Is Tiger Woods criticised too much in the media? And is he the greatest ever to have played the game of golf?

Is Tiger Woods criticised too much in the media? And is he the greatest ever to have played the game of golf?

Exceptional players like Tiger are constantly being criticised by journalists, the media and others who do not have a fraction of his ability. The current tours on both sides of the pond are made up with a few very good players and a lot of the journeyman type of player and because the money-pot is so huge everyone is making a good living.

As an example Michael Jancey "Briny" Baird who plays on the PGA tour has amassed $12 million and has never won an event. There are many like this.

Different eras had different tours and players who stood out for their high level of consistency. My take is that the truly skilful players came from past eras and those players would be at the top of the leader-board in this day and age. The modern game is completely different and bears no relation to the days of, say Hogan and the like.

The only criteria today is hit is over 300 yards from the tee and have a good putting stroke. Even at my age of 76, place me 290 yards down the fairway and I will be a scratch player once again. How do I know, because I do it regularly at my own club which is well over 7000 yards.

A difficult question to answer as regards Tiger being the best ever. I still think Nicklaus was the best ever as he played at a time when I think the opposition was deeper and of a higher standard than that during Tiger's dominant period. That is not to take away from the very best of today, but apart from a few, they do tend to be a manufactured, colourless lot. From what I remember of Jack in his time, he had no weaknesses and plenty of strengths. Can we say that of Tiger today?

I'm afraid I can't think of Tiger as the best ever simply because he doesn't hit the fairway with his driver as often as I do! However I am willing to accept that there are several areas of Tigers game that are superior to mine.

I think you have to look at what Tiger has done for the game just as well as how they play on the course. IMO, he began the massive pumping of funds into golf, Sponsors started paying huge bonuses which meant the growth of courses became important. I think technically Jack was better but Tiger did the huge challenge of fending off hundreds more competitors. if you use the saying 'every player has his day' tiger had to beat that many different players who on occasion would all have their day. I remember the playoff Rocco mediate vs Tiger woods, that day i thought the luck was on roccos side, but tiger still came back to win even more tournaments. Definatly think hes the best the game has seen. but im biased, i grew up with tiger not jack, not that id be upset if it was the other way round

In My Opinion Jack is the best although Tiger has won lots of events through out the world, far too many times the field went the wrong way and did little to put him under pressure, most of the majors he won from the front, with the challengers falling away after a few holes on the final day, it seems to me that the players of yester year were not as afraid of the top players, perhaps the large prize funds meant that the rest of the pack felt they didn't need to win only place high, I don't know.

In my opinion Tiger is not the best 'front man' for a sport like golf. Jack would, and still does, sit and talk to his peers. You can't get near to Tiger.

Also, how would Tiger get on with the older equipment, the less manicured courses and the different conditions week to week?

Tiger may play the best golf ever, but to me he is a long way off being 'The Greatest'.