Big Phil -v- Tigger

Burgerman55

finally a bigtime showdown between the top two
heres hoping phil shows him a lesson in golf tonight
should be a great battle though, provided the weather stays goodish
great way to finish the season

Kanchelskis

Phil already showed him whats what at the tour championship last month. Should be terrific tonight - shame its on so late.

Expecting big things from Lefty next year.

weemcd

Tigger?

Burgerman55

big phil better have his weetabix though

Burgerman55

phil does it again
the only man out there capable of crushing tiger

stumpypeeps

Burgerman55 wrote: »

phil does it again
the only man out there capable of crushing tiger

Don't forget YE Yang!

ant043

Burgerman55 wrote: »

phil does it again
the only man out there capable of crushing tiger

Phil Mickleson isn't fit to lace tiger's golf shoes. Undoubtedly a good player but Tiger Woods is a phenomenon. The only previous golfer who can be mentioned in the same breath as him is Jack Nicklaus. Just my opinion.

heavyballs

ant043 wrote: »

Phil Mickleson isn't fit to lace tiger's golf shoes. Undoubtedly a good player but Tiger Woods is a phenomenon. The only previous golfer who can be mentioned in the same breath as him is Jack Nicklaus. Just my opinion.

Oh no,not the Jack v Tiger debate..
I agree re Tiger,fair play to Phil but the only person capable of beating Tiger is Tiger himself,when Rory gets a bit of experience under his belt over the next few years he will defo be Tiger's next real challenger and the next world No1 imo,i kid you not

ant043

heavyballs wrote: »

Oh no,not the Jack v Tiger debate..
I agree re Tiger,fair play to Phil but the only person capable of beating Tiger is Tiger himself,when Rory gets a bit of experience under his belt over the next few years he will defo be Tiger's next real challenger and the next world No1 imo,i kid you not

I definitely agree with you about Rory. He has all the skills necessary to challenge tiger in the future. Just remains to be seen whether he has the mental strength but i'm sure he will have in time. Just wish he was irish.

stumpypeeps

Ben Hogan was as prolific as Tiger at his best. Had the British Open not clashed with the US PGA I'm sure he would have completed the grand slam.

In 1951 Hogan entered 7 tournaments due to injuries sustained in an horrific car accident. He won 6. Enough said.

heavyballs

stumpypeeps wrote: »

Ben Hogan was as prolific as Tiger at his best. Had the British Open not clashed with the US PGA I'm sure he would have completed the grand slam.

In 1951 Hogan entered 7 tournaments due to injuries sustained in an horrific car accident. He won 6. Enough said.

Enough said? I think not,as we debated here before there are many variables regarding Hogan,Nicklaus etc v Tiger,maybe it's unfair to compare.It's a whole different game now,with alot more competition now.

mag

ant043 wrote: »

blah.....Rory.....blah...... Just wish he was irish.

ant043

stumpypeeps wrote: »

Ben Hogan was as prolific as Tiger at his best. Had the British Open not clashed with the US PGA I'm sure he would have completed the grand slam.

In 1951 Hogan entered 7 tournaments due to injuries sustained in an horrific car accident. He won 6. Enough said.

And roughly how many competitors were in these fields ? I'm sure they didn't have half the volume or strength of today's tournaments where anybody can win from the thousand to one outsider to the tournament favourite. Plus i'm sure golf wasn't anywhere near the popularity it has today where it is a worldwide sport played by millions of people.

ant043

mag wrote: »

Don't know why you are attacking me. I think the guy is a brilliant player and has buckets of talent. He has every right to play for Great Britain or Ireland in the olympics. Just after supporting and following him since his amateur career i'd have hoped he'd possibly be partnering padraig in 2016.

heavyballs

ant043 wrote: »

And roughly how many competitors were in these fields ?

well i know the masters in the 30's generally had about 50 players but that's always been a small field.Back then times were so hard that most of the golfer's tried the tour left pretty quickly as they couldn't afford it.
In fairness to Hogan he had a tough life,read a book about him years ago,can't think of the name.
He was an angry man as a result of his fathers suicide and didn't socialize at all with other pro's.

ziggy

This post has been deleted.

Burgerman55

by the time tiger had played the same amount of pro golf as rory now has, how does this compare
presumably tiger had already won a major?

is it easier for a young american (as opposed to a young nordie) to win a major?

f22

Burgerman55 wrote: »

is it easier for a young american (as opposed to a young nordie) to win a major?

What sort of a stupid questions is that? Professional golf is played on a world stage, when you get to that level it doesn't matter where you come from. Most of them have been elite amateurs and professional in every way but title.

To answer your question, it is difficult for any young player to win a major, regardless of their home country.

conman

Burgerman55 wrote: »

by the time tiger had played the same amount of pro golf as rory now has, how does this compare
presumably tiger had already won a major?

is it easier for a young american (as opposed to a young nordie) to win a major?

comparing Rory to Tiger at this stage of their careers, then Rory sweeps the floor.. actually Tiger didnt turn pro until he was 21, and had won his first master by the time he was 22.

