The Golden Bear vs. Tiger... Who's the GOAT in Golf? 🐻VS.🐯=🐐

We've all tried to compare athletes across different eras to figure out who is the Greatest Of All Time aka the GOAT in their respective sport. Michael Jordan (my personal favorite athlete of all-time) vs. LeBron James, Hank Aaron vs. Babe Ruth, Usain Bolt vs. Carl Lewis, and don't forget Walter Payton vs. Jim Brown vs. Emmitt Smith. How can one determine who is the greatest of all time when the athletes in comparison weren't able to compete against each other? After extensively researching, I'm going to finally set the record straight on who is the Greatest Of All Time for the Greatest Game Ever Played, Jack "The Golden Bear" Nicklaus vs. Eldrick "Tiger" Woods.

When choosing the criteria for what would determine the GOAT for Golf, I came up with 5 separate categories for these athletes to be judged upon. They are as follows: Majors Wins, PGA Tournament Wins, Golfing Records, Competition, & Dominance.

MAJORS WINS:

If this comparison was going off PGA Major victories alone, unless you've been living under a rock your whole life or aren't into golf (which I'm now questioning why you've made it this far in this article), you already know who would win. The Golden Bear has set the top mark (the record) at 18 victories. Tiger is sitting at 15 Major victories. Nicklaus won at least one major championship in four consecutive years (1970–1973) and two major championships in a season on five occasions (1963, 1966, 1972, 1975, and 1980). He broke Bobby Jones' record of 13 major championships at the age of 33 in 1973, Jack has won the Masters 6 times, the US Open 4 times, the Open 3 times, and the PGA Championship 5 times. Tiger has won the Masters 5 times, the US Open 3 times, the Open 3 times, and the PGA Championship 4 times. Both players, incredibly, have won the Career Grand Slam (all 4 Major Tournaments) 3 times each.

Winner: The Golden Bear

PGA TOURNAMENT WINS:

Now, going off straight PGA Tour wins, as opposed to only Majors, Tiger wins this one, hands down. The Golden Bear has an impressive 73 PGA Tour wins. Tiger, on the other hand, is tied with Sam Snead for the record of PGA wins with 82. Tiger has won a record 22.8% (82 out of 359) of his professional starts on the PGA Tour. Nicklaus has a win percentage of 12.2% (73 of 575). It should be noted that many of his (Jack's) events were played well past his prime.

Winner: Tiger

GOLFING RECORDS:

Jack owns the record for most major victories at 18. Nicklaus also holds the record for most runner-up finishes in majors with 19. He also the record for most top-5 finishes in major championships with 56 and the record for most top-10 finishes in major championships with 73, which is 25 more than the next player Sam Snead (48).

Tiger, on the other hand, is tied for the record for most PGA Tours wins at 82. Tiger Woods has the lowest scoring average in PGA history with an adjusted score of 67.79 (or an unadjusted score of 68.17), which he set in 2000. Woods has set the all-time PGA record for most consecutive cuts made, with 142. Nicklaus is set at 105. Tiger holds the record for most consecutive rounds at par or better with 52. He has also spent the most consecutive weeks (281) and cumulative (683) weeks atop the world rankings. Woods has been the PGA Player of the Year a record 11 times. Although Byron Nelson owns the record for most wins in a row at 11 in 1945, Tiger bests Nicklaus at PGA Tour wins streak with 7 in a row in 2006-07. Woods won 6 in a row 1999-00 and 5 in a row 2007-08. Jack's longest winning streak is set at 3 during the 1975-year, which Tiger accomplished twice in 2000 & 2001.

Winner: Tiger

COMPETITION:

This is where it gets tricky to decide any comparison between athletes in a different generation. Both players played against great competition. Both players were fiercely competitive. The Golden Bear was playing against some stout competition. When you hear names like Palmer, Watson, Player, Casper, or Trevino it's hard not to think that Nicklaus would win hands-down. I mean, you don't even have to mention their first names to know who you're talking about. The only problem is after those few golfers, there's a huge drop off. Those 5 guys alone won 29 % of all major championships played during Jack's prime.

