The Mount Rushmore of Golf (1 Viewer)

[Cjw_55106]

Tiger voted for himself



I don’t disagree with him, just cannot imagine anyone else doing it. OK, maybe Jack, but just thought it was funny because most everyone else wouldn’t even think of it. Arnie never would have, Byron would have never even thought about doing it.

In order to think of it, you have to be a lock. Tiger and Jack clearly are locks. Byron isnt. 

 

[In The Zone]

Jack, Tiger, Palmer, Jones 

Watson is first out mainly because he yelled at me as a kid and I hold a grudge. 

Tom Watson was my favorite golfer back in the day. He refused to take a picture with me on a Monday at The Master's a few years back. 

 

[In The Zone]

Yeah the Heritage is a blast, I’d highly recommend it for anyone. I went with my wife who didn’t care much for sports, as well as my mom and her husband. Everyone had really the best time. We ate at the restaurant by the lighthouse and were seated right next to Aaron Baddely, his wife, kids, and extended family.  We ran into Snedeker a few times and he happened to win that weekend in a playoff. He also signed our badges which was nice.  I’m a Clemson alum so we followed around DJ Trahan for awhile and there’s just a sea of orange with him since the tourney is in SC. We stayed on the beach and would just lay out in the sand at night for a bit, no one for hundreds of yards in any direction.  Sunday was on Easter that year so everyone was in seersucker the last day.

We got in late Thursday and saw the last 3 days, it’ll be one of those weekends I talk about forever. Top notch all around. 

The Heritage is great. I went in my younger years and was lucky enough to stay on the course. I need to get back down there.

 

[Jayrod]

I feel like the 3 no-brainers are Tiger, Jack & Bobby. 

After that it's a toss up between Snead, Hogan and Palmer.  I lean Palmer, but that may just be recency bias.

 

[Jayrod]

Jones, Nicklaus and Tiger are locks. Zero question. 4th one is harder. Palmer if off the course impact is weighed heavily. Snead for volume of wins. Hogan in the mix. I have Player a notch below. 

I feel like the 3 no-brainers are Tiger, Jack & Bobby. 

After that it's a toss up between Snead, Hogan and Palmer.  I lean Palmer, but that may just be recency bias.

 

[BobbyLayne]

In order to think of it, you have to be a lock. Tiger and Jack clearly are locks. Byron isnt. 

Tiger is the ? 

Tiger’s answer makes sense from HIS perspective. He has been chasing Jack’s records for 25 years, Jones is third in career majors, and he’s now only two away from tying Snead for PGA Tour victories. His 107 worldwide wins as a professsional is well behind Player’s 165, but we addressed that earlier.

I don’t think any serious golf writers or unbiased historians rank Snead in the top 5. Those that do are maybe like the “Best Meal Prep Plans” article I had the misfortune to click on today (we Blue Apron & I was curious about Hello Fresh.) Instead of independent testing, they summarized & sampled Yelp reviews. TF?

Snead’s 82 wins and his unparalleled longevity assured his place in history long ago. But he was never wildly popular in his prime, you cant really say he grew the game the way other greats did. He choked away two US Opens on the 72nd hole, and the fields he beat in the 50s were not very deep.

You could knock Nelson for the latter as well, except you point to 11 straight in the 18 win season, then look at those leaderboards....it wasn’t like Hogan & Snead got drafted. Greatest season ever? It’s right up there for sure.

Hagen was a beast. He was Jones foil on more than one occasion. He gave the pros a respect & standing they previously lacked; profound impact on how the game evolved.

I think Palmer, Hogan, Jones, Nicklaus & Woods are the consensus top 5 - picking who to drop is hard. After that, it gets really hard trying to slot Hagen, Player, Sarazen, Snead, Watson, et al.

Not spoken of at all in this discussion is the impact of the Ryder Cup on growing the game globally. It’s hard to imagine a world in which the USA team plays GB&I every other year, which was true up until 1979. The European teams have had a tremendous impact outside the U.S.