beat TW in the Masters]

Top 7

JN 67, TW 24 (JN 29)

Top 8

JN 69, TW 25 (JN 30)

Top 9

JN 70, TW 26 (JN 30)

Top 10

JN 73, TW 27 (JN 30)

Conclusion:

TW is the second greatest golfer of all time and has a chance to be the best. But he has a lot of work to do to catch JN.

[MajorMike]

If Jack got 9 after 31 and Tiger gets 9 after 31 then he has it made. Is the FedEx Cup a major now?

As far as the other stats, I understand where you are coming from, but no one cares or remembers who finishes 2nd, let alone 3rd or 8th or 10th. Plus, since he mustered the needle in the haystack in 1986, he bummed around for another 19 years padding those stats when he really wasn't competitive; being cut from 60% of shows he entered and occasionally pulling a 6th or 9th out of his hat.

In all fairness, Jack was done in 1986 when he was 46. Tiger will not be on the golf course once his skills diminish like that. If Tiger can't bring his A game everyday then he will hang 'em up.

[CubanMustGo]

Then's there's the matter of Tiger's competition compared to Jack's. The modern golfer is psyched out every time TW steps on the course. Phil practically wets his pants.

But that said, when Tiger's on, he's the MDE. He sucked last weekend and still came in second for crying out loud.

[leemajors]

Jack came from behind on the last day 8 times. Tiger can't win a major from behind, I don't think people are too psyched out when he's not leading after 54. They just know he's probably gonna win if he's got the lead at that point. I don't think people are nearly as intimidated by Tiger as Hogan's comp was by him.

[Galileo]

If Jack got 9 after 31 and Tiger gets 9 after 31 then he has it made. Is the FedEx Cup a major now?

As far as the other stats, I understand where you are coming from, but no one cares or remembers who finishes 2nd, let alone 3rd or 8th or 10th. Plus, since he mustered the needle in the haystack in 1986, he bummed around for another 19 years padding those stats when he really wasn't competitive; being cut from 60% of shows he entered and occasionally pulling a 6th or 9th out of his hat.

In all fairness, Jack was done in 1986 when he was 46. Tiger will not be on the golf course once his skills diminish like that. If Tiger can't bring his A game everyday then he will hang 'em up.

there is no guarantee that Tiger will win 9 more majors or even 5 more majors.

The bottom line is that JN has a much better overall career performance record than TW at this point, and they are about even as regards to age. But JN went on a tear in his early and mid 30s. JN got in the top 13 in 33 consecutive majors from 1970 to 1978. Tiger has never approached that level of consistent performance.

[MajorMike]

Yet the level of golfer today is MUCH better than in was back in Jack's day.

I agree Jack's 44-some odd year career is better than Tiger's 11 or so on paper right now. Give me a nickle every day for 44 years and give me a nickle every day for 11 years and you make more money in 44 years.

Tiger has only played in around 45-50 majors so, yeah, I'd say he has never approched the level of Top 13 in 33 consecutive.

Jack never won 3 majors in one year.

Jack, before his 33 consecutive streak, was cut from the US Open (the year after he won), the Masters (the year after he won 2-in a row) and the PGA (after finishing no worse tha 3rd including a win in 5 out of past 6 years). After the streak, he was cut from the PGA (again after an 8 year period in which he won 3 times and no worse than 4th in 6 of 7 years). Tiger has been cut from one major - the 06 US Open; he came to win the next 2 majors (The Open/PGA). Jack was cut from 2 majors the year before (85) he won his last (86).

Jack never really had a rival who played consistently well. Tiger has a couple (Hefty & VJ).

Woods holds the record for most consecutive weeks at No. 1, 264, and the most total number of weeks, 490. Since 1997, he has spent over nine years atop the Official World Golf Rankings, and has been the number one player for all 52 weeks of a year a record six times - 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2006, and 2007.

Woods' 13 majors in 11 years is the highest total for any single golfer's 11 year period in history. In that streak he also claims 14 additional finishes "..in the top 13.."

Tiger won at least one World Golf Championships event every year since they began in 1999. He has 15 wins of the 27 ever played (56% win rate).

Tiger has only not finished 1st on the money list 3 times (4/2/4).

