Hogan or Tiger?

[2over]

Tiger's. Yes, Tiger had better medical equipment (but I think that's a bit over-rated in terms of injuries to spine and knee and ligaments) and Hogan's injuries were more life threatening but they didn't affect his golfing core the way Tiger's injuries did. Major back/spinal injuries like Tiger had severally limit the rotation ability that is key in the golf swing. Plus Tiger's knee injuries were severe ligament/tendon damage that no modern medicine can really make right again and the left knee is the engine/trigger in Tiger's swing. His key power centers were much more damaged than Hogan's which makes Tiger's comeback the greatest of all time. Plus Tiger was 2 years older and age is a bitch.

Not taking anything away from Hogan which was an amazing comeback too, second best in sports for sure. Tiger's was just even more impressive.

[Kwheat]

Lol who says tiger has come back? He's won a major, but in 5 years if that's the only one, it's called a flash in the pan. It's way too early to tell, though he is playing very well

[jkumpire]

Maybe we should all be glad and thankful that medical science has progressed enough that Tiger could come back from all he faced and perform at such a high level much easier than Hogan did. If Hogan had the injuries he had but lived in our time his rehab and comeback would be difficult, but somewhat easier.

Both men climbed some high mountains, and neither of them are/were perfect, but the stories of their return to the pinnacle of golf are both humbling and worth celebrating.

[Ferguson]

 

The Hogan case involves supposition upon supposition. Guess upon guess. When you listen to the evidence, ask yourselves – why does the Hogan legend continue?  

 

 

[andyk856]

I'ts not even an argument. Its Hogan, hands down.

[bscinstnct]

 

As far as defining if this comeback is a "flash in the pan"

 

Rory is #2 in the world. From 2018 til now, he has 4 PGA tour wins and zero Majors.

Tiger, from 2018 til now, has 3 wins and one Major. That's not "flash in the pan" caliber play.

 

And as you know, hard to put a value on the Master's and just say it's "the only one". Just ask Rory. He has never won in 11 attempts ; )

 

Overall, this has been a tremendous comeback. From 1199th OWGR just 2 years ago to #6 now. This measures the quality of overall play over the past 2 seasons. If he were to never win again, you'd have to give him credit for climbing out of the total abyss and, at least just once, reaching the pinnacle again.

[Darth Putter]

Like Hogan and Tiger, Vardon had his problems at the height of his powers. He spent months in sanitariums on complete bedrest with both his pipe and clubs taken away. This went on from 1903-1910. There's no telling how many more Claret Jugs he could have won and if he could have come back to America on another US Open winning tour.

 

 

[Darth Putter]

I'm surprised you haven't declared the entire Ben Hogan accident was a made up event created by the eastern newspaper syndicate to sell papers.

[Hawkeye77]

LOL to you, LOL.

 

Would think the Tour Championship/Masters/ZOZO/Presidents Cup would be pretty good suggestion he's back. That's an easy one.

 

Will he consistently win like even 6 years ago? Nope. Will he play consistently in tourneys this year? Remains to be seen and who knows when it could end for him and he's aged.

 

But he's definitely "come back" - "flash in the pan" - yep, that's how he'll be remembered.

[bscinstnct]

Yeah! Maybe the whole crash thing was staged while he was sitting out a PED suspension ; )

[Ferguson]

I would never use the term "made up", Darth.

 

I prefer something along the lines of "engineered over time."

[Circaflex]

No game before the surgery? Could not have played in Hogan's era? LOL some of the Tiger hate on this forum is laughable at best.

[redfirebird08]

 

When he says Tiger wouldn't be able to play in Hogan's era, I believe he's referring to racism/segregation. Tiger would not be allowed on the course as a player during those days.

[DFS PFD]

So what were Hogan's immediate injuries? I understand the blood clots were a result of the accident but I feel like the rest injuries are overstated when using the blood clots to classify the whole thing as "life threatening". Is this a complete list? "Doctors had diagnosed Hogan with a fractured left collarbone, a double fraction of his pelvis, a broken ankle and a chipped rib"?

[Kwheat]

Oh I agree he has climbed right back. I was just throwing it out there that hogan is being judged umpteen years later, tiger less than a year. What if his back goes out again and he can't play? What would we say then lol? I guess my only point is, come backs are judged over years in retrospect, not 9 months. I'm all for him coming back btw, his iron play is amazing right now

[Man_O_War]

Yes Sir. Exactly as stated

[CasualLie]

Why even compare? Just because there’s an internet it doesn’t require crazy groupings of two completely different events.

Raise your hand if the Hogan era including comeback is your generation. Anyone? Are those crickets?

Raise your hand if you started playing golf after year 2000 and your knowledge of Tiger’s dominance is from replays.

