Scottie & Tiger Comparisons

[Golfnutgalen]

35 minutes ago, J_Tizzle said:

I think Tiger was just on another level and its way too early to to compare because Scottie needs to keep it going for years and years.

 

I think the better question is - what are the best non-Tiger stretches we've seen over the past 15ish years?  I pick the past 15-20 years because thats since Tiger came on and made golf more athletic and now they're all doing it.

 

I'd think Scottie's current stretch would show up fairly high, especially since the tour is more deep (I guess unless you take into account the people leaving for LIV).  Rory, JT, Speith, Brooks, Rahm have all had really good runs, but I'd think Scottie's would be near the top of that stretch, especially given what he's winning and how much he's winning by.

 

The thing about Scottie is the consistency week in week out, no one else has done that outside of Tiger. And even Tiger didn't do it every single year. In that category what Scottie is doing is similar to Woods in 1999-2003 or 2005-2009. In other words his absolute peak. 

 

But in terms of simply great golf stretches? Obviously Rory from 2011-2014, Jordan 2015-2017, and Rahm 2020-2023. Maybe DJ 2018-2020 as well.

 

Who was the most consistent in those stretches? Probably Rahm or DJ. 

 

Go a little outside that window and the closest thing to Scottie sans Tiger was Vijay circa 2003-2005. Unfortunately Vijay slowed down after that, but still played great golf until 2008 when he was 45 years old. Vijay wasn't as consistent as Scottie (almost no one is), but his win rate was remarkable. 17 wins in a 3 year stretch.

Edited April 22 by Golfnutgalen

[Ferguson]

1 hour ago, me05501 said:

Say Scheffler goes on to have a dominant season and sets a new record for earnings. Will there be an asterisk by his accomplishment related to the bifurcation of the sport? 

 

Something for sports writers to argue about I suppose. 

 

Yes. ***********************

 

IMO Scheffler is not being competitively judged or tested against a true right-sized market of professional peers. 

[ac6]

2 hours ago, mosesgolf said:

Very premature.  Scotty has had a great year.  VJ had a great 2004.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiger_Woods

 

Tiger had a lot of great years.  

 

That's the feeling I've had, that this reminds me of Vijay's 9-win '04. Imagine what he would have done in that stretch without Tiger around. An all-time great ball striker with a history of putting struggles, who has figured out how to get it in the hole, is pretty unbeatable at his best. It'll be a Tiger comparison if Scottie can (1) do it for the entire season and (2) do it again next season. 

[Pepperturbo]

They do NOT compare, different men, very different motives and skill levels.  

[stinger_gc]

3 minutes ago, Golfnutgalen said:

 

The thing about Scottie is the consistency week in week out, no one else has done that outside of Tiger. And even Tiger didn't do it every single year. In that category Scottie is doing is similar to Woods in 1999-2003 or 2005-2009. In other words his absolute peak. 

 

But in terms of wins while ignoring other finishes? Obviously Rory from 2011-2014, Jordan 2015-2017, and Rahm 2020-2023. Maybe DJ 2018-2020 as well. Go a little outside that and the obvious choice is Vijay 2003-2005 and even Phil for a brief period 2004-2006.

Outside of Vijay, none of them had this many wins or the same win %. 

[Ty_Webb]

37 minutes ago, Golfnutgalen said:

Go a little outside that window and the closest thing to Scottie sans Tiger was Vijay circa 2003-2005. Unfortunately Vijay slowed down after that, but still played great golf until 2008 when he was 45 years old. Vijay wasn't as consistent as Scottie (almost no one is), but his win rate was remarkable. 17 wins in a 3 year stretch.

 

One thing to remember is that Vijay played a ridiculous number of tournaments back then. He was playing 30 odd events per year, where Tiger was around 20 or so. 17 wins in 3 years is still absolutely insane, but a few of those were fairly minor events. Tiger's 1999-2002 stretch he was winning majors, WGCs and other relatively big events (Bay Hill, Torrey, etc.).

