Deciding who is the best requires our use of commonalities. Comparing Bobby Jones to Jack Nicklaus to Tiger Woods to Scottie Scheffler has some obvious hurdles\u2026 time, for one. However, I believe fair comparisons are possible, not by eliminating the hurdles, but rather, including the same hurdles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Golf is an individual sport. Reliance on self is at a premium. Distractions are hurdles that draw priority away from the self. Therefore, if we are judging the \u201cBest\u201d, then identifying the commonality qualifies legends with or without, regardless of time, over time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Who was the best? Okay, what are the conditions, in each golfer\u2019s life, that we are using as a basis for comparison? I think it would fair to subdivide the discussion under a combination of conditions. However, the two conditions that struck me today and, that each of the greatest golfers experienced are, married with children – where family concerns were the focus rather than playing golf and setting records. Of those conditions, and because Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, and maybe Arnold Palmer, never had a \u2018unfamilied\u2019 tour win, the only commonality is with<\/em> family. Fatherhood<\/em> is the commonality as qualifier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jack Nicklaus is the greatest\u2026 no close second. His family priority dominated his life from the tender age of 22. Can you even imagine that? Absolutely unbelievable! Everything outside of his amateur career happened as a father. Jack won seventy-three PGA Tour titles and 18 majors as a father. I believe Mr. Nicklaus\u2019 resume will NEVER be equaled. Put that prediction in your books.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gary Player comes in second. Like Nicklaus, Mr. Player\u2019s family priority dominated his life from the tender age of 22. And again\u2026 unbelievable! All but a few titles, outside of his amateur career, happened as a father. Mr. Player won his 159 worldwide titles, including twenty-four PGA Tour titles and nine majors, after his first was born. His worldwide professional record will never be broken. And you can write that down, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Arnold Palmer is third. Mr. Palmer got married early and his first child was born in 1956. And again, nearly all his professional wins occurred after he and Winnie had started a family. He won sixty-two PGA Tour titles, including seven majors – only a few of which may<\/em> have preceded family priorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tom Watson comes in a close fourth. Tom\u2019s family priority dominated his life from the tender age of 23. Everything outside of his amateur career happened as a father. All thirty-nine PGA Tour Titles, including eight majors, happened after his first child was born.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Phil and Amy Mickleson didn\u2019t have a child until 1999\u2026 and Phil\u2019s family priority began. Before his first was born, he won thirteen times with no majors victories. Beginning after the birth of his first child, he won thirty-two times with six majors titles. By the family standard, Phil was not as accomplished as Jack and Gary, but good enough to be in the top five.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bobby Jones won six of seven professional majors and five more amateur majors after his first was born. Remember, however, there was no Masters or PGA Championships, which could have doubled Jones\u2019 total. There again, there was no standard before Mr. Jones began achieving, so there were fewer records to break. Moreover, he retired after little more than a decade in major championship golf – pro and am.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Honorable mention: Sam Snead won 143 professional tournaments and seven majors. However, due to incomplete information about Mr. Snead\u2019s oldest child, we cannot compare his harvest. However, if his first was born prior to 1940 (28 years old) he would have 65 PGA Tour wins, including seven majors. Those numbers would rank him here at T-3 with Arnie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tiger was the best \u2018unfamilied\u2019 golfer – mostly because Jack, Gary, Arnold, and Tom were essentially never unfamilied. Tiger\u2019s family priority dominated his life from 2007 on. After his first was born, he won twenty-five times with three majors victories. He would still be in the top-25, just behind Raymond Floyd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thus, deciding who is the best requires our use of commonalities. Food for thought, anyway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n John Wright – Founder No Causal Link Between Muscularity and Winning in Golf<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Open Stance Academy<\/p>\n\n\n\n