How Good Was Jack Nicklaus ACTUALLY?

31 comments

1. Our apologies for any unnatural seeming cuts. We ran into some copyright issues after upload that needed to be cut out. We hope you enjoy the video regardless!

2. Nicklaus all day long.

3. Have had the pleasure of seeing both play. Jack had a better long game-compared to his peers, Jack was comparatively longer than Tiger, and a straighter hitter with the driver. Jack was top ten both in distance and % of fairways hit in the one year during his career that they kept statistics,and that was towards the end of his prime period. On the other hand, Tiger’s short game was infinitely better than Jack’s. If Jack missed a green, he was trying to save par. Tiger’s mindset was that he was going to sink the chip. Tiger’s wedge game was better too. Both were fabulous putters. I lean towards Nicklaus as the GOAT based on the length and consistency of his domination, but those who pick Tiger definitely have a point. Fun discussion. Don’t forget about Bobby Jones either…. Those are my top 3.

4. jack. the greatest sportsman ever

5. who has more Championships? Argument over.

6. Tiger Woods is the greatest golfer ever. Nobody played to the standard Tiger played at the turn of the century. If it wasn't for injuries Tiger would have smashed Nicklaus major record.

7. Tiger may have been better in his prime, but his prime was shorter. I wish we could have seen them play somehow.

8. JACK, is all I have to say

9. To me the deciding factor is winning percentage. Tiger beats Jack in both regular tour events and also majors by a wide margin in this regard. The only reason Jack leads Tiger in majors is because of Tiger's foolish swing changes, injuries and that Jack played in 57 more majors than Tiger has and the difference is only 3. Had Tiger left his swing alone from the 2000 era with Harmon as his coach he would have over 100 tour wins and over 25 majors.

10. The competition was very poor. Overweight guys and would not compete with the great,fit talent of today.

11. Jack

12. jack's records in major's will never be broken the strength and depth of players now will see to that, jack would win whatever era he was in, tiger wouldn't even been allowed on half the courses the majors were played on in jacks time, so how many tigers did jack have to beat

13. He’s the greatest of all time. Tiger is an absolute legend but Nicklaus set that standard to chase.

14. Jack was the best in the world for longer. Tiger had the best 11 year stretch ever though. I would say its jack just because of his length of dominance.

15. Jack was a natural. In anytime, anywhere.

16. As Lee Trevino said , Jack is the best player in his spare time. He never travelled away from his family more than 2 weeks at a time, and played a very limited schedule. Between 1962 and 1980 he was in the top 5 in the British Open all bit 1 time!

17. Make a list of the top major winners, most of the players over 5 played in Jack's era, and in Tiger's era there is only 1 who won 5+ majors and that was Phil Mickelson and he won some of them after 2010 when Tiger stopped winning.

18. The records are debatable, but Jack the sportsman, losing with class and dignity, providing advice and assistance to other players, and wonderful family man…make him head and shoulders – the goat!

19. Today's greats must honor those who 'built the game'. That said, Jack is the GOAT. Equipment, course-conditions, rules, competition, , , Scottie Scheffler (LUV that guy) will never be the GOAT until he can consistently score eight-under-par from the 'tips' of a municipal golf course humping his own equipment bought at Walmart. Jack could and did.

20. Today's groundskeepers also contribute to contemporary competition. There is a BIG difference today between a good strike and a poor one. Yes, I said STRIKE not stroke.

21. Jesse Owens and Jim Thorpe exemplified the potential for SPORT to obliterate prejudice. Jack Nickolas and Scottie Scheffler exemplify the potential for white-guys to hold predominance in at least ONE field of physical endeavor. (That's – I SAY – That's a joke son).

22. I'm sorry you just haven't mentioned his wife Barbara enough. She is a huge part of his success

23. In Jack Nicklaus’s autobiography, "My Way," he says, "In 1930, there were perhaps ten golfers, pro or amateur, who might defeat Bob Jones when everything was right for them and after my first few years as a pro, there were maybe 30 guys who could beat me if I wasn't playing my best. If I were out there today (1996), that number would be tripled."

