TIGER WOODS WINS 13th major........

[warhawk]

tiger woods wins 13th major.  he is only 31 years of age and is nearing jack nicklaus's record of 18 majors.  jack nicklaus was 22 when he won his 1st major & tiger was 21 when he won his 1st major.  jack was 46 when he won his 18th.  if tiger continues what he is doing, i think he will shatter nicklaus's record of 18 majors and definitely put him as best golfer in history.  so.... what r your thoughts on tiger woods? 

WARHAWK

[JDog]

I applaud Tiger Woods for his achievement in golf and putting the naysayers to sleep.

Does everyone know that Tiger Woods is Half Thai/Half African American.Quite an interesting mixture there.

Sadly Tigers dad passed last year.

[wpruitt]

tiger woods wins 13th major.  he is only 31 years of age and is nearing jack nicklaus's record of 18 majors.  jack nicklaus was 22 when he won his 1st major & tiger was 21 when he won his 1st major.  jack was 46 when he won his 18th.  if tiger continues what he is doing, i think he will shatter nicklaus's record of 18 majors and definitely put him as best golfer in history.  so.... what r your thoughts on tiger woods? 

WARHAWK

Tiger's great, but he is no Bobby Jones!  Bobby never turned professional (his law practice was to support his golf hobby) but played only as an amateur and retired from competition at age 28.  Between 1920 and 1928  he had 13 major wins and is still the only player ever to have won the Grand Slam, or all four major championships in the same year.  All that was done with clubs that were handmade; persimmon wood heads and hickory shafts.  The question has been raised:  What could Bobby have done with the technology Tiger has in his club design?

[warhawk]

wpruitt.... thanks 4 sharing the sports history in bobby jones.  i didn't know that until now.    however.... i guess u can say that about all the althetes back then if u gave them 2days technology.  thats the beauty of talking sports....we can debate all day.   

WARHAWK

[warhawk]

WOW!!!  i thought there were more sly sports fans out there.  i only got 2 responses.  i know that jdog & wpruitt r not the only sports fans here. 

WARHAWK

[Scott]

Hey Warhawk, I'm a huge sports fan, just not that much into golf or auto racing.  I'm mainly in to baseball, hoops (college - gotta support the BIG BLUE NATION), football (mostly college, sometimes NFL), and tennis.  That being said, I gotta give Tiger his props for being one of the elite athletes of our time.

[Tyler]

I played golf this weekend and it reminded me how difficult it is to be as good as those guys, mostly due to consistency.  That's what makes it so amazing.   

[JDog]

Yeah almost anyone who plays or has played golf can have at least 1 or 2 great games,but shooting great games consistently and for over 10 years is quite a feat.

[Johnny]

I agree somewhat in regards to technology. At the PGA Championship, look at Woody Austin and compare to Tiger. Woody isn't a long ball player, but he was mostly consistent. Keeping his ball in play and out of trouble most of the time. Tiger knows that his driver is the weekest club in the bag. When its on, it goes very long, but most of the time its off. I lost count the numbers of times Tiger teed off with a 2 iron. His 2 iron yardage this past weekend was anywhere from 265 to over 300 yards. I guarantee most guys on the tour can't get a 2 iron to go that far. He is that strong.

You can't compare golf back in the day, with golf present. Thats apple to oranges. I do agree that technology has changed the game, but they changed the courses as well to make them more difficult.

I see Tiger beating the record of 18 Majors in the next 3-4 years. I also see Tiger retiring shortly after. I don't see him playing past 40 years of age.

[schro]

You can argue golf technology until you're blue in the face. However, the average score on a round of golf has not changed all that much. On tour, the biggest difference in technology has nothing to do with 460cc drivers, or shafts, or belly putters....it's the golf ball. The ability to decrease spin on the driver and increase spin on the wedge is phenomenal compared to what could be done only 10+ years ago. Why do you think golf ball mfgs are in opposition to the "tournament ball rule"?

As far as eras competing goes....I think the elites of any era could compete with each other. Jones vs. Woods...Hogan vs. Nicklaus .... Norman vs. Old Tom Morris...tough to say.

Regardless, I really think Eldrick is going to go down as the greatest of all time. Answer me this.... who's going to stop him?

