Gary Player picks who was the best golfer out of Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus in their primes

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The debate continues to rage on regarding who is the best golfer of all time out of Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods.

Now Gary Player has weighed in with his opinion, and the South African made a really insightful point about the respective qualities of Nicklaus and Woods.

Earlier this year, Player suggested it was unfair to compare Woods and Nicklaus, due to the difference in course conditions

But now he has given us all a really well-thought-out answer.

The South African played alongside and competed against Nicklaus for nearly two decades, and he has always held the Golden Bear in the very highest esteem.

Meanwhile, Player has huge respect for Woods as a golfer as well.

Gary Player names the greatest player out of Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus

Nicklaus won 73 PGA Tour tournaments including 18 major championships throughout his storied career.

Meanwhile, Woods won a record tying 82 times on the PGA Tour, with 15 majors to his name.

Player, who won nine major championships himself, has now revealed who he thinks is the greatest of all time, when speaking to GOLF.com.

Player said: “Tiger is the greatest golfer that ever lived. Except he isn’t. Because it’s not on paper. Jack has the greatest record on paper. Not only did Jack win 18 majors, he finished second in majors 19 times. That’s hard to believe.

“Let’s reverse the thought procedure with Jack and Tiger. If Jack Nicklaus had been chasing Tiger’s record, he would have changed his philosophy. Jack never prepared for majors like Tiger did. But if Jack had been chasing Tiger, he would have shifted his focus more to the majors and he would have won more of them.“

Player makes a great point there. Had Nicklaus been chasing a record, he most likely would have won even more majors than he actually did.

The 85-year-old could have focused his entire season around the four major championships and we all know just how good he was when he got himself in contention at the biggest tournaments.

Jack Nicklaus vs Tiger Woods: Major records compared

Nicklaus and Woods are streets ahead of every other golfer to have played the game.

Their respective records speak for themselves. So let’s take a look at their numbers side by side.

While, Woods won more PGA Tour titles than Nicklaus, the Golden Bear is superior in every other metric.

Had Woods remained injury-free, he may well have caught Nicklaus’ major haul, or even overtaken him.

As Player said, though, Nicklaus has the greatest record on paper, and until someone else comes along and wins 18 majors or more, nobody will be able to take that away from him.