It is a hard task to compare Jack and Tiger, the two people in different eras. You should know that the hybrid grasses, Green construction and course maintenance procedures over the last 40 years were in progress. Greens today are much truer and more consistent than they were when Jack played. What’s more is the training and teaching technology. They are not on the same level of times. But I’d say that it is also understandable to d this.
You can get the 1968 pro tour stats and the properties of Jack’s golf set when he was in his prime stir up a good debate.
It was with this information and knowledge – knowing how advances in equipment technology over the last 40-plus years have impacted performance without any significant improvement in skill – that can make clear to the question-who’s better and even make a very general comparison.
After the first several hundred votes Jack surged to the lead with 53 to 57 percent of the vote. The final tally after several hundred more votes – nearly 800 in all before the end of the survey – was 55 percent for Jack and 45 percent for Tiger.
If the survey went into a more comprehensive statistical analysis taking all the data and peripheral information into account – the effect of which may be speculative in many cases – that the results would be significantly different.
There is no doubt that course conditions have changed significantly since Jack’s prime. As an example, the average green speed in 1977 was 6.5 feet. Today, on relatively flat greens, the green speeds in some majors reach 13 to 14 feet. An undulating green should not be more than 10 to 11 feet, otherwise the hole location options are limited, compromising the architect’s design which anticipated multiple hole locations on every green.
In Jack’s day, the greens were significantly slower, less consistent and not as true as the greens today. Yes, the entire field had the same problems, but Jack ranked 78th in putting average (putts per round), compared to 21st for Tiger today. In putts per GIR, Jack ranked 10th while Tiger is currently tied for 16th.
Agronomic practices have improved so much that before the mid-1980s superintendents found it difficult to grow grass – now they control and manipulate its growth. At the 1998 U.S. Open, the 18th fairway at the Olympic Club was running 6.5 feet, the same as the average green speed on Tour in 1977.
It is no sound way to compare these two great golfers. But Jack has the edge but only time will tell.
Tiger’s highlights
Golden Bear legend