Woods
There are times when he’ll need two or three pairs of golf shoes, he jumps out of them so often.

Like players of his generation, Woods has studied the dynamics of the swing and understands full well how to generate excessive club-head speed.

It’s his incredible ability to torque his body like a tightly-wound spring that affords him the chance to whip the club faster than anyone, which in turn gives him uncanny distance off the tee.

He came up as a bomber, had his most stunning success as someone who tightened the swing and harnessed the power, but is back ripping it like never before.

Far less a tactician off the tee than Nicklaus, Woods annually ranks as one of the longest drivers on Tour and he no longer gets hung up on hitting fairways or employing that once-famous “stinger 2-iron” shot to keep it in play.

Not stronger than Nicklaus was, just a more ferocious swinger.

Nicklaus
Oh, the numbers he averaged pale in comparison to today’s behemoths, but there’s been three or four technological revolutions since Nicklaus was breaking into the game.

For one, woods back then were actually made out of wood.

For another, fairways weren’t manicured to be on the cover of Better Homes & Gardens magazine like they are today.

But in an era when you had to shape your drives and not simply take aim up and over everything this side of the moon, Nicklaus was loooooong and few of his colleagues could keep up.

What made Nicklaus arguably the greatest driver of the golf ball in history was his uncanny ability to keep it in play, to give up length for accuracy.

Click below to see how today's Tiger Woods compares to Jack Nicklaus in his prime. Ball-striking Creativity Level of competition Pressure Course management Driving Popularity Putting

Statistics aren’t available from the ‘60s and ‘70s, but starting in 1980, when he was still just 40, Nicklaus rarely was inside the Top 20 in driving distance, but he was quite often well up the list in accuracy, which is why he annually was one of the leaders when it came to greens in regulation.

Nicklaus did not flaunt his power; he used it when he needed it.

That is where he’s different from Woods and many of today’s players, all of them bombers who aren’t afraid to miss fairways because they’ll more than likely be able to muscle 9-irons and wedges out of well-kept rough.

Part 5: Level of competition

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