Tiger Woods vs. Jack Nicklaus

Who is the greatest player of all time? There has never been a better time to compare.

Two Masters: They never hooked up in the Masters, but Woods' 18-under-par total in 1997 broke by one stroke the record Nicklaus set in 1965. A matter of style: Tiger probably makes more long putts than Nicklaus did, but Jack rarely left himself short ones that he missed. Two eras: Nicklaus' swing required enormous strength and flexibility. Woods took the best of many swings and incorporated them into his own. Time will tell: Will Tiger drop Jack into second place on the all-time major list?

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By Jaime Diaz

Photo Montages By Scott Addison

December 2002

In 110-degree heat, surrounded by a rocky moonscape in the California desert, the contrast between them never looked so stark. Not only are their ages of 62 and 26 numerical flips, but a 6-iron for one was a 9-iron for the other. They were thick and thin, light and dark, old and young, open and closed, heartland and Pacific Rim, Teutonic and Cablinasian, laboring and lithe. Partners at the made-for-TV "Battle at Bighorn," Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods looked more like the shaky premise for a buddy sitcom than the two most compared athletes from the past and present in the history of sports.

But in the still, silent moments on each tee, the differences fell away. As one addressed the ball, the other turned his legendary focus to every movement and mannerism, hungry to better understand what was special in themselves. Two years before, at the 2000 PGA Championship, in the only time they were paired in an official event, it had taken another prolonged look at Woods for Nicklaus to definitively know that his time had come to stop competing in majors. Through their elevated senses, Woods has connected with just what it took to win 20 major championships, while Nicklaus understands why Woods has the capacity to win even more.

"It's kind of amazing how two different people from two different eras who don't have much contact can feel close," says Woods, "but we do."

Not so amazing, actually. Piecing together their shared attributes as golfers would create two detailed mosaics with but a few unfilled spaces. Nicklaus has said there's not a "nickel's worth of difference" in their iron play, and you can call their levels of intensity, concentration, intimidation, domination, toughness, resilience, intelligence and tenaciousness a push as well. Both are equally calculating, methodical and consistent. Both built their games around power, stressing the fundamentals. They hit the finest long irons ever seen. From the rough? Wondrous. Extra good on par putts. The more pressure, the more fun. They each love to prepare, excel at peaking and have built their lives around the majors. Both are perfectionists and supreme egoists, loyal to friends and encouraging to struggling pros. They possess selective memories, were brought up by ultra-supportive parents, believe second place stinks, never quit and have been merciless closers and graceful losers.

Somehow, the cruel game would never turn on them as it did others. "It's amazing that as many times as he came to the last hole with the tournament on the line, Jack never had a Doug Sanders moment," says Johnny Miller.

"Jack, and I'm sure Tiger, just believe they're miracle workers," says Tom Weiskopf.

Out of respect to the other, they both resist comparisons, Nicklaus because he doesn't want to appear stuck in the past, Woods because he knows conquering the future means staying in the present. But now that Woods has completed six full pro seasons, there never has been a better time to compare. Nicklaus' first six years had been the greatest start on the PGA Tour, in which he won seven majors to add to two U.S. Amateurs. In the same period, Woods has been even better, with eight pro majors to go with three Amateurs.

As Woods is embarking on what writer Bill Fields calls "the long middle," the seventh season is when Nicklaus entered the first fallow period of his career, going three years between major victories at the 1967 U.S. Open and the 1970 British. It's a chance for Woods, whose only full year as a pro without a major came in 1998, to make a major move.

He's primed. Since Woods broke away from the pack in late 1999, no No. 1 in the history of golf has been this far ahead of the next-best player.

"I would never deny that Jack Nicklaus is the greatest player who ever lived," says Gary Player, "but Jack was never this dominant."

Adds Miller: "You look at Bobby Jones, and what he did was amazing. Then you look at Nicklaus, and that was amazing, too. But when you look at Tiger, there's nothing like it in history."

The highest praise of all comes Tiger's way, from Jack. "I would be very surprised if he doesn't break my records," Nicklaus has said. "Very surprised. At the rate he's going, it's not such an awfully long haul."

Even if he doesn't keep up his pace, Woods has another built-in advantage: He is chasing. "Tiger has someone to compare his greatness," says Hubert Green. "Jack just went out and played. Every time Jack won, it was his record. If he had had what Tiger has, he might have been better."

Nicklaus' advantage is longevity achieved, because tomorrow is guaranteed to no one. In his record span between winning his first and last professional majors (the 1962 U.S. Open and the '86 Masters), Nicklaus excelled amid three waves of greats: the first headed by Palmer, Player and Casper, the next including Trevino, Floyd and Miller, and the last led by Watson and Ballesteros. For Woods to pass Nicklaus, his winning span will almost certainly have to last more than a decade.

"Of course, he has all the ingredients to do it, every single one," Player says of Woods. "But he's still got to do it. So many things can go wrong. Great players -- Palmer, Watson, Seve -- they all stopped in their early 30s.

Everything looked great, yet their time for winning majors was small."

Today's tour players, who see the attention and scrutiny Woods undergoes, agree it's no gimme. Wonders Olin Browne: "How long can he take it without his brain being fried?"

Nicklaus knows best how tough that battle is. "You only have so much juice," he once said. "You try to keep what you've got left so you can use it when it means the most."