Tiger Woods: The “Best Golfer Ever!”
Steve in the Swamps Blog, December 23, 2009
It’s frequently stated how Tiger (formerly Eldrick) Woods is the best professional golfer of all time. This may be, and possibly is true. However, there is also an exaggeration in how he is supposed to be the best of all-time!
My analysis even disregards that many never play golf, and very very few people even play golf enough to play professionally. Most play as a child, and never play again-or, wait until late teenage years to get serious about golf. And, Tiger Woods most likely started playing golf at much younger age (with yet more opportunities) than the other PGA Golf Greats.
Analysis:
1. Sam Snead 82 wins (1937-1980:25-68 years old). 43 years, with much in old age.
2. Jack Nicklaus 73 wins (1961-1986:21-46 years old, and futile shots later in his life) 25 years of primary play. He had a hip problem later in his career, and had to compete with Sam Snead and Arnold Palmer.
3. Tiger Woods 71 wins (1996-present: 20-34 years old and many more to play) 15 years of play thus far. Unlike the other players it should be noted that he has modern day medical technology to correct his vison to a degree superior to even default for most (which he did, with Lasik), heal injuries much more quickly than the other Golf Greats did (with a very new medical procedure which brought him back to his prime in no more than 8 months) , and legal muscle enhancement. Without spreading a rumor I cannot prove, I will also add that there is the opportunity to use steroids now (unlike the pre-90?s). He also has more money and financial opportunities than the other golfers, as the PGA is more of a major business than even its most entertaining era-and he has endorsement deals and big money that the other PGA golf greats could only dream of! It makes since he would have an unfair advantage.
4. Ben Hogan 64 wins (likely after 1930(for PGA)-WW2,1945 (?)-1949;17-29, 32-36) about 16 years in this first phase. He presumably fought in World War 2, from probably 1941-1945-much of his prime at age 29-33. He played maybe a year more than Tiger Woods thus far (which is unlikely, as he may have joined the PGA signficantly later than 1930), but Tiger Woods played more in his prime, and uninterrupted from outside influences like a War. Ben Hogan also got near-fatally injured in 1949, at the age of 36. He almost lost the ability to walk, if not his life. As indicated above, he also had to compete with Sam Snead during most of his first phase. He would also have circulation problems and other playing limitations for the rest of his life. [I think Tiger Woods should consider himself lucky! He keeps all but one of his overpaying endorsements after getting caught for 15+ affairs, while another man almost died, and had near-fatal injuries, trying to save his wife!] He recovered and returned in the 1950’s winning well, while struggling from injuries and competing with #1[in the official ranking of championships] Sam Snead. Apparently with complications, Hogan did not play well in his 50’s during the 1960’s. My source says he retired in 1970, although it should also be noted that he had to compete with Sam Snead throughout almost all of his career, and suffered from health complications in the 2nd phase of his career (after his mid-30?s, 1950-1970). Imagine, if he never fought in World War 2, never got injured in his car crash, and didn’t have to compete with Sam Snead?! He or Sam Snead would probably be the best golfer of all-time, not Tiger Woods!
Sam Snead also had to compete with Ben Hogan, so their numbers would both be higher without covering virtually the same time-period.
5. Arnold Palmer 62 wins (1955-1980 at the latest; 26-51) about 25 years of play. he also had to compete with Sam Snead and Jack Nicklaus for most of his career. For significant amount of time, he also competed with Ben Hogan.
6. Bryon Nelson 52 wins (1932 at the very earliest-1946; 20-34) 15 years of play in the PGA maximum. He played no more than Tiger Woods has already; and he had to compete with Sam Snead and Ben Hogan, for virtually his whole career. And he permanently quit, at Tiger Woods’ current age. He also started at the same time. The difference is that he had much more competition.
7. Billy Casper 51 wins (1954-presumably mid 1970?s; 23-44 years old.) about 21 years or so played with PGA. He had to compete with Sam Snead, Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus, and Arnold Palmer for most of his career.
