How many majors would Tiger have won...

[playa]

I'd say between 22-25 majors. If you think of all the personal stuff, and the courses in rotation some of the years he missed, and some of the years he came close but had very little game on the weekends, he would have eaten them up if he just stayed with his swing and stayed with his girl.

 

As for today's players, I think with the "Tiger" influence and the influx of these monster athletes playing golf, any of them getting to say 6 or 7 majors would be like past eras 10 or 12. Competition is just soooooo much stiffer than it has ever been.

Who are all these past era 10-12 champions you speak of? 6 or 7 now would be the same as ever. There are still 4 a year.

As for tiger, he would dominate now just like he did then. If he came along now he could easily get to his 14, probably more. If Jack came along now he would go close to his 18 majors, but probably less top 5s than he had. Great players would do what it takes to win in any era, against any field.

[Bob57]

He basically threw away 6 years with all his swing changes. I don't believe those swing changes caused his physical problems (like he loved to blame Butch for his knee problems). The reality is his off course activities from skateboarding to running, lifting, playing seal did him in.

[fowlerscousin]

Just didnt hit enough fairways

[pheenomz4774]

I'd say between 22-25 majors. If you think of all the personal stuff, and the courses in rotation some of the years he missed, and some of the years he came close but had very little game on the weekends, he would have eaten them up if he just stayed with his swing and stayed with his girl.

 

As for today's players, I think with the "Tiger" influence and the influx of these monster athletes playing golf, any of them getting to say 6 or 7 majors would be like past eras 10 or 12. Competition is just soooooo much stiffer than it has ever been.

Who are all these past era 10-12 champions you speak of? 6 or 7 now would be the same as ever. There are still 4 a year.

As for tiger, he would dominate now just like he did then. If he came along now he could easily get to his 14, probably more. If Jack came along now he would go close to his 18 majors, but probably less top 5s than he had. Great players would do what it takes to win in any era, against any field.

 

I'm not saying anybody specific. But if you told me that Rory in this day and age won say 8 majors, I wouldn't see him comparable to Tom Watson, I'd view him as having a better major career because I feel its harder NOW to win 8 majors. I just think the competition is stiffer. Players last in the primes longer (both by getting their prime earlier and being able to complete for majors later e.g. Spieth, Phil) and equipment closes the gap a little bit.

 

I agree about great players but as you indicated, the math doesn't add up. There are still ONLY 4 majors a year. My feelings, there are more great players in this era and only one can win each of them.

[PowderedToastMan]

I'd say between 22-25 majors. If you think of all the personal stuff, and the courses in rotation some of the years he missed, and some of the years he came close but had very little game on the weekends, he would have eaten them up if he just stayed with his swing and stayed with his girl.

 

As for today's players, I think with the "Tiger" influence and the influx of these monster athletes playing golf, any of them getting to say 6 or 7 majors would be like past eras 10 or 12. Competition is just soooooo much stiffer than it has ever been.

Who are all these past era 10-12 champions you speak of? 6 or 7 now would be the same as ever. There are still 4 a year.

As for tiger, he would dominate now just like he did then. If he came along now he could easily get to his 14, probably more. If Jack came along now he would go close to his 18 majors, but probably less top 5s than he had. Great players would do what it takes to win in any era, against any field.

 

I'm not saying anybody specific. But if you told me that Rory in this day and age won say 8 majors, I wouldn't see him comparable to Tom Watson, I'd view him as having a better major career because I feel its harder NOW to win 8 majors. I just think the competition is stiffer. Players last in the primes longer (both by getting their prime earlier and being able to complete for majors later e.g. Spieth, Phil) and equipment closes the gap a little bit.

 

I agree about great players but as you indicated, the math doesn't add up. There are still ONLY 4 majors a year. My feelings, there are more great players in this era and only one can win each of them.

I think Watson proved at the 2009 Open that it's not harder now to win a major championship.

[Dave230]

I'd say between 22-25 majors. If you think of all the personal stuff, and the courses in rotation some of the years he missed, and some of the years he came close but had very little game on the weekends, he would have eaten them up if he just stayed with his swing and stayed with his girl.

 

As for today's players, I think with the "Tiger" influence and the influx of these monster athletes playing golf, any of them getting to say 6 or 7 majors would be like past eras 10 or 12. Competition is just soooooo much stiffer than it has ever been.

Who are all these past era 10-12 champions you speak of? 6 or 7 now would be the same as ever. There are still 4 a year.

As for tiger, he would dominate now just like he did then. If he came along now he could easily get to his 14, probably more. If Jack came along now he would go close to his 18 majors, but probably less top 5s than he had. Great players would do what it takes to win in any era, against any field.

