Having made his final major championship appearance in 2009, Gary Player is better placed than virtually anyone to assess whether Jack Nicklaus or Tiger Woods is the greatest golfer of all-time.
It is a debate which golf fans are never going to settle. When it comes to major wins, Jack Nicklaus leads the way on 18, while Tiger Woods is currently on 15.
Nicklaus’ record becomes even more impressive when you consider that he finished second in majors 19 times. He was also playing in the same eras as the likes of Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Lee Trevino and Tom Watson.
Woods meanwhile, seemed to completely change the game when he came along in the 1990s. Golf was crying out for a superstar, and Woods took the game to heights it could have never imagined.
Gary Player hits out at those who compare Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods
Had it not been for injury, Woods would have surely overtaken Nicklaus at some stage. So it is hard to argue with whichever side of the fence you fall on.
Or, at least it seems that way. One person who would seemingly take exception with comparisons being made is Gary Player, as he told Grant Horvat why it is impossible to put Woods’ record up against Nicklaus’.
“The first thing I come on to this green and think is that I never played a green like this in my life. How do you make a comparison? Anybody who tries to make a comparison between Nicklaus and Tiger Woods does not know anything about golf. When we played we played on Bermuda greens. We didn’t have a mower who could cut the greens,” he said.
“We all had this stroke [a little pop], now you can stroke it. We had 200 spike bumps on every green.”
Tiger Woods showed that his game could compete in another era
One day there will probably be a way to find out once and for all who was the better player between Nicklaus and Woods when they were at their prime. But for now, fans have to settle for looking through the information available.
Player’s comments obviously have to be considered. And as already mentioned, it is hard to imagine that there are any Woods fans who would have a problem with those who put Nicklaus at number one.
But Woods has arguably done all he can to show that his game would stand up in any era. He was already a superstar before the technology really started to change and give players so much additional help.
Of course, conditions of courses are vastly different today. But Woods’ putting performance at the 2000 US Open has been labelled the greatest in major championship history, as he did not three putt once on the bumpy greens at Pebble Beach.
But clearly, in Player’s mind comparing the two is simply impossible.
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