Tiger Woods

In response to "Tiger: The best ever...in anything?" by Dan Bickley of the Arizona Republic.

Mr. Bickley may be stretching it a little by stating that Tiger Woods is competing for the title of Most Dominant Athlete Ever. I only say this because the way golf is perceived in most people's eyes. Some people try to claim that golf isn't a sport or that golfer's are not athletes. I don't want to be the one to tell Tiger that though. So he may not be the most dominant athlete ever, but is he the best golfer of all time? Without out a doubt. And it's not even really a debate.

The ultimate record in all of golf is Jack Nicklaus' 18 major championships. Tiger has already captured 13, and he is only 32 years old. A lot of the talk this year is going to be if he can complete the Golf Grand Slam by winning all four majors in the same year. If that happens, Tiger would be in line to tie, or move ahead of jack Nicklaus' major record in 2009. Another record that Tiger is currently chasing is Byron Nelson's 11 straight PGA Tour victories. Currently, after his recent victory at the Accenture Match Play Championship, Tiger has won 5 PGA tournaments in a row, and 7 of his last 8. He has also moved into sole possession of 4th place on the career PGA Tour wins list with 63 in 12 short seasons.

One of the easiest way to look at Tiger's dominance is to look at his competition. With technology advancing, and more and more people starting to play golf, winning on the tour is harder than ever. Tiger Woods faces much stiffer and much more consistent competition than jack Nicklaus ever did. And he is still setting records left and right. I can attest to that, being a golfer myself. It takes a lot of hard work and dedication, just to make it on tour, let alone stay on and win 63 times. Another part of Tiger's dominance is his mental game. Ask any golf on tour what part of Tiger's game they would want most, and the majority will easily say his mental game. Tiger's ability to slam the door shut is almost super human.

A sign of a great athlete is respect. Ask Tiger's peers about him, and you will find a lot of respect for him. Some players sit back in awe as they play with him. Right now, it is tough to make the argument that Tiger is the Most Dominant Athlete Ever, but that won't last forever. If Tiger ends his career with 20-25 major championships and 100+ career PGA Tour victories, it would be almost insane not to include Tiger with the Micheal Jordan's, Babe Ruth's, and Wayne Gretzky's as the Most Dominant Athletes Ever.