 

That's very much true, to win 20+ majors, let's say for the 25 majors that was mentioned there. Let's say there's no scandal or injuries post 2009. Tiger would need to win 11 more majors from 35+! He won 14 majors in the previous 12 years, so to get to 25 majors keeping up an exhausting pace most people consider 'the best that was ever played', he would need to keep winning at the same rate for another 9 years, so until 2019 when he's 44. 21-44 without a considerable drop in performance. Highly unlikely.

 

Let's say 20 majors, he would need 6 from 2010 onwards, so picking off an average of one a year until now. Possible but he would have needed to be at his very best with Rory, Spieth etc. Think people underrate how big numbers 14 and Nicklaus' 18 are. Woods + McIlroy = Nicklaus total. Palmer + Snead = Woods.

[bladehunter]

I'd say between 22-25 majors. If you think of all the personal stuff, and the courses in rotation some of the years he missed, and some of the years he came close but had very little game on the weekends, he would have eaten them up if he just stayed with his swing and stayed with his girl.

 

As for today's players, I think with the "Tiger" influence and the influx of these monster athletes playing golf, any of them getting to say 6 or 7 majors would be like past eras 10 or 12. Competition is just soooooo much stiffer than it has ever been.

Who are all these past era 10-12 champions you speak of? 6 or 7 now would be the same as ever. There are still 4 a year.

As for tiger, he would dominate now just like he did then. If he came along now he could easily get to his 14, probably more. If Jack came along now he would go close to his 18 majors, but probably less top 5s than he had. Great players would do what it takes to win in any era, against any field.

 

That's very much true, to win 20+ majors, let's say for the 25 majors that was mentioned there. Let's say there's no scandal or injuries post 2009. Tiger would need to win 11 more majors from 35+! He won 14 majors in the previous 12 years, so to get to 25 majors keeping up an exhausting pace most people consider 'the best that was ever played', he would need to keep winning at the same rate for another 9 years, so until 2019 when he's 44. 21-44 without a considerable drop in performance. Highly unlikely.

 

Let's say 20 majors, he would need 6 from 2010 onwards, so picking off an average of one a year until now. Possible but he would have needed to be at his very best with Rory, Spieth etc. Think people underrate how big numbers 14 and Nicklaus' 18 are. Woods + McIlroy = Nicklaus total. Palmer + Snead = Woods.

 

 

 

true.. kind of puts Rory into perspective doesnt it? he better get moving or Rory is going to be a bigger "what could have been" than tiger

[McCann1]

Over 9000

[cjpops76]

Tiger circa 2000 would crush today's competition. Just like he crushed the competition then.

 

During that time golf changed the set up of the game because of how dominant he was. There was actually a term called "Tiger Proofing" a golf course. That's like finding a way to shrink the rim when Michael Jordan is shooting.

 

I've never seen anything like it.

[Joe85]

Tiger is lucky to have been in the era he was.

 

Before - he would not have beat Jack et al as frequently as he did the likes of Bob May, Chris Dimarco, Rocco Mediate (three of his majors he essentially had to beat those three guys) had been playing against them.

 

Today - I think the top 4-5 golfers he would have had more difficulty against.

 

 

I was one of the guys who thought Tiger would crush Jack's record, but alas, he is going to come up quite shy of it.

[creecool]

Tiger should have stayed with Haney, not messed around with the SEAL training fascination, stayed single if he desired to ho around,

and maybe the 08 Open damaged his body in compensation for the stress fracture/ achilles issues. While my number would be around 20, I still think there is a good argument that Tiger was juicing prior to 09, when the tour began drug testing. Every athlete who was linked with Galea was doping in some way. Tiger inherited the win at all costs mentality from Earl, so he would be predisposed to gain any advantage he could.

[bscinstnct]

Tiger is lucky to have been in the era he was.

 

Before - he would not have beat Jack et al as frequently as he did the likes of Bob May, Chris Dimarco, Rocco Mediate (three of his majors he essentially had to beat those three guys) had been playing against them.

 

Today - I think the top 4-5 golfers he would have had more difficulty against.

 

 

I was one of the guys who thought Tiger would crush Jack's record, but alas, he is going to come up quite shy of it.

 

 

 

When the leaderboard looks like this

 

It wouldn't matter who he was playing against

 

[johnseg]

The idea that the Tour is more difficult now just doesn't ring true to me. There are players in every era that are comparative. Tiger played against Els (19 wins), Furyk (17 wins), Mickelson (42 wins) and Vijay (34 wins) not to mention that he played against Dustin Johnson, Jason Day, Zach Johnson, Adam Scott and Sergio Garcia while all were not far from who they are today.