 

I do remember Tiger's approach play being insanely good. That was probably his biggest advantage over the rest of them. Scottie's right now at 1.347 for approach. That's ridiculously good and quite probably hasn't been bettered by anyone not named Tiger. (I stand corrected - Adam Scott in 2016 was 1.491). Tiger's was better in 2013, 2009, 2007, and 2006 (it was 2.072 that year). I suspect that 2002, 2000, and 1999 would have been better too if strokes gained was tracked then. 2000 it must have been off the charts. 

 

Scottie is undoubtedly having an incredibly strong period of play. It will be very interesting to see how he keeps that going over the next few years. If he can maintain it (child will make that more difficult), then good for him and good for us. 

[Jolter]

Apples and oranges. Scottie is on a good run but nothing lasts forever.

[Golfnutgalen]

Just now, stinger_gc said:

Outside of Vijay, none of them had this many wins or the same win %. 

It depends on how you look at it.

 

Scottie has 10/58 wins in the past 3 seasons. That sounds absurd but it's been done before. DJ was 13/62 for example and I think that's the best one outside of Tiger and Vijay pure numbers wise.

 

But I wasn't trying say those were better just that they were really good runs. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[kiawah]

I know Tiger is the gold standard. I know Scottie is playing some absolutely fantastic golf. I know it's human nature to want to compare things.

But Scottie has a long way to go before this comparison holds water. Is this stretch of golf Tiger-esque? Yes. In a few majors we can have this conversation. Until (more like IF) Scottie catches Brooks and/or Rory, he does not deserve Tiger comparisons. 

 

Also, I'm NOT a LIV homer. I think Talor Gooch is a clown. But there is truth to the idea that Scottie might have lost a couple of events if Brooks, Rahm, DJ, and co. were in the field week-to-week. Not trying to minimize Scottie's great run, but I think it could look different. Just food for thought.

Edited April 22 by kiawah

[straightshot7]

Scottie doesn't even have half as many Majors as Brooks (2 vs. 5).

 

If you want to talk Strokes Gained Records in a short span, okay.

 

But in terms of career accomplishments, Scottie is not even Top 50 all time in wins.

 

Pump the brakes. 

Curtis Strange has 17 wins. Scottie 10. 

[alittleoverpar]

Like most who have commented, I believe it's too early to begin comparing them, although it is inevitable that it will happen.  Consistency and longevity are the key for Scottie.  Let's review this thread in a year and see where he is.  It will be interesting as I think he has the physical and mental game to dominate.  Whether or not he can dominate like Tiger remains to be seen.  It's easy to forget how good Tiger was year in and year out.  All records are made to be broken.  I don't know if Scottie is the guy to do it or not, but it will be an interesting ride!

 

[cdnglf]

Scottie now at 15 average owgr points. Rory #2 at just under half that, 7.4.

 

I’m not saying Scottie = Tiger, but I’m pretty sure Tiger is the only other guy who has had such an enormous lead.

[Glock917]

Scottie just won his 10th title in actually a shorter time than Tiger won his 10th title.

 

However .... Tiger won his next 10 titles in 18 starts!! LOL

 

Much more excellency Scottie needs to achieve to be in the same breath tbh. 

[redfirebird08]

The next step for Scheffler is to win official events outside the January to April time period. Pretty wild to win 10 times in 2.5 seasons and all of them happened before May. We know he has the game to win other events on the calendar, but he has to live up to his potential. 
 

The other big thing coming up is fatherhood. Scheffler’s game is razor sharp at the moment, especially his iron game and chipping. I am curious to see if the parental duties will impact his game. It does not take much to go from winning to finishing 2nd or 3rd. Very thin margins in pro golf. 

[80sFredriksson]

Many big talents are not on this tour anymore, would he have won 4/5 with the LIV players still here, maybe/ maybe not 🤔

[J-Blade]

If the context is dominance, the ultimate is still, in my opinion, Byron Nelson; 11 consecutive wins on tour against guys like Hogan and Snead. 

[Hawkeye77]

Tiger has one “T” in his first name. 

[Ferguson]

The only thing more alarming than comparisons to Tiger is when you sign into WRX and mistype your password and you get the red screen. 

 

For a moment you stop and think, "did they lock me out, did I post something inappropriate, no warning?"

