Tiger Woods may make an earlier than expected comeback after arthroscopic surgery, with rumours abounding that he would take part in next week’s Memorial, hosted by Jack Nicklaus.
Woods underwent surgery soon after April’s US Masters, where he finished second, and said he hoped to return to the PGA Tour in time for the US Open.
Although there has yet to be any solid confirmation, there are indications that he might turn up at Dublin, Ohio to meet with Jack, whose record of 18 major titles Tiger is chasing.
Nicklaus has always been a fan of Woods ever since the American-Thai won his first Masters in 1997. Woods has since compiled 13 major titles as he closes in on Jack’s record.
However, while Nicklaus has in the past compared Woods’ domination of modern golf to how the Golden Bear ruled in a previous era, he has rarely, if ever and as far as I’m aware, commented on who was/is the better player at their peak.
The subject was breached again in the Los Angeles Times, but it is still difficult gauge whether or not he feels he or Woods was superior. Said Nicklaus:
“The problem is it’s hard to compare eras. It’s a different game today, and a lot of guys from before, like even Hogan and Player, would have had a hard time today because of the distance you need to drive it. That’s just a fact of what the game is. I don’t know if we had as many good players, but the great players we had all were multiple major winners, so when I slipped up, there was somebody else on their ‘A’ game.â€
So, on one had, there were more multiple major champions for Nicklaus to beat and, on the other, the depth is much better in Woods’ time.
As Nicklaus says, it’s difficult to compare eras but if major tournaments are the yardstick, then Jack is still well ahead.
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