 

The tour is always tough. There are a lot of very good players out there right now. The difference is there isn't a transcendent talent currently. Just like the post-Jack/pre-Tiger era. It wasn't harder to rack up majors from 1983-1997. You had Seve, Faldo, Langer, Fuzzy, Price, O'Meara, Couples and others. It was a deep field very similar to now. It just lacked the generational great.

[george49]

If Tiger would have stuck with the Butch Harmon swing he had at the 2000 US Open at Pebble he would have won 25 majors.

 

Tiger might not have even won 14 with that swing, or would have but would have been done even earlier. He was having serious knee issues because it required him to snap his knee each time to generate that outrageous power. That was not sustainable and was one of the main reasons why Tiger went to Hank Haney - to create a swing that was easier on his body.

 

Woods won 31 times on the PGA Tour from 2005 to 2009 with Haney, including six majors. He won 7 times in a row from 2006–2007, and 5 times in a row from 2007-2008 with Haney. Do you really think Butch was the key?

 

No, his magical putting started to head south. 2009 PGA he missed a few putts under 5 feet which didn't happen prior. 2010 US Open he putted average at best and McDowell made everything which is how one wins on tour.

[scooter8]

How many majors could Ben Hogan have won if he wasn't hit by a bus? How many majors could Jack Nicklaus have won if he didn't have back problems, hip problems, etc? How many majors could Arnold Palmer have won if . . .? Etc. Etc. Stupid forum question.

[tigerstew]

Stick with Butch: 18-20

Remove the personal stuff: 20-22

Healthy, Butch and no personal stuff: 20-24

 

Why does everyone on here think butch harmon is the messiah?

 

Norman left him, woods left him, mickelson left him.....all for a reason. If he was this special god like u guys talk about would they have done that?

[Spongerob]

Tiger was an alpha beast mentally. Jack too. There is no one like that now. Speith may be the closest. When you have an era without a truly great player the golf world elevates and promotes the best players. As it should. People think it's a new era and the fields are too good for a dominant player...right until the next real deal shows up. Then everyone realizes it takes a lot more than pretty golf shots, a nice smile and a fish on your hat to be truly great.

 

I am 100% certain that if a 22 year old Tiger or Jack showed up today the rest of the pro golf world would be road kill just as the best of the rest were in the past.

[JOEL714]

IF MR WOODS HAD STAYED HEALTHY HE WOULD HAVE GOTTEN PAST THE MAGIC 18 NUMBER. SADLY HIS PECKER OVERCAME HIS BRAIN AND HIS BACK WENT SOUR SHORTLY AFTER.

HE ARGUABLY IS THE BEST PLAYER SINCE HOGAN./SNEAD/NELSON BUT CIRCUMSTANCES MAKE IT SO WE'LL NEVER KNOW.

SADLY, HE HAS NOT TURNED OUT TO BE THE GRACIOUS CHAMPION LIKE MR NICKLAUS AND PALMER AND TREVINO, ETC. HE WAS/IS AN ENORMOUSLY TALENTED AThLETE WITH PERSONALITY FLAWS THAT HAVE RUINED A ONCE IN A CENTURY CAREER.

[nochct1]

He would have won more if there weren't so many advances in technology. One of the reasons he made swing changes was to add distance. Other players started to catch up because of graphite Shafts and bigger clubheads.

Tiger's biggest advantage was shot making. He had every shot in the bag and could hit his long irons high and land them soft. Jack was the same way, which was a big advantage for him. Other players couldn't do this. Drivers got bigger and the distance gap closed. Hybrids were introduced. High launching low spinning golf balls became popular.

 

We see it with other players now. Sure, DJ might hit 6 iron into a par 5. But a shorter hitter can hit a hybrid and land it soft. The advantage is still there, but it's not what it used to be.

 

[ryant0220]

I'm with Chamblee on foley ruining his back. Butch or Haney's swing would have won 20+ majors. If he doesn't go through the scandal he doesn't lose his mental edge. He would have the pure intimidation over all the young players today and even the veterans as well. Because of the scandal and the faulty comeback none of the players feared him. They new they could beat him and now he knows it. He's got to work harder than ever to get back and earn the confidence all at the ripe young age of 41.....

[golfer07840]

79 wins, 14 majors, 12 hookers, 8 waitresses, 2 porn stars, 1 hairdresser, 1 wife,1 firehydrant and one 7 iron upside the head.

 

A hell of a career, and life.

[golfer07840]

He would have won five majors a year until he was at least 47 years old.

 

5 majors per year... Was he going to take up professional tennis part time as well?

