Legendary star Jack Nicklaus boasts a significant claim when it comes to the debate over who is the greatest golfer of all-time – but the 18-time major championship winner believes Bobby Jones was better than him.
The American hero won a staggering 117 professional tournaments during his glittering career, retiring with 73 PGA Tour victories to his name. The 84-year-old, who is known as “The Golden Bear”, boasts three more major wins than Tiger Woods – with many observers believing he is the best player in the history of the game.
He won his final major in 1986 at the age of 46, having established one of the most storied legacies in sports, retiring from tournament golf in 2005. However, despite his credentials in the all-time stakes, Nicklaus actually rates 13-time major championship Jones as a superior talent.
The icon enjoyed an incredible career, retiring from the game at the height of his career at the age of just 28 in 1930. By this point, he had just completed a unique Grand Slam of major tournament wins consisting of all four majors of the era including the open and amateur championships in the U.S. and the U.K.
Expressing his admiration for Jones, who co-founded the Masters Tournament alongside designing the Augusta National Golf Club, Nicklaus said previously: “Jones is the greatest golfer who ever lived and probably ever will live. Thats my goal. Bobby Jones. Its the only goal.”
Meanwhile, the veteran also admitted that he feels contemporary superstar Woods could have usurped his personal haul in terms of major championship victories if he had avoided injuries. He said: “If he remained healthy, I think he wouldve gotten it, but he didnt remain healthy.
“We all have injuries, we all have different things in our life which change things and Tiger had his problems,” he continued, as he expressed his sympathy towards his fellow legend. “I feel bad for him about it, but it is what it is. Hes still a great influence on the game of golf.”
As Nicklaus alludes, Woods has been hampered by injury over the past decade, with his last major championship coming at the Masters in 2019. However, a car accident in 2021 appeared to derail his hopes of eventually adding to his haul as he still awaits a 16th major win of his career.
Meanwhile, Gary Player – who won nine majors during his career – previously opined that Jones “played with a walking stick as a shaft, while claiming that that the “ball that went 80 yards less” as he confessed that he was unconvinced by the argument that the icon is the greatest golfer of all-time.
Picking between Nicklaus and Woods in that regard, he said: “So Id have to say Jack Nicklaus,” before later adding: “After that I think Tiger Woods. He was unfortunate. His knees and his back and his car accident. What would happen if that never happened? Theres the if I guess.”
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