Lanny Wadkins thinks Jack Nicklaus’s record made in tougher times – Golf update
Lanny Wadkins, former professional golfer, in a recent interview expressed the opinion that Jack Nicklaus was a better player in his times than Tiger Woods. His harsh and not-so-encouraging comments came out in at a time when Tiger Woods is striving to regain
his winning form and speculation is ripe that he would never be able to find his lost touch and eventually break Nicklaus’s record.
"Everybody (Nicklaus) beat were Hall of Famers . . . The best tournaments you talk about with Tiger were a playoff with Rocco Mediate and Bob May. Lee beat Nicklaus in a U.S. Open 18-hole playoff. The quality of people he's beaten compared to (who) Jack
beat, there's no comparison."
Earlier this week, many legendary golfers of the past like Lee Trevino came out to speculate over Woods bad form and his chances of a comeback, suggesting that he needs to dump his coaches and revert back to his old playing style. The legendary “Golden Bear”
of the game had spoken himself last week stating that Woods has a fairly good chance of breaking his record. Wadkins comments, however, were more of a comparison than outright discouragement for the struggling player. He referred to the big wigs of the sport
like Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino, Steve Ballesteros and many others whom Nicklaus had to go through to win those 18 majors. Wadkins claimed that the competitiveness of the championships in those days was much higher than it is today.
Critics also point towards the smarter and better technology that is at player’s disposal today. The best drivers back in 60’s and 70’s were the 5lb clubs which only yielded a tee shot up to 250 yards. Today, with newer titanium clubs, even a 10-year-old
can hit 250 yards. Wadkins has won 21 Professional Golfer Association (PGA) tour Championships and the 1977 PGA Championship and was inducted in the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2009. The former star golfer was also of the opinion that the new generation of
golfers is much better and will surely create problems for Woods. "The thing that's happening now is all these kids are finding their game. This whole next generation looks very impressive, and so he's all of a sudden going to have more competition now to
get to his 18 than he's had in his first 14, in my opinion."
Tiger Woods has not won a tournament for 18 consecutive months and is currently preparing for the Championship in Miami next month.
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