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I was just giving this a little thought...everyone knows Jack Nicklaus is the greatest golfer ever. Anyone trying to argue that right now is off their rocker. But I believe a compelling case can be made for Tiger Woods as the 2nd greatest of all time ALREADY.

Most Pro Majors Won

Jack Nicklaus-18
Tiger Woods-11
Walter Hagen-11
Ben Hogan-9
Gary Player-9
Tom Watson-8

Most Pro+Amateur Majors Won

Jack Nicklaus-20
Tiger Woods-14
Bobby Jones-13
Walter Hagen-11
Ben Hogan-9
Gary Player-9
Tom Watson-8
Arnold Palmer-8

Most PGA Tour titles won

Sam Snead-81
Jack Nicklaus-73
Ben Hogan-64
Arnold Palmer-62
Byron Nelson-52
Billy Casper-51
Tiger Woods-49

Tiger currently stands T2 in pro majors won, 2nd alone in pro+amateur majors won, and 7th in career PGA Tour wins. He had arguably the second greatest amateur resume ever before he stepped foot on the PGA Tour, and he's had arguably the second best record as a pro, so I think one can say pretty convincingly that he should be right in the mix when one talks about the "greatest other than Jack."

First, those who come close but don't quite make it. Hagen was great, but I doubt you could make a case for him as the greatest player of his era even, with Jones and Sarazen (to a slight extent) stealing quite a bit of the limelight from him there. Snead played well on the PGA Tour for a long time, but his lack of a US Open and a mere (tell that to Mickelson, Els, or Singh, right? ) 7 majors won put him behind the career Slam winners Hogan, Woods and Player. Gary Player had a great career...but I'd say he comes up slightly short here. Arnie overshadowed him at the beginning of his career, and Jack at the end...I just can't see a guy who was the 2nd best player of two eras (albeit one short one, and one long one) being the 2nd greatest ever. Watson and Arnie...short stints as the best in their games...just not quite enough over their careers to follow right behind Jack.

Which brings us to the three challengers, IMO. Longevity may be an issue...Tiger has only played 10 years. Bobby Jones was handicapped by a similar lack of playing time in collecting his 13 majors. Ben Hogan missed a few years due to service in WWII and his auto accident, and played sparingly after his accident. I believe those three have the strongest case in the argument, and ironically all three have to deal with that issue in their defense, although for different reasons obviously.

Hogan has the most PGA Tour titles, although he falls 2 behind Tiger in pro majors, and 4 and 5 behind Jones and Tiger in overall majors. However, one might say he had to deal with stronger rivals...Nelson and Snead were both at the top of their games during his reign, although Hagen and Sarazen were strong during Jones' tenure, and Els, Mickelson and Singh might turn out to be a strong trio with 12 majors or more between them before they're through to challenge Tiger. However, I have to go back to the pure numbers of majors...Tiger tops Hogan in pro majors, and Jones in terms of overall majors...that's why I believe Tiger is already the second greatest player in history.

1. Jack Nicklaus
2. Tiger Woods
3. Bobby Jones
4. Ben Hogan
5. Gary Player
6. Walter Hagen
7. Arnold Palmer
8. Tom Watson

Thoughts anyone?

Since we don't know how long Tiger will play, it's tough to compare his ongoing, changing career totals against those whose careers are finished and have finite numbers.

Anybody have stats comparing the greats at 30 years old? Or at the same point in their PGA careers? I think that would be more telling as to who is the greatest.

You could find them by going through old stats...for instance, Ben Hogan would have no majors at age 30, Bobby Jones would have all of his stats intact, you'd have to include guys like Seve and Watson in the mix...but really, no one sans perhaps Jones would stand up. To me, the "greatest" label entails an entire career, while "best" can cover a shorter period of time. Tiger could well be the best ever, but not the greatest ever, if that makes sense. Basically, if Tiger ended his career today, where would he rank in the pantheon of the alltime greats? I believe, after today, the answer would be: 2nd. Perhaps I'll add a poll to this one.

if he plays the tour until he is 50 i believe that he will be the greatest to ever play this game but as it stands now it is hard to tell, but after seeing the stats with the majors and amateurs and tour events i think he is the second best right now.

I'd still give Hogan the slight edge. In addition to WWII & his accident, he only played in 1 British Open, which he won. Inconsistent, Tiger is easily the best at 30, Jones just didn't face the same quality of competition, IMO.

Fair enough...what do you think it will take for Tiger to pass him up? Passing him in PGA Tour wins, two more majors? I believe the margin between guys 2, 3 and 4 on my personal list is razor thin...really, you could interchange them and not really have a big squabble on your hands. I thought Tiger's two more majors and the 3 US Ams. did enough to scoot him past Hogan and his 15 extra PGA Tour wins, was all.

Tiger will be the greatest player of all time as long as he keeps playing, I think he will win more than 18 majors easily.

Hard to quantify. It's all speculation. How many more Opens would Ben have won had he played in them every year ? How many more majors & wins would Hogan have had if not for WWII & the accident ? Is it even fair to give Hogan a higher ranking because of time missed due to WWII & the accident ? If we discount WWII, the accident and Hogan playing only 1 Open, then Tiger has already passed him. If we give all of those factors their full weight, I'd say he'd need a couple more Majors and about 70 wins. A fair assessment is probably somewhere in between.

I think partly, you have to remember that Hogan didn't win a major until after WWII, when he was in his 30s. It's hard to say what he would have accomplished during that time. However, he won 9 of the 16 majors he played right after that first one he won (1946 PGA), so if he coulda gotten that rolling earlier, who knows how many he could have won?

there can be arguments for cases of many of the all time greats, but i have to give tiger the nod on this one, greatness i used way too much and as stlcard said , it should be over an entire career. it kills me to here announcers call college kids or a pro in any sport that's been playing for 3 or 4 years great. also, a point that's been left out here that has nothing to do with wins is the ability for tiger to make fantastic shots, ones that most players in their right mind wouldn't think about attempting, much less pull it off. tigers' number two in my book for now but approaching number one very fast.

When Tiger wins his 19th major, would that make him the greatest of all time? I am not so sure: Jack broke the previous record of 11, and then went into uncharted territory by winning 6 more. Tiger has had the 18+ goal in front of him for most of his life. IMO he needs to do better than 19 to surpass Jack as the greatest, 25-30 range perhaps...

True. Hogan still is better than Tiger at this point.

Bobby Jones also retired at a real early age as well, so that should be considered also.

I'd think if Tiger reaches 19 in less time than it took Jack to win 18, and also has the win total to boot, he'll be widely considered the best ever. I believe he's already ahead of schedule, and his ability to adjust his game to the competition and the courses is just adding to the legend.

Not to mention teachers next to him this whole time (such as Harmon Haney and whoever else). People always forget that the Legends never had teachers and did it by themselves.

His majors total must be a number that means something in relation to golf. Like Jack's 18 majors: 18 holes. Maybe he'll go to 23 majors, Steve Williams favourite number....