Tiger:
first pro tournamenet - finished 60th
1996 - 2 tour wins (age21)
1997 - 4 tour wins + 1 major
1998 - 1 tour win

First attempt at the Majors (as an amateur)
Masters - T41
US Open - WD
The Open - T68
PGA - DNP

First year pro - Majors
Masters - cut
US Open - T82
The Open - T22
PGA - DNP


Rory:
first pro tournament - finished 42nd
2007 - 0 tour wins, 2 top 10's (age 18)
2008 - 0 tour wins, 6 top 10's
2009 - 1 tour win, 8 top 10's (so far)

First attempt at the Majors
Masters - T20
US Open - T10
The Open - T47
PGA - T3


So a younger rookie Rory compares very favourably to the older Rookie Tiger.
Rory has a lot of promise, but needs to develop a killer instint around the greens. I for one think he will be a consistant top 5 player, maybe top 2 or 3.. to make that leap to number 1 he has to continue to improve like he is doing and make it happen... its not easy to be a world #1 in any sport.. but the lad has time on his side..

conman

Burgerman55 wrote: »

by the time tiger had played the same amount of pro golf as rory now has, how does this compare
presumably tiger had already won a major?

is it easier for a young american (as opposed to a young nordie) to win a major?

there is an argument for that, but it depends on where the major is being staged.. American courses tend to be similar in design, European courses are more varied, thus tend to create a more versatile golfer, but not necessarily better or worse.. so its a kind of horses for courses scenario, but Rory has the lot.. his finish at the PGA (tied 3rd) and his back 9 at Augusta (ripped up the ourse for a 31).. proves this..

BiffoGooner

Everything people are saying about Rory and his potential was probably all said about Sergio Garcia too, and look how that turned out.Of course Sergio too still has lots of time to win majors himself, but having potential and following through on that potential are different things.I think Rory'll have a great career, win 4 or 5 majors, but I don't think he'll come close to doing what Tiger's done in his career.

conman

BiffoGooner wrote: »

Everything people are saying about Rory and his potential was probably all said about Sergio Garcia too, and look how that turned out.Of course Sergio too still has lots of time to win majors himself, but having potential and following through on that potential are different things.I think Rory'll have a great career, win 4 or 5 majors, but I don't think he'll come close to doing what Tiger's done in his career.

I think its fine to talk about potential, but we must not assume or take for granted.

BombSquad

conman wrote: »

comparing Rory to Tiger at this stage of their careers, then Rory sweeps the floor.. actually Tiger didnt turn pro until he was 21, and had won his first master by the time he was 22.

Tiger:
first pro tournamenet - finished 60th
1996 - 2 tour wins (age21) age 20
1997 - 4 tour wins + 1 major
1998 - 1 tour win

First attempt at the Majors (as an amateur)
Masters - T41
US Open - WD
The Open - T68
PGA - DNP

First year pro - Majors
Masters - cut 1st by 12 shots breaking scoring record
US Open - T82 T19
The Open - T22 T24
PGA - DNP T29


Rory:
first pro tournament - finished 42nd
2007 - 0 tour wins, 2 top 10's (age 18)
2008 - 0 tour wins, 6 top 10's
2009 - 1 tour win, 8 top 10's (so far)

First attempt at the Majors
Masters - T20
US Open - T10
The Open - T47
PGA - T3

Fixed some of your stats for you...

conman wrote: »

So a younger rookie Rory compares very favourably to the older Rookie Tiger.

Tiger was world number 1 about 40 weeks after turning pro, Mcilroy wasn't even in the top 50 until about a year after turning pro. Tiger played 7 PGATour events in 96 and won 2. He won his first event of 97, won the Masters by 12 and then won his next start. I don't think Mcilroy compares with that. I don't think anyone can.

By the way... I think Mcilroy is class. Compare him to Sergio, Harrington, Els, Mickelson or anyone else and he's brilliant. I don't think anyone can be compared favourably to Tiger though...

heavyballs

BiffoGooner wrote: »

Everything people are saying about Rory and his potential was probably all said about Sergio Garcia too, and look how that turned out.Of course Sergio too still has lots of time to win majors himself, but having potential and following through on that potential are different things.I think Rory'll have a great career, win 4 or 5 majors, but I don't think he'll come close to doing what Tiger's done in his career.

Sergio always had a couple of flaws in his swing,not to mention his putting which was ok when he was younger but never really good.
Just look at Rory's swing,it's the best golf swing in world golf,you couldn't say that about Garcia.

Burgerman55

BombSquad wrote: »

Fixed some of your stats for you...

Tiger was world number 1 about 40 weeks after turning pro, Mcilroy wasn't even in the top 50 until about a year after turning pro. Tiger played 7 PGATour events in 96 and won 2. He won his first event of 97, won the Masters by 12 and then won his next start. I don't think Mcilroy compares with that. I don't think anyone can.

thanks bombsquad - that sounds a bit more accurate alright