Poll - The Masters: 1986 or 2019

[RobertBaron]

Had Tiger not won the TC and contended in 2 majors last year, I’d give it to Tiger. But those factors kind of take a bit of the surprise value out of it.

[MountainGoat]

‘86. Jack’s win came from nowhere, and his back 9 on Sunday was brilliant.

[jimb]

I watched 1986 and thought it was a tremendous accomplishment for Nicklaus. However, the 2019 final round at Augusta National was every bit as exciting. The very best in the world rankings fighting the pressure all round was outstanding. All credit to Woods, he kept his composure better than I have ever seen him in the past. He played smart golf and missed where he could recover. I honestly never thought Woods would win another major and boy was I wrong. He is as great an iron player as I have ever seen.

[A.Princey]

Also, if Tiger had made an ace on 16, I would say tie.

[dpc]

'86 was a more exciting. Tiger was rounding into form and it seemed inevitable this would happen somewhere, but Jack was being written off. However Tiger came back from much deeper depths.

[redfirebird08]

I would vote for a tie. Both incredible.

[chonkoa]

> @dpb5031 said:

> Today had the potential, but '86 was more exciting. I'm thrilled that Tiger won, but at the same time disappointed that not a single one of the superstars on today's leaderboard was able to post a really good number. I'd never have bet that Tiger could win shooting 70 given the generally soft conditions. Definitely a case of "weak sauce" by the contenders, but with few exceptions that's been the case in many of his wins.

>

> Still, all credit in the world to him for overcoming adversity and coming back from a very dark place. Good for the game for sure...

 

So is that a testament to the scoring conditions and the pressure?

I mean the common denominator is the golf course.

[JAMH03]

97 best win 86 best finish 19 reinvigorating & TBD. History is understood better from some distance.

[moehogan]

‘86 in a landslide.

[KarstenK]

Tiger but not by much

[Pent08]

After 10 years of surgeries, chronic pain and multiple scandals, this man willed his way back to win a Masters with a fused lumbar spine against an absolutely stacked leaderboard. This takes the cake for me personally.

 

That said, I wasn't even a thought in 86. So quite the biased opinion.

 

[BMC]

Both great moments in golf. This win was not a surprise. Jack's was a surprise.

[spinnywedge]

I think the better accomplishment was Tiger's in today, but the better golf was played in 86. That was a great round that Jack played to comeback and win, but I think this tournament is more important to Tiger's career than 86 was to Jack's. It might all depend on how TW continues the next few years.

[Ignatius Reilly]

> @BMC said:

> Both great moments in golf. This win was not a surprise. Jack's was a surprise.

 

I think Tiger's incremental return to form, culminating in last year's Tour Championship win showed he still had some game. Jack was in pretty bad shape in 85/86 in terms of golf.

 

So.... Jack's final round of 65, going -6 on the back 9 is kinda better than Tiger's 70/-1. By quite a lot.

 

Both pretty good, and worthy of the ongoing dialog of who's GOAT and who's in second.

[Big Cat 3]

2019 and it’s not even close

[DrivingChamp]

People are being prisoners of the moment

 

Tiger winning is a accomplishment but 86 was more entertaining this ended up being a let down with molin finau and Koepka blowing it on the back nine

[wildcatden]

Seve choked, which was such a shame because his dad had passed about a month (?) before the '86 Masters. 2019 Tiger takes it for me. Tiger takes control on the 15th hole for his 15th Major. Too bad he didn't finish at -15 to cap it off.

[bscinstnct]

Both better than the other in their own way if that makes sense.

 

Jack had nothing to prove but it was magical and the way it unfolded was insane.

 

Tigers was monumental and meaningful in a way it wouldnt be fair to compare to Jacks win.

 

 

[OBbogey5]

Tiger came back from the depths of hell, unlike Jack.

 

Jack came from nowhere on the back nine on Sunday -- a closing 30....Wow!!!

 

He's another thing about 2019, there wasn't a past Masters champion anywhere in sight. Nobody knew how to win that tournament, except Tiger Woods.

[GeorgeHWB]

Jack in '86 and it's not close.

 

But if we are just talking comebacks, and we expand this to majors, and not just the Masters, it's Ben Hogan in the 1950 U.S. Open.

[RobotDoctor]

What most people here don’t know is that Jack’s business empire (MacGregor and other interests) were near financial ruin. Nicklaus wasn’t doing outstanding financially. He had that pressure underlying his degraded golf game. Maybe this had quite a bit to do with the poor play because Nicklaus was focusing on his businesses and not playing much golf. To merely dismiss Nicklaus’ accomplishment because Tiger Woods’ issues has been put into the forefront thanks to social media isn’t quite fair to this discussion.

