Today\u2019s professional golfers are incredible athletes, but can they really be compared to golf\u2019s greatest players from years past?<\/p>\n
Consider Jordan Spieth\u2019s amazing win at the 2015 Masters this year; it certainly had everyone talking, including Tiger Woods. When asked what he thought about the 21-year-old\u2019s final score during the year\u2019s first major tournament, Woods stated, \u201cWith the length of the golf course, I didn\u2019t think that people would be getting that low, but they kept it soft all week.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n Withholding a blunt response, Woods was basically saying the course Spieth won on this year didn\u2019t hold a candle to the Augusta National of 1997. Such a statement makes sense, considering that Woods\u2019 first Masters win by 18-under in 1997 eclipsed the closest player, Tom Kite, by a whopping 12 strokes. Not only that, but only 16 golfers shot under par during the \u201997 Masters.<\/p>\n Compare that to the 32 players including Spieth that beat par at Augusta this year, and the four-time Masters champion underhandedly makes a great point: his win was tougher.<\/p>\n And what about today\u2019s No. 1 ranked golfer, Rory McIlroy? Sure, he made headlines for driving the green at 436 yards during the 2014 Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open, a distance that seemed to demolish Arnold Palmer\u2019s famous 346-yard drive at the 1960 U.S. Open. But one has to keep in mind that Arnie nailed his golf ball with a persimmon driver, a far cry from the revolutionary Nike Vapor Pro driver<\/a> Rory uses on Tour.<\/p>\n A lot has changed since the time players like Bobby Jones and Walter Hagen graced America\u2019s golf courses of the 1920s. So how do today\u2019s best golfers really stack up against golf legends of the past?<\/p>\n A League of Their Own<\/strong><\/p>\n It would be easy to make the argument that Tiger Woods is the greatest golfer to ever play the game. He\u2019s the winner of 79 official PGA Tour events, 14 majors, and the only player to win all four major championships in a row \u2013 ever. But how does he stand up against a player like Jack Nicklaus, who holds the record for major tournament wins at 18, a number that Tiger has found elusive late in his career?<\/p>\n There\u2019s no doubt that each one of Tiger\u2019s 14 major wins are incredible accomplishments in themselves, but the Golden Bear won his titles from the early 1960s to the mid-1980s, a time where personal swing instructors, golf technology, and course conditions were sub-par compared to today\u2019s professional golf environment. Couple his longstanding majors record with his career 73 PGA Tour wins \u2013 just 6 shy of Tiger\u2019s \u2013 and one could also easily make the case that Nicklaus surpasses Woods in golf supremacy.<\/p>\n A Different World<\/strong><\/p>\n We could just stop at the Nicklaus-Woods comparison, but let\u2019s face it: professional golf today is nothing like it was during the early to mid-20th<\/sup> century. Billy Casper was one of the most prolific winners of PGA Tour events of his time, holding a career 51 PGA Tour events to his name spanning from 1956 to 1975. Casper was also the second professional golfer to ever break $1 million in career earnings on the PGA Tour, and it took him 14 long years to do it.<\/p>\n Phil Mickelson \u2013 one of today\u2019s most renowned pro golfers \u2013 also has something in common with Casper: he\u2019s the closest active player in contention to beat Casper\u2019s 51-win record (6 other pro golfers have already surpassed it). The 44-year-old Mickelson currently stands at 42 PGA Tour victories, but his competitive window grows smaller as the years drag on. By comparison, Casper nailed his 51st<\/sup> win a little over a month before his 44th<\/sup> birthday.<\/p>\n