8. Walter Hagen 44 wins (1912-1936?; 20-44?) about 25 years of play. He was among the first major players, being born in the 19th century. He didn’t have too much competition until very late in his career, but he did help revolutionize the game.
These are likely the eight best golfers of all-time. And most of them-Sam Snead, Jack Nicklaus, Ben Hogan, Arnold Palmer, Bryon Nelson, and Billy Casper ALL had to compete against each other-although not all overlapped with all others. But, most overlap with each other almost perfectly, and in the golden age of the PGA. Now it’s Tiger Woods, almost all by himself. His closest competitor is Phil Mickelson, with 37 wins and maybe on the decline already-soon past his prime. His next top competitor is Vijay Singh, with 34 wins. At 46, Vijay is very apparently past his prime. Compared to the other golfers, Tiger Woods has very little competition. He also has medical surgery, and supplements to give him an advantage unavailable even twenty to thirty years ago. With new technology, he will be able to retire at a much later age, than the others, and thus play longer. It’s too subjective to just call Tiger Woods as objective absolute #1 of all-time.
While Tiger Woods will all but certainly break all of the major golf records-including total wins- and is considered the best ever already, there is a whole collection of factors that entail the question. Instead of being absolute number 1, would it be more appropriate to just name Tiger Woods merely as one of the elite golfers of all-time? I think so.
I decided to post this article, to present a rebuttal to the myth of Hybrid Vigor.
Tiger will undoubtedly go down in the book of statistics as one of the elite golfers. There is no taking that away from him unless of course the rumors of his steroid use turn out to be true. In that case his statistics and winning record will be regarded as bogus.
In any event, his reputation as a person is forever tainted due to his niggerish behavior. The guy’s immaturity off the course has made him a pariah in the minds of the vast majority of decent people worldwide.
Way to go Tiger! You had it all. All except a moral compass. In that account, Tiger proved himself to be bankrupt.
While Tiger Woods will all but certainly break all of the major golf records
It is far from certain that Woods will break Jack Nicklaus’s record for major championship wins. Woods has won 14 majors and this is his 14th year as a professional. Nicklaus won 14 majors in his first 14 years. Decline can be very sudden for elite golfers. Palmer, Nicklaus, and Watson all saw their eras of dominance end rather abruptly, though they remained contenders for years to come.
With all of his injuries, it is clear that Woods is beginning to physically break down. His vaunted mental toughness and aura of invincibility have also been shattered for obvious reasons. A couple of years ago it may have seemed all but inevitable that Woods would break Nicklaus’s record, but now the chances that he will not do so are looking better and better as time passes.
There is a very good chance Woods uses performance enhancing drugs. Dr. Anthony Galea, who has treated Woods, has been indicted for providing PEDs to other athletes. Sudden, unnatural changes in Woods’s appearance a few years ago are also telltale signs of steroid use. Of course, the pathetic negrophiles and jock sniffers on ESPN and the rest of the sports media will never dare to bring up this topic. They can’t bear to question their hero or speak about him in any but the most fawning, hagiographic terms.
In addition to being Asiaphiles and philo-Semites, many of the HBD types are negrophiles. Steve Sailer is one of the most repugnant negrophiles. (So is Guy White, whose adoration for black males appears to be close to homosexual.) Sailer idolizes Woods. He was probably distraught and beside himself when Woods was finally exposed to be utterly depraved.
Palderdash. If the Jew media and kosher sports commentariat say their trained porch-monkey is “the greatest golfer of all time”, then that’s what he is. Just remember what they mean by “great”: great at administering socio-political anesthesia to millions of white American males. That’s right, just sit there, suck on beer can, watch black guy hit ball with stick, chase ball, hit ball with stick, etc. Oh, did my job just get outsourced? Did my daughter just get raped by a mestizo? Never mind, back to the Idiot Box….