Hogan made a great comeback.

Tiger is in the midst of a great comeback.

Each stands on its own.

[lowheel]

 

[tiderider]

everybody is aware that tiger would not have been allowed on a golf course with hogan during his playing time ... literally, everybody ...

 

 

 

 

[Catamounts12]

Way before my time, but it’s Ben Hogan. To recover from a life threatening car accident, without the advanced medicine, procedures, technology advancements that we have today, is phenomenal. I think tiger is the GOAT, but as far as comebacks go, his isn’t on the same level. I agree with one of the other posters that his us open win on a bum knee was more impressive than winning the tour championship and masters. Tiger is awesome though and I’m so glad he is back in top form.

[Man_O_War]

lol. hopefully true but history tends to be forgotten...replaced with different narratives.

[bscinstnct]

I like to think that, somehow, if TW was seen playin back then, the pros and “powers that be” would have said,

 

Well, heck, we gotta let him play.

 

But, then again, very different times and I bet a lot of the pros would want no piece of TW on the course.

 

He would have shredded them ; )

[stingerfade]

This is the most freezing cold take I think I’ve read ever. Well done

[J Bez]

So when you say you saw Tigers recovery, doesn’t that make you an eyewitness?

Hogan didn’t have a car accident, he had a bus accident. Tiger had surgery and rehabbed with specialist every step of the way. PT at the time of Hogan’s crash barely even existed and no where to the extend it does today. Tiger was operated on by specialist who treat just his area of the back.

its not a miracle Hogan healed and played again, it’s a miracle he lived.

[Golfjack]

Yeah, I agree with what you are saying. People keep saying life threatening accident! Actually his injuries weren't life threatening. He didn't have internal bleeding with damaged organs. He had blot clots later from the injuries, and that was more life threatening that his injuries from the accident. In fact the resulting surgery affected him much more than broken bones (which heal OK for athletic performance). If Hogan had hurt his back, to the extent that Tiger did, he would have been done for. Tech back then did not fix backs like they do now.

For an athlete of any sport, they would much rather have a broken arm or bone than a broken back, even in present time.

That said, I do think the greater comeback was Hogan. Tiger's may be technically more difficult but just not as dramatic and adjusted for medical technology, almost easier. Also his near death experience in the car crash I would also count as part of the comeback story. Tiger just hurt his back swinging without abandon throughout the years.

[doctormizuno]

Hogan

i can’t imagine the grit and fortitude it took Hogan to work his way back to the championship level

after being told he may never walk again. I’m not saying Woods comeback wasn’t worthy of

consideration, but Hogan was somewhat of a loner, which I think partly is the reason I vote Hogan.

[DrRob1963]

Ben Hogan!

Take it from a real life medico (and I worked 16 years in Emergency as well as a stint in ICU), Hogan's injuries from a high speed head-on with that Greyhound bus were potentially fatal. Mutiple fractures, incuding the pelvis and tibia, will cause severe exsanguination and that alone is potentially fatal. The accident occured at an isolated road site, with poor medical transfer support - it took Hogan 4 hours to reach hospital! I believe it was only Hogan's athletic condition that allowed him to survive. Then the next week, he suffered multiple pulmonary emboli which could not be medically controlled - this was in itself usually fatal in the 50s. The US Airforce flew a pioneer surgeon, Alton Ochsner, from the Mayo Clinic in an overnight mercy dash to Texas, who took Hogan to OT later that day. Associated Press already had his obituary written & ready to publish! Hogan survived. He not only survived, he went on to win six majors with few serious rivals on the course in the early 50s. Now that's a comeback!

[Ferguson]

 

 

With Hogan/Tiger it's about who you ask and when you asked them. Ask 100 people present day and 50 of them will say Tiger's "ordeal" was the "better" comeback. How does one rank a comeback? You can't. The GC show about Hogan, as with many TV productions, was made to tell a story and evoke emotions; but remember, they did this "with information provided." Very important - "information provided." The reason Tiger's "ordeal" stands out "more" is mainly due to the fact that we all witnessed it firsthand. We lived it it the media and in discussions with our friends at the club. Also, with Tiger there was and continues to be a definitive line in the sand in terms of like or hate. I think there are very few, if any, "Hogan haters."

 

 

 

 

[tannyhoban]

Some hate Hogan for never giving up his "secret", lol. I never saw him play, so accounts as you described are all I have to go on. You pretty much sum it up.

[Man_O_War]

his secret was....he was good. he perfected his swing..his secret was he could coordinate everything in his brain for his swing time and time again... how the hell does anyone teach that to someone... at this millisecond do this..that. There is no secret. there are secrets which Hogan himself probably didn't know