[Aaronwilson_95]

Just under 2 years ago he entered drug addiction rehab , and today he won the masters . Not too mention every single thing that’s happened to him.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/trapdraw-podcast-no-laying-up/id1133618045?i=1000417810593

 

Worth listening too

[RobertBaron]

> @RobotDoctor said:

> What most people here don’t know is that Jack’s business empire (MacGregor and other interests) were near financial ruin. Nicklaus wasn’t doing outstanding financially. He had that pressure underlying his degraded golf game. Maybe this had quite a bit to do with the poor play because Nicklaus was focusing on his businesses and not playing much golf. To merely dismiss Nicklaus’ accomplishment because Tiger Woods’ issues has been put into the forefront thanks to social media isn’t quite fair to this discussion.

 

I’d also add that Nicklaus’ 46 years was like being 56 in today’s golf years. The fitness level of today’s elite golfers will allow them to play at a high level much longer than guys in Jack’s era.

 

[redfirebird08]

> @RobertBaron said:

> > @RobotDoctor said:

> > What most people here don’t know is that Jack’s business empire (MacGregor and other interests) were near financial ruin. Nicklaus wasn’t doing outstanding financially. He had that pressure underlying his degraded golf game. Maybe this had quite a bit to do with the poor play because Nicklaus was focusing on his businesses and not playing much golf. To merely dismiss Nicklaus’ accomplishment because Tiger Woods’ issues has been put into the forefront thanks to social media isn’t quite fair to this discussion.

>

> I’d also add that Nicklaus’ 46 years was like being 56 in today’s golf years. The fitness level of today’s elite golfers will allow them to play at a high level much longer than guys in Jack’s era.

>

 

We shall see about that. A lot of the modern violent swings don't seem to be built for longevity. Knee injuries for McIlroy. Back injuries for Jason Day. Knee injuries/back injuries for Tiger. Remains to be seen on some of the younger guys how their bodies will hold up as they age.

[Bingo1976]

I don;t understand the quest for the 'best ever' monnicker. We should enjoy events for what they give us at the time, rather than a constant desire to compare and rank.

I was too young to have seen '86, but I stayed up until 3am in Hong Kong last night watching the stream on my Ipad. As someone who lost his father recently, and is soon to become a father, and was at Hoylake in '06, last night bought a tear to my eye. Not a man sob, just a bit of light dust, but to reflect back on where Woods had been to as both and athlete and a human being, and to see him triumph, is truly one of the greatest of any sporting moments of this or any generation, and something I am humble and privileged to have watched.

[Edaw68]

For me 86 by a whisker. Primarily because I was 8 years old and it's the first golf tournament I remember watching with my Dad. Today was a blast though.

[MattyO1984]

For me it has to be 2019.

 

I get that 1986 was likely more exciting with birdies seemingly flying all over the place but I have no recall of it. It was all before my time. My first real recollection of Jack actually comes from 12 years on when he was making a charge in 1998.

[lefty1978]

2019 and not even close for me. I was 8 in 1986, but my dad was not much of a Jack Nicklaus fan, he grew up liking Palmer. Me and my dad got into Tiger in the late 90's, we were big fans. So for me, being 41 and a Dad myself, yesterday was special.

[Hawkeye77]

> @Aaronwilson_95 said:

> Just under 2 years ago he entered drug addiction rehab , and today he won the masters . Not too mention every single thing that’s happened to him.

> https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/trapdraw-podcast-no-laying-up/id1133618045?i=1000417810593

>

> Worth listening too

I don't know the drug addiction rehab is something that I'd hold up as something he's "overcome" let alone some of his self-destructive behavior. Evaluation was going to be required as a consequence of the criminal act regardless and maybe he was addicted, maybe he wasn't. Suffice it to say he's had tremendous physical challenges it is amazing he has overcome.

[Hawkeye77]

> @MattyO1984 said:

> For me it has to be 2019.

>

> I get that 1986 was likely more exciting with birdies seemingly flying all over the place but I have no recall of it. It was all before my time. My first real recollection of Jack actually comes from 12 years on when he was making a charge in 1998.

 

 

Another reason why these things are so generational!

 

My appreciation of Hogan and Snead, for example, is mostly from reading about them - never really saw them play at the height of their powers. Same to a lesser extent but still true with Arnie and even Jack's first many majors I have no recollection of - was just a wee lad. But when I started playing Jack was the man and I watched and read about him in his prime, so to speak. That stuff will always color how exciting something is for us.

 

A ton more people for all sorts of reasons have been in touch with what Tiger is doing - media exposure and hype is exponentially greater than it was back in the day, Tiger as a phenom brought a lot of folks to the game outside the norm (even if just people who didn't play, but watched), and somehow he managed to be somewhat polarizing at the same time and the past 9+ years and some of the self-destructive stuff he managed to have revealed only added to the hype.

 

I love his skills, kind of enjoyed him beating down folks as a very young pro just because his talent was so obviously unique. I have a daughter who has been Tiger 24/7 since she was 4 1/2.

 

The neat thing for golf is, there are kids out there who have been hearing Tiger, Tiger, Tiger for years but not a lot to see recently (hey he had some good seasons, just no majors, the past 9+ years) so this win will be big for them and some more Tiger will be good for golf for as long as he can play.