[Johnny]

Great question Schro. There is no one on tour right now that can consistently give him a run.

[wpruitt]

Schro:  I'm going to semi - disagree with you.  One think that has hampered the Master's in recent years is the length of the course.  Today it is a short and narrower course; it was not in the 1930's.  Technology ("metal woods", stronger alloys) and newer grasses have contributed to this.  It is landlocked and cannot be expanded (along with loss of the original design).  The result has been hauling in fully grown trees, strategic placement of hills, etc.  All this is done while maintaining the original design of the course.  

I think these changes have not greatly effected the average golfer.  For Tiger, Bobby Jones ... yes they would make a difference.  I read where X-rays were made of Bobby's driver.  It was determined to be the most perfect, flawless wood ever used in a club. It had a number of different shafts over the years; Jones had a fierce temper and would frequently snap shafts in a fit of anger (and I learned this from Jones' grandson); once causing him to be banned from tourney play.  

Because we can have Bobby and Tiger compete under equal circumstances, the answer will never be known

And I still say Bobby will be the greatest golfer of all time; he was not a pro however.  He never gave up his amateur status and only played a portion of each year.  Watch the James Caviezel film "Bobby Jones, Stroke of Genius".  While a box-office bomb (due to limited audience appeal I think), it gives an excellent portrayal of Jones the golfer.  It was filmed at the old Atlanta golf courses; Capital City, Eastlake (where Jones learned to play), Bobby Jones, and Druid Hills.  The only other course used was Old Course at St, Andrews.    

[Tyler]

I agree somewhat in regards to technology. At the PGA Championship, look at Woody Austin and compare to Tiger. Woody isn't a long ball player, but he was mostly consistent. Keeping his ball in play and out of trouble most of the time. Tiger knows that his driver is the weekest club in the bag. When its on, it goes very long, but most of the time its off. I lost count the numbers of times Tiger teed off with a 2 iron. His 2 iron yardage this past weekend was anywhere from 265 to over 300 yards. I guarantee most guys on the tour can't get a 2 iron to go that far. He is that strong.

You can't compare golf back in the day, with golf present. Thats apple to oranges. I do agree that technology has changed the game, but they changed the courses as well to make them more difficult.

I see Tiger beating the record of 18 Majors in the next 3-4 years. I also see Tiger retiring shortly after. I don't see him playing past 40 years of age.

I'm glad to hear that Tiger tees off with a 2 iron quite often.  I find that I don't have as much control with my driver, so I tend to use my 3 iron.  This weekend I was hitting it 200 yards and straight on a consistent basis when off the tee.  I'm looking forward to trying out a hybrid to see how I like that.

[schro]

True Bill, we'll never know who was the greatest. I still maintain that the golf ball is the greatest improvement in golf equipment.

[Johnny]

I agree somewhat in regards to technology. At the PGA Championship, look at Woody Austin and compare to Tiger. Woody isn't a long ball player, but he was mostly consistent. Keeping his ball in play and out of trouble most of the time. Tiger knows that his driver is the weekest club in the bag. When its on, it goes very long, but most of the time its off. I lost count the numbers of times Tiger teed off with a 2 iron. His 2 iron yardage this past weekend was anywhere from 265 to over 300 yards. I guarantee most guys on the tour can't get a 2 iron to go that far. He is that strong.

You can't compare golf back in the day, with golf present. Thats apple to oranges. I do agree that technology has changed the game, but they changed the courses as well to make them more difficult.

I see Tiger beating the record of 18 Majors in the next 3-4 years. I also see Tiger retiring shortly after. I don't see him playing past 40 years of age.

I'm glad to hear that Tiger tees off with a 2 iron quite often.  I find that I don't have as much control with my driver, so I tend to use my 3 iron.  This weekend I was hitting it 200 yards and straight on a consistent basis when off the tee.  I'm looking forward to trying out a hybrid to see how I like that.

I've taken my 3 iron out of my bag and replaced it with a Hogan 3 Hybrid. It's my 170-200 club depending if I swing easy or get after it. I love it so much, I'm going to get a 2 Hybrid for those 220-240 shots. My 3 wood is coming out of my bag.