 

Yes, and then he was going to play WR in the NFL part time during the silly season. :swoon:

[bscinstnct]

He would have won five majors a year until he was at least 47 years old.

 

5 majors per year... Was he going to take up professional tennis part time as well?

 

Yes, and then he was going to play WR in the NFL part time during the silly season. :swoon:

 

TW be like,

 

[golfer07840]

Tiger circa 2000 would crush today's competition. Just like he crushed the competition then.

 

During that time golf changed the set up of the game because of how dominant he was. There was actually a term called "Tiger Proofing" a golf course. That's like finding a way to shrink the rim when Michael Jordan is shooting.

 

I've never seen anything like it.

 

Put it this way, in regards to Tiger in 2000, since WRX is very big on handicaps and "can a 4 beat a Pro?" Etc... (cracks me up just thinking that btw).

 

Tiger was so good in 2000, he played to a PLUS 10 all year.

 

That's just ludicrous.

[golfer07840]

He would have won five majors a year until he was at least 47 years old.

 

5 majors per year... Was he going to take up professional tennis part time as well?

 

Yes, and then he was going to play WR in the NFL part time during the silly season. :swoon:

 

TW be like,

 

[media=]

[/media]

 

The NFL Police never cease to amaze me. you can't watch that video here, you have to watch it on YouTube itself. SMH

[golfer07840]

Stick with Butch: 18-20

Remove the personal stuff: 20-22

Healthy, Butch and no personal stuff: 20-24

 

Why does everyone on here think butch harmon is the messiah?

 

Norman left him, woods left him, mickelson left him.....all for a reason. If he was this special god like u guys talk about would they have done that?

 

I get what you're saying, but the irony is, none of those 3 ever played as well as they did again after they left. Could argue Tiger did, but Tiger could have been coached by me in those days and would have won.

[golfer07840]

IF MR WOODS HAD STAYED HEALTHY HE WOULD HAVE GOTTEN PAST THE MAGIC 18 NUMBER. SADLY HIS PECKER OVERCAME HIS BRAIN AND HIS BACK WENT SOUR SHORTLY AFTER.

HE ARGUABLY IS THE BEST PLAYER SINCE HOGAN./SNEAD/NELSON BUT CIRCUMSTANCES MAKE IT SO WE'LL NEVER KNOW.

SADLY, HE HAS NOT TURNED OUT TO BE THE GRACIOUS CHAMPION LIKE MR NICKLAUS AND PALMER AND TREVINO, ETC. HE WAS/IS AN ENORMOUSLY TALENTED AThLETE WITH PERSONALITY FLAWS THAT HAVE RUINED A ONCE IN A CENTURY CAREER.

[jhawki]

Take a look at Tiger in 2013... he dominated the current set of players. And he wasn't ever full healthy at that time. Tiger in his prime would have crushed the field we have now if he was healthy.

 

I still think (now that Tiger finally did the right thing and had the fusion surgery) he can come back if he modifies his swing. Will he be as good? Probably not. Will he be far more than competitive? Definitely. The surgery he had has at least given him the chance.

[Joe85]

Tiger is lucky to have been in the era he was.

 

Before - he would not have beat Jack et al as frequently as he did the likes of Bob May, Chris Dimarco, Rocco Mediate (three of his majors he essentially had to beat those three guys) had been playing against them.

 

Today - I think the top 4-5 golfers he would have had more difficulty against.

 

 

I was one of the guys who thought Tiger would crush Jack's record, but alas, he is going to come up quite shy of it.

 

 

 

When the leaderboard looks like this

 

It wouldn't matter who he was playing against

 

 

Bob May (PGA), Dimarco (British and one of his Masters' wins), Rocco Mediate (last US Open, if I recall) are not even close to legendary. Sorry.

[PowderedToastMan]

Tiger is lucky to have been in the era he was.

 

Before - he would not have beat Jack et al as frequently as he did the likes of Bob May, Chris Dimarco, Rocco Mediate (three of his majors he essentially had to beat those three guys) had been playing against them.

 

Today - I think the top 4-5 golfers he would have had more difficulty against.

 

 

I was one of the guys who thought Tiger would crush Jack's record, but alas, he is going to come up quite shy of it.

 

 

 

When the leaderboard looks like this

 

It wouldn't matter who he was playing against

 

 

Bob May (PGA), Dimarco (British and one of his Masters' wins), Rocco Mediate (last US Open, if I recall) are not even close to legendary. Sorry.

What's your point? Bob May, Dimarco, and Rocco beat heavyweights in the field to finish second to Tiger. Furthermore, Tiger didn't only beat those 3, but hundreds of other world class players in the field of those 3 majors.

 

Heavyweights don't always win every major. This is true in every era, including the current one.