Who Is The Best Golfer Of All-Time

Who is the Golf Goat?

The argument of who the best golfer of all time between Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods has been debated for many years. On the one hand, Tiger Woods has more overall wins and the most dominating player in his era, while Jack Nicklaus has the highest major total and by far the most second-place finishes in major championships. 

The answer to the ongoing question is more complicated than many imagine, but we can start the debate by coming down to raw numbers. Woods has won 22 percent of the total events he’s entered. Nicklaus won 12 percent of the events he entered, but that is also misleading when compared to Tiger since Nicklaus has played in many events past the age of 50. Comparing at a similar age, Nicklaus had a winning percentage of 16, while still a bit lower than Tiger’s, is also misleading due to the type of competition the two players have faced.

Who Had Tougher Golf Competition?

If purely looking at that statistic that Tiger won by a large number of shots in many of those cases, you may think the debate is over.  However, statistics, while a great tool, are only as good as how you interpret them.  Let’s put things into more perspective.  By far Tiger’s biggest three competitors during his prime years were Vijay Singh, Ernie Els and Phil Mickelson. Combined, they averaged a win five percent of the time with Mickelson’s seven percent leading the way.  Nicklaus faced a significantly higher upper echelon-level competition in Arnold Plamer, Billy Casper, Gary Player, Lee Trevino, and Tom Watson. Palmer and Casper significantly exceeded Mickelson in winning percentage while the six combined exceeded Tiger’s top three competitors.

Golf Major Championships

While Tiger Woods has arguably the most dominant prime of any player in golf, you cannot overlook what Jack Nicklaus did in majors from 1970 to 1978.  In 33 major championships during that stretch, Nicklaus was out of the top ten only three times. He was always in the mix. Despite winning 18 majors, Nicklaus was second 19 times. That’s a staggering total of 37! Woods has 15 majors and seven second place finishes, by comparison.  To put things in perspective, it’s like an NBA team winning 18 titles, but appearing in the championship finals 37 times, or an NFL franchise reaching the Super Bowl 37 times.

One may argue that Nicklaus has played in far more major championships than Woods and therefore his numbers are elevated.  While it’s true that he’s appearances nearly double that of Woods, Nicklaus played in a nearly every major well into his late 50s and even into his 60s adding an additional 59 major appearances to his total. Of those 59, he missed the cut 23 times. The importance of this is that father time catches up to everyone and in the case of Nicklaus, if you consider what he did up until his last title at the age of 46, makes his accomplishments even more impressive.

How Consistent Was Jack Nicklaus?

Another mark of greatness is consistency of play.  Both Woods and Nicklaus were the best in the world during their time, playing at the highest level longer than anyone else. However, Tiger’s down time was significantly lower than that of Nicklaus. The combination of off course personal issues and injuries left Woods in golf obscurity and was without a win for five years. In fact, he dropped below 1000 in the world golf rankings at one point. Nicklaus never experienced that kind of abyss. 

Overall Golf Game Comparison

Comparing Nicklaus and Woods in terms of their overall game, the edge goes to Nicklaus off the tee. He consistently was the longest driver during his time and among the most accurate. Tiger had distance, but was far more erratic. Nicklaus also was arguably the best long iron player in the history of the game, mastering the 2-iron, which equates to a 4-iron in today’s game.  Again, Tiger was strong in this area but his misses were far more off line. Again, this comes down to consistency, which Jack had with his long irons better than anyone. 

Tiger arguably had the better short game and putting, but most people say that if they want someone over a putt when they needed it the most, it would be Jack Nicklaus. He seemingly nearly always drained the putt on 18 for birdie when the chips were down.

Golf Equipment

When comparing abilities with the clubs in their bags, one must take into consideration the vast differences in equipment that Nicklaus used compared to Woods.  Nicklaus had to belt his drives with small, persimmon woods that had to be hit right on the sweet spot to obtain distance and accuracy. The balls also travelled much less distance and were more prone to hooks and slices.  The modern equipment with titanium heads, lightweight graphite shafts and balls the travel farther than ever clearly has given golfers of today an advantage. 

Golf Ryder Cup

Another area where Nicklaus excelled more than Woods is in Ryder Cup competition. Nicklaus had a 16-8-3 record versus a 13-17-3 record for Woods. While Tiger had a 4-1-2 to 4-4-2 edge in singles play, Jack’s overall record indicates a much better team player and better overall performance.

Senior Tour

On the Senior Tour (now Champion’s Tour), Jack Nicklaus played sparingly, but when he did, he won. Of his ten Senior Tour wins, eight of them were in major championships. All told, Nicklaus won 117 times, which included 73 PGA Tour wins, nine European Tour wins, and 24 other victories worldwide. Nicklaus won a record six Masters, to go along with five PGA Championships, four U.S. Opens, and three British Open titles. He won eight money titles, and was five-time Player of the Year. 

It Comes Down To Golf Major Championships

In the world of sports, much of what matters the most in determining the greatest of all-time is victories, in terms of championships.  In the NBA, the majority of people consider Michael Jordan the greatest of all-time. Several players have won more titles, but none excelled at the game the way Jordan did.  In professional football, Tom Brady is considered the greatest quarterback of all-time, winning the most Super Bowl titles, while consistently being near the top of the league in statistical categories.  In women’s tennis, Serena Williams has won the most Grand Slam titles in the Open Era and is considered the greatest in her sport.

This brings us back to golf and the discussion at hand and the greatest golfer of all-time. While Tiger Woods is tied with Sam Snead for the most PGA Tour wins of all time with 82, Jack Nicklaus is not far behind with 73. The major titles equate to wins in NBA Championships, Super Bowls, World Series, etc. While overall wins are great and may equate to playoff wins, the ultimate goal is winning against the best of the best. In golf, there are no fields better than those in the major championships. Jack Nicklaus has won more against the best fields than anyone else in the history of the game. For that, he is the greatest of all-time.