Tiger is tops
Woods is not only the best golfer but also the greatest individual-sport athlete in U.S. history
Woods is not only the best golfer but also the greatest individual-sport athlete in U.S. history

By Berry Tramel
Published: June 13, 2007

Tiger Woods arrives at the U.S. Open this week in the most unsightly of slumps.

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The poor young thing has won only one of his last three tournaments and only three of his eight tournaments this year.

Keep up that percentage, and symposiums will be convened to dissect what's wrong with Tiger. That, and 2007 will only go down as one of the best seasons in golf history.

That's the ridiculousness of Tiger. His so-called bad seasons are historic in achievement. Tiger's current .375 winning percentage is better than every PGA Tour player of the year since 1980, with the notable exception of Tiger himself.

Forget the Tiger-Jack Nicklaus debate. Tiger, winner of 12 majors by the still-pup age of 31, clearly is the greatest golfer of all time.

The better question: Is Tiger the greatest individual-sport athlete in American history?

I say yes, and the numbers, in context, agree.

Tiger is more dominant than any NASCAR driver ever. More dominant than any tennis player ever. Those are the only two relevant sports.

Boxing gets no consideration, because champion pugilists get to pick when they fight, where they fight and who they fight. Rocky Marciano retired undefeated as the heavyweight champion of the world. But of his 43 victories, only six were title defenses, spread over almost four years.

Track and field is hard to measure. Few big-time events. The doping scandals of recent years. Someone can submit track nominations, but until further review, the three sports that merit discussion are golf, tennis and NASCAR.

Tiger's majors record is well-documented. Twelve major titles, starting with the 1997 Masters. That's 12 of the last 41, which doesn't seem like a lot but in truth is startling. Jack Nicklaus won 18 majors but needed 93 starts to get there from the 1963 Masters to the 1986 Masters.

NASCAR has only one designated major, the Daytona 500, though any trip to Talladega ought to qualify. So it's tough to compare drivers and golfers in terms of majors. Not so hard on straight victories.

Golf has more depth than NASCAR. A NASCAR race has 43 starters. Of those, maybe 20-25 have a legit chance to win. Golf has 150 or so starters. Of those, 70-80 have a chance to win, so long as they can climb Mount Tiger.

Golf victories are more spread out. Five times in the past 25 years, the tour player of the year had only two victories.

And yet, Tiger wins more than any NASCAR driver. In his career, Tiger has won 25.7 percent of his tournaments. No driver approaches that mark. David Pearson won 18.3 percent of his starts, Richard Petty 17 percent. Current NASCAR phenom Jeff Gordon has won 16.2 percent of his races.

Tiger's best seasons surpass any NASCAR driver. You've got all those majors — four seasons in which Tiger won multiple majors — plus the monster year of 2006, when Tiger won 53.3 percent of his tournaments.

Petty has the greatest winning percentage in NASCAR history, .433. Others have come close to Petty. Gordon won 13 of 33 starts in 1998. Bill Elliott 11 of 28 in 1985. Darrell Waltrip 12 of 31 in 1981 and 1982, which is a heck of a run.

But none approach Tiger.

Now to tennis. This one's tougher, because tennis stars' numbers sometime supersede Tiger's. For obvious reasons.

Tennis depth is a wading pool. Golf depth is the ocean. At any particular tennis tournament, there are about seven or eight guys who can win. In recent years, two or three.

Tennis has its Tiger, its Mickelson, its Vijay Singh. But it has no Zach Johnsons or Geoff Ogilvys. It has no dark horses. Only the contenders win.

Unless he's playing on clay, Roger Federer dominates tennis more than Tiger dominates golf. The last 3 1/2 seasons, Federer has won 65 percent of his matches. But his career winning percentage, .270, is barely above Tiger.

Federer's best year, probably 2006, was historic. He won three majors and 12 of 17 tournaments. That's better numbers than Tiger 2006 or Tiger 2000, when Woods won three majors.

But Federer keeps beating the same few guys. Tiger slays an army to win his majors. He's the greatest individual-sport athlete in American history.