Quote:
Originally Posted by JohnnyFlame
As I said name his competitor. Rather than using a lame weak grasping at straws junk address the question. Who is it? Name a player who has come up against him and played his best and been defeated because Tiger was simply better.
Meanwhile there were at least half a dozen guys who could give Jack a run for his money anyday and guess what? He was doing shots nobody else attempted at the time. Driving the ball way down the fairway. Had a huge gallery following him around. Was a super clutch putter. SOUND familiar.
Difference was Trevino, Watson et. al. would just match him shot for shot.
Watching Jack vrs Tom at the US Open at Pebble Beach has no match in Tiger's era. Nothing even close. Two bigtime talents going at it shot for shot hole after hole. That was only one of their titantic struggles.
So rather than show your boy love for Tiger name his competitor? Every great golfer of every generation has been able to play the best golf of his time but some of them actually had to beat other guys who could do it as well.
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I suppose Phil Mickelson would be the one player that could be considered Tiger's challenger. It seems like every tournament, Tiger is challenged by someone having a great round and who usually falls short (Dimarco, Mediate, Mickelson, Garcia, etc...). Does Tiger have 1 or 2 guys that challenge him on weekly basis? Not really. I think overall, the average golfer is considerable better than it was during Jack's prime. The game has gotten more and more popular, the skill level and training of the average PGA golfer is superior than years ago, etc... so, I believe that it's harder to get through the field in this era than it was in Jack's era.
I think Tiger goes up against better golfers on average than Jack did. That makes his accomplishments as impressive as Jack's, who faced a lesser field but perhaps a couple better golfers that stood out from the pack. Tiger has more accomplishments than Jack - more wins, more top x finishes, more money (even looking at inflation). Any category he trails Jack in will be overtaken in a few years.
I don't have a "man love" for Tiger, I just think he's better than Jack and I have quite a few arguments to support that. You have one that I dont give much weight too.