WHO’S BETTER, WHO’S BEST IN GOLF? pot

[...]... when Singh took over as the top player in 12 WHO’S BETTER, WHO’S BEST IN GOLF? the world in September of 2004 Tiger won only once in 2004 (defeating Davis Love III in the finals of the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship) and finished 22nd, 17th, 9th, and 24th in the four majors Woods entered the 2005 season without a win in his last 10 majors In fact, he had finished in the top five only twice in those... page intentionally left blank INTRODUCTION “ W hat do you know about golf ?” chimes in Brent Musburger from his cell phone “And what are you talking about, asking me who was better, Tiger or Jack? You’re too young to remember Ben Hogan, but don’t discount him.” And I thought this was going to be easy I wrote Who’s Better, Who’s Best in Basketball? and a follow-up in the series, Who’s Better, Who’s Best. .. Now Tiger’s wins in those majors were more convincing, as I’ll show And Jack has many more top-five finishes It’s a razor-thin decision Jack, by his 30th birthday, had entered the four major tournaments 40 times At the 30th Birthdays, Record in Majors 1 Woods: 10 for 42 (winning 23.8 percent of the time) 2 Nicklaus: 7 for 40 (winning 14.5 percent of the time) 14 WHO’S BETTER, WHO’S BEST IN GOLF? Woods... Masters The first time Jack Nicklaus entered the Masters was as an amateur in 1959, when he failed to make the cut He not only made the cut in 1960 but finished in a tie for 13th The next year, he did even better, shooting a 287 and finishing in a tie for 7th 20 WHO’S BETTER, WHO’S BEST IN GOLF? His first Masters as a professional was not vintage Nicklaus He tied for 15th, so he didn’t exactly get out of the... Duval The eight wins on the PGA Tour were an enormous number No one else had won six times in one year on the Tour since Tom Watson did it in 1980 Tiger became the first player since Johnny Miller to win eight times in a year and the first since Ben Hogan in 1953 to win four consecutive starts In 1999 Woods won eight times on the PGA Tour, garnering more than $7 million But he couldn’t win any of that... creative “cheating” in baseball history The 1969 “Miracle” Mets defeated the heavily favored Baltimore Orioles in five games In the sixth inning of Game 5 with the Orioles leading 3–0, umpires awarded first base to Cleon Jones of the Mets, saying he was hit on the foot by a pitch Donn Clendenon then homered, bringing the Mets back within one run of the Orioles in a game they’d go on to win 5–3 More than... that cheating, but that kind of stuff went on all the time in baseball.” Can you imagine that happening in golf ? NBA players have said that, at the end of a game, with 10 seconds left, they’re not leaving the paint, regardless of the three-second rule They know the refs won’t blow the whistle in that situation In the NHL one of the most important issues is defining and enforcing the rules against obstruction... it appeared that Woods 10 WHO’S BETTER, WHO’S BEST IN GOLF? would steamroll through the field at other majors, it didn’t happen Woods did not come close to any of the other three remaining majors in 1997 He revamped his swing, as a matter of fact Tiger would not win any of the next 10 majors, until the 1999 PGA Could he have won more had he not revamped his swing? It is a point of conjecture He won only... he had seven majors, just like Palmer 22 WHO’S BETTER, WHO’S BEST IN GOLF? 1969 Ryder Cup Nicklaus’s first time playing on the Ryder Cup team was in 1969 In the closest contest in Ryder Cup history, 17 of the 32 matches went down to the last hole The Ryder Cup came down to the final afternoon singles match between England’s Tony Jacklin and Nicklaus When Jacklin made a pressure 30-foot putt on the 17th... for terms of use 18 WHO’S BETTER, WHO’S BEST IN GOLF? Brandel Chamblee, Golf Channel analyst and PGA Tour member: “Nicklaus’s numbers are mind-boggling: 18 wins in the majors and another 19 runner-up finishes and 13 third-place finishes Tiger, when he doesn’t win the majors, doesn’t seem to have as many close calls That pushes Nicklaus ahead.” Nicklaus was named Golfer of the Century in 2000 by virtually . thought this was going to be easy. I wrote Who’s Better, Who’s Best in Basketball? and a follow-up in the series, Who’s Bet- ter, Who’s Best in Baseball? The. enjoyed talking sports with Kalb, and his series of Who’s Better, Who’s Best books are like sitting down with him and shooting the breeze, remembering the