If you’re getting compared to or told you’re doing something better than Tiger Woods, then you’re doing plenty right when it comes to the game of golf.
Tiger Woods is arguably the greatest golfer to ever live and in his prime around the early 2000s, there were few who could even come close to him in the game.
Of course, nowadays we see Scottie Scheffler compared to Tiger and after winning nine events last season, it’s with good reason.
However, when it comes to the pure ball-striking aspect of golf with irons and wedges, legendary caddy Billy Foster has claimed it’s two Europeans who match up closest to Woods.
The two golfers who are as good as Tiger Woods with their ball-striking
Speaking on the latest episode of the 19th Uncut podcast, Matt Fitzpatrick’s current caddy Billy Foster was speaking about the best ball strikers the game has seen.
And while he had to discount Tiger Woods’ brilliance, he admitted both Sergio Garcia and Lee Westwood were the two who were as good as the 15-time major winner.
“There’s two, take Tiger out of the equation and there’s two players I would say are incredible are Westwood and Sergio. Sergio, I’d have to say he could actually be the best ball striker I’ve come across,” Foster said.
“I did about 15 months with Sergio and it was…interesting.”
Who Butch Harmon said was the best ball striker in golf history
While Foster’s comments here on Garcia and Westwood are nice to hear, it’s very much his opinion and there’s been plenty said about others in the past.
At the moment, many believe Scottie Scheffler to be among the best to ever do it and looking at current stats, rightly so.
However, legendary coach Butch Harmon believes the best ball striker moniker should go to Lee Trevino in the modern era.
“For me, I actually do think Ben Hogan was the best ball-striker I’ve ever seen in my life, meaning the way he controlled his ball through the air, the trajectory of the shot. Modern times, the closest I would say Lee Trevino,” he said.
“Lee Trevino was another one that controlled his ball through the air beautifully, the trajectory of the shot, the shape of the shot. He was another one that had an unusual golf swing in the way he took the club back a little out, dropped it under. But if you look at pictures of him at impact, look at how much he cleared his hips out of the way so that his hands and arms had a chance to follow.”
Harmon and Foster are two big names in the sport to take advice from and in reality, it’s probably a flip of the coin between the names mentioned here as to who is top dog.
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