PGATour.com has a couple of articles where they show the golf world's opinions of Tiger when he first came on Tour, and their opinions of him now after 10 years.
“I said that he’d win 50 tournaments and 12 majors, and I'm sure when I said it several weeks ago people thought I was nuts. I didn't know he was going to win two out of seven events. But I knew from watching him if he played a normal tournament he could win. He's one of the few golfers where he actually could have a mediocre round and still win. Nicklaus used to do that. There's only a couple of players in the modern era that I could honestly say that could have a so-so game and still win the golf tournament. He's got the capability, with his distance and technique, to blow fields away. He hasn't really done it yet, but he will do it when he gets really on where he's on peak performance at his personal best. It's going to be a pretty awesome future. He could be the greatest player there ever was. You have to think of the fields where you're not going to get 20 majors, and he's probably not going to win 60 tournaments, but he could win 50 and 12, which is probably good or better than Nicklaus' record.”
Well Johnny, a lot of folks thought you were nuts, but you were about dead-on for the first HALF of Tiger's career.
He could be the greatest player there ever was. You have to think of the fields where you're not going to get 20 majors, and he's probably not going to win 60 tournaments, but he could win 50 and 12, which is probably good or better than Nicklaus' record.”[/i][/b]
Miller was right on. An interesting point that he makes is that even if Tiger only won 12 majors compared to Jack's 18, Tiger may still be considered the greatest of all time. Why? Because the fields are much tougher these days. There are more golfers that perform at a very high level in each tourney. The competition is much stiffer now. Miller says "you have to think of the fields". That's what he's getting at and that's why I think Tiger is getting very close to deserving the 'best of all time' label.
Miller was right on. An interesting point that he makes is that even if Tiger only won 12 majors compared to Jack's 18, Tiger may still be considered the greatest of all time. Why? Because the fields are much tougher these days. There are more golfers that perform at a very high level in each tourney. The competition is much stiffer now. Miller says "you have to think of the fields". That's what he's getting at and that's why I think Tiger is getting very close to deserving the 'best of all time' label.
I think Miller would retract that statement now if he saw it. You know why? Because over and over, Tiger's would-be challengers have basically fallen flat on their faces unless he's way back in the pack not even challenging. No one has stood up to him, and I think Miller thought in 1996 that the number of really good players in every major field during this era would yield players with more guts and heart. It looks like Tiger's toughest challenger is Chris DiMarco, and he's a pretty good player but he's not even in the top 10 of the world rankings. That's why I consider the "field" argument either way to be a wash for Tiger or Jack. Tiger faces more REALLY good players, whereas Jack faced more truly GREAT players. Like we all keep saying in the other thread about Tiger being 2nd greatest ever already, it's so hard to compare between different eras. Is Tiger really that intimidating or do these guys just have no guts? If DiMarco or Bob May can stand up to him, that tells me more talented players like Singh, Mickelson, Goosen, Els, and Garcia should certainly be able to stand up to him. But I guess the pressure and expectations just gets to them (not to mention Tiger's cold-blooded stare and his great play on the golf course).
Tiger's would-be challengers have basically fallen flat on their faces unless he's way back in the pack not even challenging. No one has stood up to him, and I think Miller thought in 1996 that the number of really good players in every major field during this era would yield players with more guts and heart.
I couldn't agree more. This is right on. And it's too bad, really. This may end up being one of the less talked about distinctions of the Tiger Woods era.
Tiger's would-be challengers have basically fallen flat on their faces unless he's way back in the pack not even challenging. No one has stood up to him, and I think Miller thought in 1996 that the number of really good players in every major field during this era would yield players with more guts and heart.
its over, what else can anyone say?, hit it dead on
He knew he was going to win, you knew he was going to win, and he knew you knew he was going to win.
The same applies to Tiger.
And although the above is true, Jack played against some guys who looked him dead in the eyes and didn't flinch. Lee Trevino and Tom Watson both beat Jack head-to-head a few times, even in major championships.
Yeah, I saw those articles yesterday and I thought it was pretty cool to read what those tour guys were saying about young Tiger. Little did they (and most of us) know what Tiger was about to accomplish within next ten years.
Here's another interesting article about Tiger, this time involving his pace to become the first billionaire athlete while still playing a sport. I think MJ was the closest before but he never quite reached it. I'm sure he is one now with the Jordan shoe company.
Golf Digest is predicting that Tiger will be a billionaire by 2010, and his net worth will be $1 billion by 2013 (if not sooner) according to financial experts.
So let's assume he keeps making $80 million per year in endorsements alone. Let's assume he plays for 10 more years. That's $800 million right there, and Golf Digest says he's made around $480 million from endorsements in his first 10 years, plus another $65 million on the golf course worldwide. So he's around $550 million going into this season. So he should be around $1.3 or $1.4 billion (or perhaps $1.5 billion even) by the time he's 40 years old. I'm assuming purses will stay the same or keep going up, and he'll win a few of those FedEx Cup grand prizes ($10 million + whatever you earn for the season). He could be having some seasons where he makes well over $100 million combined on and off the golf course. Pretty crazy money!
Actually Beem did beat him in the PGA, gagging like crazy down the stretch as Tiger closed the gap.
Beem really didn't falter there...it was Tiger who did most of it, bogeying #13 (on a 3 putt...I recall the first putt wasn't more than 15 feet) and 14 after Beem eagled #11. From there, Tiger birdied #15 through 18 while Beem birdied #16 and three putted #18 once the title was already sealed up.
Yup, as a matter of fact Tiger 3 jacked #13 moments after the huge roar went up from Beemer's eagle. Woods stared at the scoreboard and knew he had just gone from 1 to 3 back.
Remember Beem begging the ball to get over that marsh on #16? Then he drains the 35 footer for birdie! Great stuff.
July 24th, 2006, 06:50 PM
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