Jack claims that what we'll call the "depth of field" tripled between 1930 and 1970 and tripled again between 1970 and 1996.  This is not a controversial opinion.  Most golf writers agree.  It became harder to win as the game grew in the 20th Century and fields grew larger and more talented,” said Jaime Diaz of Golf Digest in 2002.

    “Because Woods will be forced to beat more players capable of winning majors than Nicklaus did, longevity will be more difficult to achieve for him, said Jaime Diaz.

    “Especially in the '60s, you'd see a lot of majors where at the end there would be only five or six guys within 10 strokes," says Phil Rodgers, Jack Nicklaus short game coach and friend. "Maybe three or four guys would have a chance to win on the weekend. Today at a major, you see 20 guys finish within 10 strokes. One of the reasons Jack was able to finish second and third so often is he didn't have to contend with that kind of depth."

    Much has been made over the assertion that Nicklaus faced a more accomplished and tougher group of players at the very top of the game than Tiger does. The trio that put together the most major victories against Nicklaus in his first six years—Arnold Palmer, Gary Player and Billy Casper—won six in that period. But Ernie Els, Mark O'Meara and Vijay Singh got the same number in the same time against Woods,” said Jaime Diaz.

    In Jack’s first 10 years as a professional from 1961 to 1970 at the British Open, there was an average of 12.3 players within 10 strokes of the eventual winner with a high of 23 in 1969.

    In Tiger Woods first 10 years as a professional from 1996 to 2005 at the British Open, there was an average of 27.9 players within 10 strokes of the eventual winner with a high of 57 in 2002.

    As you can see from a decade worth of data for both players, there was much more competition in Tiger’s era then there was in Jack’s era at the British Open. If you are wondering about Bobby Jones, from 1923-1932 there was an average of 10.2 players within 10 shots of the eventual winner in the British Open with a high of 21 in 1931.

    In my own opinion, you can’t just compare numbers as it is not apples to apples. Jack Nicklaus in his day played against the best players of his time, but the game had not grown nearly as much globally as when Tiger Woods was playing. It was much harder to win golf tournaments with more capable players of winning when Tiger Woods was playing than when Jack Nicklaus was playing. As the game of golf continues to grow more globally around the world it will be increasingly harder for anyone to dominate the game like Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods did.

24. How about who stayed out of trouble more and was a better person?

25. GOAT – Nicklaus. Period. You play to win. You're judged on results, not speculation. Tiger played with far better equipment which I use as another strike against. To me they're not really that close. Whoever is third is still way further away, but there's for sure a demostrable gato gap between even these two.

26. I was always on the Nicklaus side of this debate until I found out Tiger Woods is also number 3 on the European Tour all time wins list – behind only Seve Ballesteros and Bernhard Langer. That is freaking amazing. So now I don't know..

27. For me, the biggest reason why Jack is the GOAT is because of who he had to beat, the names just trip off the tongue; Palmer, Player, Trevino, Watson, Ballesteros, Miller, Kite, Norman, Langer, plus many others. Legends of the game weren't beat by Jack before they even hit a ball in the final round. So, by comparison, who were Tigers great and legendary competitors that he had to fend off? Michelson maybe, but as far I can remember, they never squared up on the course. So for that reason, IMO, it's Jack by a long way.

28. Very good video, however, I spotted one important mistake. Tigers Master's win was before his big car accident which primarily shattered his right let. The 2019 Master's was from his comeback from extensive back surgery. The leadup to the surgery and for a short while afterword it was considered that he was done. However, in 2018 he came in second in the Fedex Cup and in the spring of 2019 he won the Masters. He had that major car accident in 2021, two years after in 2019 Masters win. And has not been able to win since then.

29. Besides Jack’s incredible number of second place finishes in majors which when combined with his major wins should be enough to seal the deal, Jack also had 117 professional golf tournament wins to Tiger’s 82, which means Tiger has a long way to go to catch Jack. In my mind, it’s an easy choice and the GOAT is Jack.

30. Bobby Jones was the greatest amateur of all time. Nicklaus the greatest al time record. Tiger may have the best form.

31. And he was runner up in The Open 7 times !!! Ouch