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Quick contest. Winner gets some mojo from all who guess wrong

Well not wrong because it is an opinion.

Trevino, Nicklaus, Faldo, Price, Azinger, Floyd all say he was the best. And most importantly I do as well and I am never wrong!!!

brianf

is it a guy called moe norman,not sure if i,ve got name right

That didn't take long. Well I'll give you some Mojo.

brianf

Your question is a bit misleading. While I have no doubt those players did indeed mention Norman, Nicklaus claimed in print it was Ben Hogan and Price says it was Trevino.

My first guess would have been Norman as well, but then I remembered the Hogan quote and it got me to thinking.

I'm talking strictly ball striking. Accuracy. Moe was a guy who could put lots of great single rounds together. He holds more than 30 course records. He just did not have the ability to be out on his own on tour.

He was fine on the Canadian Tour because all the canadian pros watched out for him. Guys like Gary Mauie, Al Balding, George Knudsen etc. helped him out. He won all the time. But take him away from the Toronto area and he was a different guy.

I had the privilage of spending 1978 through 82 or 83 getting to play with him as well as learn from him. Then again in the period from about 88 through 93 or 94.

During this period I played all my golf at Glen Abbey and as (at that time) such a great golf course attracted all the good amateurs. Canada's greatest amateur Nick Weslock who also played their a fair bit and was Moe's best friend had Moe helping us all out. There were about 10 of us their who played ameatuer golf. Because of Nick, Moe would play with us. He was a very shy, somewhat aloof very paranoid guy.

Any of the urban ledgends you all may have heard about him were not legends, they were true.

It would be the usual for us to warm up on the range before a round and Moe would be hitting lets say 4 irons to a green. We would ask him to hit some drives or wedges and he would say just 4 irons today just 4 irons.

As we would come down the 9th fairway (Those who don't know Glen Abbey the range is stuck between 9 and 18) the practice green that was 4 iron distance was covered in balls and these were tiny little practice greens. As we came down 18, balls would now be bouncing of each other because the green was covered. we would race over to hit some balls and try to get Moe to help us after we putted out on 18 and he would not have moved in 5 hours and his piece of used turf would not be 2 feet square.


What a shame nothing more came of this great golfer.

brianf

I was no more than 5 feet away from Nick Price when Moe was putting on a bit of a show for the pros at Glen Abbey at a Canadian Open. Nick said something along the line of no one has ever hit the ball that well.

Nick actually became a friend of Moe.

Also the gentleman who was the President of Glen Abbey at that time A.R. (Bob) Swanson who was responsible for getting a strong under 25 year old program at the club, his son David and I were best friends. Jack Nicklaus would usually stay at his home during the open. They would always have a couple of us over to meet with Jack. Believe me Jack though Moe was the best too. He would then add I'm pretty good too.


brianf

I wonder if Moe Norman's caddy only had to move 5 feet to shag golf balls? What did Moe Norman(or Larry or Curley Norman for that matter!) ever win? I don't hear stories of pros watching Moe Norman practice! Hogan was the best.

You guys are all wrong, it was and is Tiger Woods without question.

BWAH, ha ha ha. You mean the guy that just blasts it wherever and then hits it from there? Woods is a great scorer, and does things that no one else can, but he is FAR from the best ball striker. How many rounds does Woods hit 18 greens and 14 fairways?

Please learn some history before posting stuff like this. Just because Woods is the best now, doesn't mean he is the best ever.

All I've heard my whole life is how great a ball-striker Tom Watson was and is. Why no mentions?

Tom Watson was a great golfer/scorer ... not ball striker. Though his irons were pretty good especially into the wind.
The term ' Watson par ' came about because he hit it everywhere but then scrambled for his par.

Johnny Miller would have to be considered on the of the best ball strikers ever ... that guy could get on a major role.

From what I've read of him, putting was his downfall. Bad putters do not win tournaments against the best. He may have also had a mild form of autism or some other malady, from some reports, which may have held him back.

Agreed with what was said earlier. Tiger is a great short iron player but his ball striking is very inconsistent with the long clubs. He forces rescue shots not many others can pull off - which itself is great.

I think the term "ball striking" can by used synonymously with consistency.

I don't know who the best ever ball striker is/was, but I know it isn't Tiger Woods. He may be the greatest all-around golfer to ever play the game, but he is just as others described him...crush it long and deal with the consequences. I think that's been his problem of late in majors... it's a lot harder to make par or save par when you're trying to hit out of rough that's 8 inches deep. The majors penalize you big time for missing fairways and greens. Everyone knows he can hit it a ton, but in majors he should be more concerned with fairways and accuracy off the tee. I think that's the key to majors and if Tiger goes back to that, I think he'll pull down a few more majors relatively quick.

Texas Wedge

I heard from many different sources that Price was.