Jack Nicklaus vs. Tiger Woods: Who Faces Tougher Competition?

One of the most distorted views in golf is that Jack Nicklaus had far more competition during his playing years than Tiger Woods has today.

Many casual golf fans immediately think that Nicklaus played during golf’s golden age and was faced with more competition from greater players. 

The casual golf fan will associate Nicklaus’ competition with the likes of Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Lee Trevino, Billy Casper, and Tom Watson.

For the casual golf fan, hearing the names Palmer, Player, Trevino, and Casper coupled together as Nicklaus’ main competitors immediately leads one to believe that Nicklaus faced some of the toughest competition imaginable during his career.

But, what the casual golf fan does not know is that during Nicklaus’s playing career, after Palmer, Player, Casper, Trevino, Watson, and a few others, the competition drops off like the continental shelf. 

Tiger Woods has had to compete against the likes of Phil Mickelson, Vijay Singh, Ernie Els, Retief Goosen, Jim Furyk, and many other perennial PGA Tour winners.

But, Tiger has also had to compete against the likes of Rocco Mediate, Boo Weekly, Woody Austin, Hunter Mahan, Chad Campbell, Stephen Ames, J.B Holmes, Johnson Wagner, Ryuji Imada, Anthony Kim, Kenny Perry, and Chez Reavia. 

Now, at this very moment you are probably thinking that I have completely lost my mind by naming players such as Hunter Mahan, Stephen Ames, and Chez Reavia as competition comparable to the likes of Palmer, Player, Trevino, Casper, and Watson.

My naming this group of players as Tiger’s competition, all of whom happen to be PGA Tour winners, is not to say that these players are comparable to Palmer, Player, Trevino, etc.

Clearly Johnson Wagner and J.B. Holmes are no Gary Player and Arnold Palmer.

This list of players is simply comprised to show that Tiger Woods is faced a far wider pool of legitimate competitors than Jack Nicklaus faced during his career.

In any given tournament, Jack Nicklaus was essentially playing against a field of four or five players, outstanding players be that as it may.

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