Excellent points, MGLS! The purpose of this article is to actually push Tiger Woods off his pedestal. Regarding the Media Jews shoving Miscegenation down our throats, there is a BIG difference between being Absolute Top Dog, and just being a member of an elite class. This is why they already called him the Best Golfer nearly ten years ago.
Steve Sailer is one of the most repugnant negrophiles.
Lawrence Auster’s best crack was to the effect that the world could be coming to an end and Sailer would still be blogging about his pet obsession, negro athletes.
One of Sailer’s commenters had a great comment on Sailer’s borderline homosexual fixation with black athletes: http://racehist.blogspot.com/2008/08/qft.html
it’s like some kind of jon entine-esque gay fantasy. and let’s not pretend that’s not what going on here.
the immediate and unrelenting comparison of west african sprinters to white men, and only white men, as if white men were the only other humans on earth, and they alone needed to be singled out for being inferior, when in fact they’re pretty good athletes, and a lot better than the other races on average, well, it’s just gay. and i don’t mean gay in the “this is retarded” way. it borders on homosexual.
Has anyone pointed out that it’s not West Africans who tend to dominate sports positions requiring sprinting, but their slave-descendant relatives who were bred by White men with minds for creating new breeds? I haven’t read any if the HBD lit.
slaveslave-descendantVery interesting theory about African-Americans being bred for sprinting. Not to dehumanize them, of course!
I also made the grammatical correction in your comment for you. So, your latter comment can be void, and thus deleted.
Steroids and sociological factors likely exacerbate whatever genetic differences exist and contribute to black dominance in sprinting, which, amazingly, just happens to be synchronous with the steroid era.
http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-sci-growth-hormone-20100504,0,5448802.story
Study shows growth hormone boosts sprint speed
http://www.golf.com/golf/tours_news/article/0,28136,1644553,00.html
Gary Player alleges drug use in golf
Player might as well have accused Woods of using steroids. No golfer has the appearance and other signs of being a roider more than Woods does.
Forgot the equipment advantage, JN literally swung at a hacky sack for a ball with a real wood.
This is like being the best ever at curling, or steeplechase, or fishing, if there were tons of money involved. Nice, but not all that impressive. How many real athletes go into golf, compared to football, baseball, or basketball?
There’s little doubt that Woods is juicing, from what I understand.
That Sailer comment was pretty funny. Yes, it is a bit ghey to make a big deal about how non-gentiles are smarter than whites, blacks are faster and more masculine, but never make a big deal about how much faster and more masculine blacks are compared to non-gentiles, or how much smarter non-gentiles are than whites (Gee, I wonder why nobody ever tells us we could breed the Master Race if we could just get the non-gentiles to procreate with the schwartzes?).
“as anyone pointed out that it’s not West Africans who tend to dominate sports positions requiring sprinting, but their slave-descendant relatives who were bred by White men with minds for creating new breeds? I haven’t read any if the HBD lit.”
I’m rather skeptical of these scenarios where black Americans are the result of “breeding projects” by slave owners. Anyone who has even been around animal breeding, or even corn for that matter, knows the pains the breeders have to go to keep all the individuals isolated from members of the opposite sex. This would be quite difficult to do on the plantation where I have a feeling that the next generation came about in the same haphazard way they come about now down in the projects.
I decided to post this article, to present a rebuttal to the myth of Hybrid Vigor.
Oh yeah, there can’t possibly be anything to hybrid vigor. Just look at Tiger Woods: he’s not even the greatest golfer in history!
I see you are never short on sarcasm, Silver.
You are however, missing the forest for the trees. The social media claims it is already a “given” that Tiger Woods is the absolute #1 of Golf. And, this article counter-argues that he is not the absolute best of golf, and he has his success largely due to his environmental luck (not unquestioned superiority). Just challenging Tiger’s status as #1 is deemed blasemphous.
PR is like chess. You take small steps at a time, with gradual moves. The game is not pointless just because you can’t eliminate the King on the first move.