Faldo vs. Mickelson, who was better?

[grm24]

Not even close. VJ.

[smashdn]

VJ. While he has one less major and less overall professional wins, there was a season or two where he dominated, during the Tiger era.

 

But they are very, very close.

[cdnglf]

 

Agree they are very close. Both got to #1. Ernie was much better in the majors, with many more high finishes. Vijay has many more PGA Tour wins.

 

I think Rory is 2-3 years away from definitively passing them both.

[Smada962]

Vijay also played in MANY more events than Ernie, and racked up a lot of wins in events with lesser fields that didn't include Tiger or Ernie.

[JD3]

Faldo would have to change his game though if he were playing today. No way he'd get by with his gentle push fade off the tee. Like Phil he'd have to find a way to increase driving distance

[doublehans]

The whole what would a guy do in another era thing is sthg we'll never know. Ernie might have edged Phil if it was down to both playing persimmon/balata and Tiger might have even more wins if all his competitors had to play the older equipment (and maybe he wouldn't have working out so much and getting hurt). But those are all guesses. One thing I'd bet on tho is that if there's one guy that woulda figured out how to transition to a different era, it's Nick Faldo. He made one of the biggest swing overhauls we've seen a pro make. While most speculation is just fun talk, in his case there's an actual track record of being able to make big swing changes.

[brew4eagle]

I'd lean towards Els. 1 more major (and none of the 4 are PGAs), and more international victories. Vijay's 2004 makes it close though. (Edit- not sure Els is #3 though, just commenting on Els vs Singh)

[cdnglf]

 

Rory #5 and rising

Nick Price #6

 

[smashdn]

"No way he'd get by with his gentle push fade off the tee." Explain this to me. Not that I am trying to be argumentative, I just don't understand. Thanks.

[iBanesto]

A point of observation.

I just watched 32 yr old Faldo play with a 50 year old Nicklaus in the final round of the 1990 Masters.

Faldo was getting outdrived by 30-40 yards on the drives.

Not sure if it was the Bridgestone Professional Weapon driver Nicklaus was using, which was given to him by Jumbo Ozaki.

[Golfnutgalen]

Not as many as you would think. The official list says 626 vs 478, but that's mostly because Vijay played a ton of events well after his prime and he is now 57 vs Ernie being just 50. In fact they played in a similar number of events up to their age 45 season (Vijay 420, Ernie 408). Within those Vijay won 8% of his starts and Ernie 4.7%. Up to age 50 Ernie has won 19/482 starts (3.9%) and Vijay 34/536 (6.3%). If you were wondering why I added 4 to Ernie's total it's because the stats don't include the Open Championship up until 1995.

The point you made about lesser fields is legitimate though. By my count Vijay won 11 PGA Tour events with Tiger in the field and Ernie won 9. In comparison Phil won 15 which is also way lower than I expected. None of Ernie's 22 additional European tour wins had Tiger in the field either.

 

[Shilgy]

So the PGA , even though it has traditionally the best field of the majors, counts for less?

[DLBTide7]

Count me among those that place Els at #3 over VJ. I admit I might be biased due to the controversies in VJ’s career.

 

 

 

[brew4eagle]

PGA is the 4th major and it's not close, just my biases

[Lark]

The PGA is easily the least important of the majors. The victories don't count for less but winning any of the other three is more memorable for a career.

[iBanesto]

I personally don't believe the PGA Championship should have less weighting than the other majors.

Especially in comparing players for example, Vijay's 2 PGA wins is equal to Els' 2 US Open wins.

I'm sure Tiger desperately wanted to win the 1998 and 2004 PGA.

[bscinstnct]

 

But then again.... ; )

 

[Shilgy]

At this point Watson and Palmer might trade one of the others.

[Body_Visions]

Did you see Nicklaus hole the bunker shot on 7? Faldo was right by the hole, and never acknowledged the shot, nor Nicklaus?

 

That is the Faldo that was my hero!!!

[MUNIGRIT]

Speaking of Watson, I have heard from some caddies and comments by other players that Watsom is not that nice of a guy. Have you guys heard anything like that?

[Lark]

But not if it was their only one of those.

[Shilgy]

Yep, probably not. Funny though,it just occurred to me that for a guy like Justin Thomas the PGA would probably be right up with the others.

[iBanesto]

Blinkers on and play golf. That's it.

Maybe he was getting pissed off from being outdriven by a senior golfer.

[NoTalentLefty]

Give the edge to Mickelson . Better players in this time era. Though Faldo was no slouch nor his era, Tiger changed everything. My view is the real greats had great adversaries. The greats of the game since USA started dominating are Jones, Hogan, Nicklaus, and Tiger.

Each of these had to face a group of great golfers . Jones had Hagen, etc., Hogan had Nelson and Snead, Nicklaus had Palmer, Player, Casper, Trevino, Watson. Tiger had Phil and VJ and now he’s facing a bunch of talented golfers and now can compete against them .

There are gaps here where Nelson, Palmer, Watson, Norman, Ballestros, Faldo dominated but not like those four men.

[No_Catchy_Nickname]

I think he acknowledge it. I watched the Masters broadcast on youtube, and Nicklaus appears to be speaking to Faldo as he takes the ball from the hole.

[Schley]

Mickelson over Faldo

 

Els over Singh

[iBanesto]

 

[jordane]

Faldo

[MattyO1984]

I think I am still giving the edge to Faldo. Head to head battle over four days at The Open or The Masters with both of them playing their best - at some stage, Phil is going to do something stupid. Faldo would capitalise on that and like Ice Man beating Maverick, Faldo would do what he did to Norman so often and Phil would not be able to cope with it.

 

Now, if you were to ask me which of their careers I would rather - even with a major less, I think I am going for Phil based on longevity. Faldo was done by the time he was 40 and spent the next however long searching for it, never really threatening to find it. Phil was still winning as he approached 50.

[bodhi555]

If we were to go on pure natural talent, it would be Mickelson, as tbh, Faldo wasn't even the most naturally talented golfer of his generation - Sandy Lyle and Seve were both far more talented, but where Faldo made the difference was sheer hard work and determination.

 

But overall? I think Faldo just edges it, just for possibly the most successful swing re-engineering of all time - if we count golfers not called T Woods.

 

I'd probably be more likely to compare Mickelson to Seve if I'm honest - an absolute wizard at getting out of trouble, but that mostly comes about with how good they are at getting into it in the first place. I'd say Faldo was more of a VJ to be honest.