Tiger Time

SOMETIME last season, I e-mailed a friend of mine, an ex- pro golfer and a keen student of the game. “Are we ready to concede that Tiger is the best ever?” I asked. His answer was slightly ambiguous; I couldn’t tell whether he was being sincere or sarcastic. So I asked for a clarification. “Oh, let me be perfectly clear,” he replied. “Nicklaus in his heyday couldn’t carry Tiger’s clubs. Really.”

Now, my friend and I were Nicklaus worshipers from way back—we still are. When it comes to Nicklaus, we are dangerously close to violating the First Commandment. So acknowledging the truth about Tiger came hard. Jack Nicklaus—this is gospel in golf—dominated his sport as no other athlete ever dominated any sport. I once began a piece about Nicklaus roughly this way: Boxing folks can talk about Louis versus Ali; baseball people can talk about Cobb and Ruth and Mays (or whomever); tennis people can have a high time about Laver and Sampras; but in golf, there’s nothing to discuss.

About the Author

Jay Nordlinger

Jay Nordlinger was a senior editor of National Review and a book fellow at National Review Institute.

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SOMETIME last season, I e-mailed a friend of mine, an ex- pro golfer and a keen student of the game. “Are we ready to concede that Tiger is the best ever?” I asked. His answer was slightly ambiguous; I couldn’t tell whether he was being sincere or sarcastic. So I asked for a clarification. “Oh, let me be perfectly clear,” he replied. “Nicklaus in his heyday couldn’t carry Tiger’s clubs. Really.”

Now, my friend and I were Nicklaus worshipers from way back—we still are. When it comes to Nicklaus, we are dangerously close to violating the First Commandment. So acknowledging the truth about Tiger came hard. Jack Nicklaus—this is gospel in golf—dominated his sport as no other athlete ever dominated any sport. I once began a piece about Nicklaus roughly this way: Boxing folks can talk about Louis versus Ali; baseball people can talk about Cobb and Ruth and Mays (or whomever); tennis people can have a high time about Laver and Sampras; but in golf, there’s nothing to discuss.