Over at the Manzella forum the question was asked to name the best ever at the following aspects of the game. Here is mine.
DRIVING - Jack Nicklaus
When the PGA Tour kept stats, Nicklaus was no higher than 14th in total driving from 1980-1984 which included being #1 from 1980-1983. This was when Nicklaus was 40-44 years old. I couldn't imagine him in his prime and while he is known for the long irons and clutch putting, I think he's the best ever because of his superior driving.
FAIRWAY WOODS - Corey Pavin
When I think of fairway woods, I think of Pavin. He had to use them a lot, knife them around bunkers, carve them so the wind could take them, hit 'em low and high.
LONG IRONS - Jack Nicklaus
Nicklaus was known for his long irons, with the saying he could hit them and have it long like a butterfly with sore feet.
MID IRONS - Ben Hogan
Tough one to pick here. Johnny Miller could stake claim here, but when it comes to an aspect of the game, I'd have a hard time not finding a spot for Hogan, somewhere.
SHORT IRONS - Lee Trevino
SAND GAME - Paul Azinger
This could probably go to Chi Chi Rodriguez or Lee Trevino, but I picked Azinger because I never paid much attention to their bunker game like I did Azinger's.
CHIPPING - Raymond Floyd
Floyd was the best I've ever seen. If you ever get the chance to re-watch some of the '90 Masters, you'll see Floyd put on a clinic during that tournament. It's easy to see why Floyd was such a great player despite an unorthodox swing. He was very good with the driver, decent with the irons and putter, but if he missed a green, he could get up and down with ease...if not chip in.
PITCHING - Seve Ballesteros
Seve has pretty much been the model for pitching the ball.
PUTTING - Ben Crenshaw
I'm sure Geoff Mangum would be more qualified to answer this, but Crenshaw's putting is the best I've ever seen.
3JACK
I think you have to give serious consideration to TW as the best long iron player.
ReplyDeleteFrom the MoneyGolf series:
But now we reach one of the strongest parts of Tiger's game: He excelled at approach shots from 150-250 yards out, allowing him to pick up an amazing eight strokes on his closest competitors. This matches the highlights of his play. On Saturday, he hit a 4-iron around a stand of trees to within two feet of the hole. And on the last hole of the tourney, Tiger summoned what he called "the best swing I made all week" to land a 5-iron from 177 yards on the green and set up the winning putt. (Even with all of his 2010 struggles, Tiger remains the world's best on long approach shots. As I wrote last month, "His remarkable ball striking from this range is what keeps him in tournaments when other departments of his game are lagging.")
He's at least the best long-iron-out-of-the-rough player....
Certainly in the top 5.
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