Anonymous PGA Tour pro: ‘Embarrassment’ to compare Big 4 to Tiger
The new Big Three (or Four, depending on if include Rickie Fowler) have been reluctant to draw comparisons between themselves, either individually or collectively, to Tiger Woods. That’s because any comparison wouldn’t turn out very well.
Woods has 79 PGA Tour wins, including 14 majors. Between them, they have 27 PGA Tour wins, including seven majors. Before Woods turned 27 at the end of 2002, he had eight majors and 34 PGA Tour wins.
End the comparison.
And that’s the point an anonymous PGA Tour player wanted to drive home in an interview with ESPN.com, suggesting that any effort to build up any or all of the Big Three to the Big Cat’s level is futile.
“Now you take the Jordan Spieths, you take the Jason Days, you take these young guns, they’re still not Tiger. Nobody’s ever going to be Tiger. We know that. Lotta people don’t know that. But they’re not going to be.
“The great play of Jason Day, the great play of Jordan Spieth, the great play of Rickie Fowler — combined, they’re not Tiger. … They’re just not. Tiger is Tiger. It’s a Michael Jordan. You cannot compare. It’s actually, in my opinion, it’s an embarrassment and an insult to compare those guys to a Tiger Woods. … It’s an absolute embarrassment to say that a Rory McIlroy, a Jason Day, a Jordan Spieth, Rickie Fowler, all these guys are going to compete with Tiger’s records. Combined, they don’t even have half his records yet.”
We know that last line isn’t true, but the point is made. It’s easy to forget how great Tiger Woods was in his early- to mid-20s. However, Woods’ record is not lost on Jordan Spieth, Jason Day or Rory McIlroy — nor is how they stack up to him. Case in point, Day, speaking on Tuesday at The Players, reiterated precisely what the anonymous player said.
“Some of these younger guys, they’re looking to start a family, and Rory’s getting married coming up shortly, I think,” Day said. “And Rickie and Jordan and those guys are enjoying life and they’re young. Just priorities change, and sometimes we can’t — I mean, it’s great to see what Tiger accomplished in the past, but unfortunately we’re not Tiger Woods and we’re just trying to do our best to play as well as we can.”
Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.
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