 

 

 

 

 

[bscinstnct]

2 minutes ago, 80sFredriksson said:

Many big talents are not on this tour anymore, would he have won 4/5 with the LIV players still here, maybe/ maybe not 🤔

 

None of them came within eight shots of him at Augusta ; )

 

[jonsnow]

9 minutes ago, Hawkeye77 said:

Tiger has one “T” in his first name. 

Eldrick?

[80sFredriksson]

9 minutes ago, bscinstnct said:

 

None of them came within eight shots of him at Augusta ; )

 

Well that is one event, not facing them in all 4, and they probably wouldn’t have been as bad if LIV never happened, fact of the matter is still that a big part of the pool of players that can challenge for wins have left

Edited April 22 by 80sFredriksson

[tiderider]

no one's going to pay attention to an asterisk by anything because liv golfers aren't playing ... 

 

get out of here with that ... 

 

[jonsnow]

14 minutes ago, Ferguson said:

The only thing more alarming than comparisons to Tiger is when you sign into WRX and mistype your password and you get the red screen. 

 

For a moment you stop and think, "did they lock me out, did I post something inappropriate, no warning?"

 

 

 

 

 

If you have to ask, the answer is "yes". The answer is always "yes"...

 

Just ask our friend ChipStrokes. I miss him, he hasn't been on here since August 2023.

 

Edited April 22 by jonsnow

[FootWedge16]

3 hours ago, me05501 said:

Say Scheffler goes on to have a dominant season and sets a new record for earnings. Will there be an asterisk by his accomplishment related to the bifurcation of the sport? 

 

Something for sports writers to argue about I suppose. 

 

Today's fields are light years more talented than late 90s early 2000s fields, with or without LIV defectors. 

[jonsnow]

2 minutes ago, FootWedge16 said:

 

Today's fields are light years more talented than late 90s early 2000s fields, with or without LIV defectors. 

They are also more prone to inexplicable periods of poor play, see Justin Thomas & Jordan Spieth. More talented, maybe; more fragile, definitely...

[Ferguson]

3 minutes ago, jonsnow said:

If you have to ask, the answer is "yes". The answer is always "yes"...

 

 

 

Your post brings back warm memories. 

 

That was Grandmother Ferguson's one and only saying.  God rest her soul.   

 

 

 

[bscinstnct]

12 minutes ago, FootWedge16 said:

 

Today's fields are light years more talented than late 90s early 2000s fields, with or without LIV defectors. 

 

44 year old back fused, no knee, Tiger disagrees 🤣

 

Edited April 22 by bscinstnct

[Golfnutgalen]

6 minutes ago, Ty_Webb said:

 

One thing to remember is that Vijay played a ridiculous number of tournaments back then. He was playing 30 odd events per year, where Tiger was around 20 or so. 17 wins in 3 years is still absolutely insane, but a few of those were fairly minor events. Tiger's 1999-2002 stretch he was winning majors, WGCs and other relatively big events (Bay Hill, Torrey, etc.).

 

 

 

He did play a lot. But in some ways that makes it more impressive, to show up and try to win no matter what. Brooks for example says he can't concentrate on smaller events because he doesn't care enough, but he is also a weirdo. 

 

In that span in 2004 late in the year Vijay won the Buick Open, the PGA Championship, and Duetsche Bank with TW in the field (Woods went T3, T24, T2). That was when he took over the #1 world ranking. There was one more event in that stretch and Tiger did play better in that one: T2 at Firestone to Vijay's T32. But then again Tiger could play there in his sleep.

 

In terms of winning a bunch of big events I think Rory and DJ are the best choices outside of the obvious Koepka. Dustin winning 6 WGCs flies under the radar. 

[me05501]

18 minutes ago, FootWedge16 said:

 

Today's fields are light years more talented than late 90s early 2000s fields, with or without LIV defectors. 

Is this opinion backed by any data? Scoring average, strokes gained, etc? 

[redfirebird08]

6 minutes ago, bscinstnct said:

 

44 year old back fused, no knee, Tiger disagrees 🤣

 

How about Mickelson? Won a major against these kids at age 50+ and darn near won another one at age 52-53 last year. Phil’s ability to be competitive in old age is very impressive. It also gives perspective on just how good prime Tiger was to completely overshadow Mickelson’s prime years.