Woods played against the likes of Mickelson, Els, Singh, and Furyk. Today he is playing against those competitors (albeit they are past their primes) and Dustin Johnson, Justin Thomas, Brooks Koepka, and Rory McIlroy. The field of competition is much wider against Tiger. Sure, some of those names mentioned in Tiger's category aren't the likes of Jack's direct competition, but when you look at the wide range of competition, especially in International play, Tiger wins out. Even Hubert Green said, "I knew Jack was better, but that I could beat him sometimes, these guys don't think they can beat Tiger."

Winner: Tiger

DOMINANCE:

Jack won 10 of 12 championships when having the lead outright or tied after 54 holes. Again, it was a given that Nicklaus was going to be victorious if he was atop the leaderboard. 8 times in the majors he came from behind to win on the final day. Tom Weiskopf said, "Jack knew he was gonna beat you. You knew Jack was gonna beat you. And Jack knew you knew he was gonna beat you." Pretty strong words for a dominant competitor.

While each player has won the career Grand Slam (let me say it again, 3 times too), only Tiger has won them in a row. The 2000-2001 seasons saw Tiger consecutively win each major in those years (this could be placed in the Records category, as well), as only Bobby Jones won the Grand Slam in the same "calendar year", pre-Masters era. This feat became known as the "Tiger Slam". Tiger is 14-1 when going into the final round of a major with at least a share of the lead. When it was Sunday and Tiger was sharing the lead, it was a given he was going to win. Opposing players already knew they were doomed and had no chance. The crowds become huge, they're all cheering for him not you, and the pressure is put on the competitor. The opposing player feels the pressure, chokes, and Tiger feeds on that rush. Tiger becomes a metaphoric tiger, smells your fear, and then feasts on you and the course. This is what would become known as the "Tiger Effect". To make matters worse, Tiger then brought out his fierce "Sunday Red" golf polo for more intimidation to the competition. Green said, "Jack just wanted to win. Tiger likes to rub it in." When it comes to dominance over the game, Gary Player stated, "I would never deny that Jack Nicklaus is the greatest player who ever lived, but Jack was never this dominant."

Winner: Tiger

When all is said and done, Tiger comes out on top and, I mean no disrespect to the Golden Bear by saying this, it's not even close. Just imagine if Tiger never had the infamous 4-iron come through his car window or if he didn't have to have four different back surgeries between 2014-2017. If he had been healthy, both mentally and physically, he probably would have beaten Jack's major record and by a couple. But here's another reason he's Golf's GOAT. He's STILL playing and playing well. He won last year's Masters, which I happened to be at to give him a high five as he walked off 18 towards the clubhouse after his opening round (read more about that experience here). He still has a great chance to beat the Golden Bear's major record of 18. Nicklaus was dominant and is easily one of the game's greatest, but Tiger Woods is Golf's Greatest of All Time.

Many readers will say I'm bias because I have watched Tiger since he joined the PGA Tour and have not been able to watch the Golden Bear in action. It's true, I have watched him on the TV and in person. I have seen the look on his face when he enters competition prepared, in both, mind and body. He is fierce, intimidating, and exciting. Everyone (the spectators, the other competitors, and even Tiger) knows that when he is around the leaderboard, it's going to be an uphill slope (pun intended) to defeat him. And if he's atop it, you aren't going to be the one to knock him off. I haven't been able to watch Nicklaus in his glory days, as I have only been able to see the highlights from that era. But if you still don't believe me, take Chi Chi Rodriquez's own words about Tiger, "I was a better sand player than Jack or Arnold, a better long-iron player than Trevino, I hit the ball longer than Gary Player. But I can't think of a single thing that I could beat Tiger Woods at, and that's scary." Still disagree with me? Then listen to Tom Watson's interview from Golf Digest in 2014: "Nicklaus and I were watching Tiger play on TV. I can't remember where it was. I think it was at the Senior Skins Game. So we were in Hawaii. I said, 'Bear, he's the best, isn't he?' Jack said, 'Yeah, he's the best.' "

While he may not catch or beat the Golden Bear's record of 18 Major victories (but he still may), Tiger beats the Golden Bear in every other category. That is why Eldrick "Tiger" Woods is the GOAT for the Greatest Game Ever Played. Change my mind.

-Bogey Fett