Two GOATs

Bryson DeChambeau delivers his verdict on the age-old Jack vs. Tiger debate

September 05, 2024
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Christian Petersen

Bryson DeChambeau is new-school. We all know about his 3D-printed irons, uniform club lengths, deceptive lofts and fitness experiments. The 2024 U.S. Open champ has been at the bleeding edge of professional golf for nearly a decade now. That doesn't mean he doesn't respect the past, however. In fact, DeChambeau is probably a more accomplished golf historian than the majority of his peers.

Don’t believe us? You don’t have to. Just check out this video posted by LIV Golf on Wednesday where the Crushers G.C. captain was asked to pick a series of showdowns between golf legends. From Vijay to Seve to Byron to his own boss, DeChambeau agonized over each pick, crunching invisible statistics in his head. When he got to the inevitable Jack vs. Tiger dilemma, though, he took just a single beat before answering …

So there you have it, folks. Bryson DeChambeau is officially Team Tiger. It makes sense if you think about it. In many ways, Woods, with his power, physique and obsessive attention to detail, blazed a trail specifically for golfers like DeChambeau. Everyone (excluding Tiger) has come to terms with the fact will he never eclipse Jack’s majors record, but for golfers DeChambeau’s age, who grew up watching Tiger lap leaderboards and rack up Sports Illustrated covers, there’s only one answer.

Bryson does make some surprising picks, however, most notably taking prime Vijay over prime Rory, Phil over Walter Hagen and Byron Nelson over Arnold Palmer (!). Finally, he was asked to pick between Tiger and himself. We all know Bryson believes in his method and abilities more than anyone since The Big Cat, but he’s also learned when take an L.

“Tiger,” he answered with a shrug and smile before striding off.

Sorry, Bryson, but we can’t argue with that.