Tiger is not Jack; it is near impossible to measure 2 different golfers from different eras. However, to say that Jack is unequivocally better at Tiger just because you want to add stats from an additional 3/4s of a career is erroneous.

[degenerate_gambler]

Jack never really had a rival who played consistently well. Tiger has a couple (Hefty & VJ).


Who were Palmer (60's), Trevino, Player, Watson, Ballesteros, Floyd?

[Galileo]

The last two Masters champs are Zach Johnson and Trevor Immelman. Most people have never heard of these people. This is Tiger's competition.

Compare that to Arnold Palmer, the most famous golfer of all time.

[MajorMike]

Compare that to Arnold Palmer, the most famous golfer of all time.

Don't talk to me like I'm an amatuer, here. Arnie won SUPRISINGLY little in his career, which was effectively over by 1965. He won 7 majors from 58 to 64 and never again won a major. Sure he had a couple 2nds, but also had some missed cuts in that time. In that 70-78 timeframe that Jack was going better than 13th in 33 consecutive majors, Arnie had only 7 top 10s and no wins plus was cut 4 times. That's not a major rival.

Arnie is looked at today as something bigger than he was because he was the 1st pretty face of golf during the advent of TV and was the 1st face many knew of golf. He was the original rockstar of golf. Even today people would be suprised at how little he actually did compared to other less popular names (Hogan, Snead, etc). You actually hit the nail on the head by calling him the 'most famous' because he certainly isn't in the Jack/Tiger arguement for 'best golfer.'

[Galileo]

If you score majors like a track meet, you have:

JN 18 x 5 = 90

+

19 x 3 = 57

+

9 x 1 = 9

TOTAL = 156 points

TW 13 x 5 = 65

+

5 x 3 = 15

+

3 x 1 = 3

TOTAL = 83 points

TW is a 73 points behind

At age 31, JN had 79 points, TW had 80 points.

TW is running at JN's pace. If he can keep up JN's pace for another ten years, he might have a claim as golf's greatest ever. It is unlikely, but possible, that TW could do this.

[Galileo]

If score golf like the baseball MVP voting, 14 points for 1st, 9 points for 2nd, 8 points for 3rd, ... , 1 point for 10th, here is the JN/TW score:

career

JN

625 points

TW

281 points

through age 31

JN

284 points

TW

272 points

there is no way to sustain the notion that TW is a better golfer than JN at this time.

[MajorMike]

Again, I would expect him to have more with 33 more years.

Jack never played like crap and finished 3 shots back to a kid having the best 4 rounds he will ever have while needing immediate surgery on his knee.

[leemajors]

for all we know, Jack may have played like crap and won a few majors. I certainly wasn't around to see it. It's really difficult to compare eras, as was said before. Not only were the course conditions DRASTICALLY different, the equipment was too - balata used to be pretty high tech. The only point of comparison is really that Augusta altered the course for pretty much two players - Jack and Tiger.

[degenerate_gambler]

Jack never played like crap and finished 3 shots back to a kid having the best 4 rounds he will ever have while needing immediate surgery on his knee.



Immediate? When did his injury occur? During the Masters?

This scope he had done to his knee is at a convenient time in the schedule so he can take a few weeks off, with a valid excuse so as not to piss off a whole lot of people. He'll be back for The Players Championships May 8.

Woods only plays 15 tourneys a year and like I said, this is a perfect excuse to skip the tournaments he doesn't give a crap about.

[Galileo]

Again, I would expect him to have more with 33 more years.

Jack never played like crap and finished 3 shots back to a kid having the best 4 rounds he will ever have while needing immediate surgery on his knee.

Jack Nicklaus BEAT Tiger Woods in the 1998 Masters. Jack was 58 YEARS OLD. We'll see how good Tiger is in the 2034 Masters.

Here's another goodie:

In 1986, Nicklaus capped his career by recording his sixth Masters victory under incredible circumstances, posting a six-under 30 on the back nine at Augusta for a final round of seven-under 65. At the 17th hole, Nicklaus hit it to within 18 feet and rolled it in for birdie, raising his putter in celebration and completing an eagle-birdie-birdie run. Nicklaus made a victory-sealing par-4 at the 72nd hole, and waited for the succeeding players to falter. At age 46, Jack Nicklaus became the oldest Masters winner in history, a record which still stands. On the feat, sports columnist Thomas Boswell remarked,

"Some things cannot possibly happen, because they are both too improbably and too imperfect. The US hockey team cannot beat the Russians in the 1980 Olympics. Jack Nicklaus cannot shoot 65 to win the Masters at age 46. Nothing else comes immediately to mind."[11]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Nicklaus

Tiger is not the only teen phenom in golf history, as this shows:

"Amateur career

Nicklaus was born in Columbus, Ohio, the son of a pharmacist. He was raised in the suburb of Upper Arlington, and attended Upper Arlington High School, where he earned his nickname "The Golden Bear", as that was the school's mascot. Overcoming a mild case of polio as a child, he took up golf at the age of ten, shooting 51 for his first nine holes. At 13, he broke 70. He won the first of five straight[3] Ohio State Junior titles at the age of twelve. He won the Ohio State Open in 1956 at age 16, competing against professionals. While attending The Ohio State University, he won the U.S. Amateur title twice (1959, 1961), and an NCAA Championship (1961). At the 1960 U.S. Open, he shot a 282, finishing second by two strokes to Arnold Palmer, who won the tournament with a final round 65. This score remains the lowest ever made by an amateur player in the U.S. Open. He represented the United States, against Great Britain and Ireland, on winning Walker Cup teams in both 1959 and 1961, winning both of his matches in each contest. He was also a member of the victorious 1960 U.S. Eisenhower Trophy team, winning the unofficial individual title with a four-round score of 269, a record which still stands.[4] Nicklaus was named the world's top amateur golfer by Golf Digest magazine for three straight years, 1959-1961."

Tiger is not better than Nicklaus at the beginning of his career, nor the middle of his career, and we will see what happens at the end of his career.

[degenerate_gambler]

At the 17th hole, Nicklaus hit it to within 18 feet and rolled it in for birdie, raising his putter in celebration and completing an eagle-birdie-birdie run.


that wasn't even his best shot of the back nine..

this was..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jle1G5l-qsU

[Galileo]

1986 Masters
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioml2ROImPY&feature=related

[Galileo]

Majors: Tiger vs Jack at same age (not counting Tiger's performance today)

1st Place

Jack 11
Tiger 13

Top 2

Jack 21
Tiger 18

Top 3

Jack 25
Tiger 21

Top 5

Jack 28
Tiger 24

Top 10

Jack 32
Tiger 28

All-time

1st Place

Jack 18
Tiger 13

Top 2

Jack 37
Tiger 18

Top 3

Jack 46
Tiger 21

Top 5

Jack 57
Tiger 24

Top 10

Jack 73
Tiger 28

[Kazoo2U]

Perhaps one way to settle this question is this way:

Use the WayBack machine to get Bobby Jones, Byron Nelson/Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus & Tiger Woods in their prime to play a 4 round tournament.

Day #1 - all use equipment with Merion Golf Club [US Amateur] setup as in Jones' Grand Slam year 1930;
Day #2 - all use equipment with Moraine Country Club [1945 PGA] setup as in Nelson's 11-straight wins 1945 or Hogan's 3 majors Oakmont Country Club [US Open] wins in 6 tournaments entered 1953;
Day #3 - all use equipment with Augusta National [Masters] setup as in Nicklaus' 1972 year;
Day #4 - all use equipment with St. Andrew's Old Course [The Open Championsip] setup as in Wood's 2000 "Tiger Slam" year.

Each was dominant in their own era. What would set them apart is how they would adapt to the equipment & conditions of each era.
- Could the hickory shafts of Jones' day handle Tiger's tremendous torque?
- Could Jones handle the rough that is grown for today's majors?
- Could Nelson/Hogan handle the tremendous media scrutiny around today?
- Could Nicklaus start the last day 4 shots behind & still win?

[T Park]

The courses are tougher now, the competition is definitely miles and miles better.

IMO, Tiger's accomplishments and what hes done, just overshadows everything.

The only kink in Tiger's armor would be his horrendous play in the Ryder Cup, which for me, is suprising and dissapointing. While Jack I believe was damn near unstoppable in Ryder Cup believe.