Woods
Whereas Nicklaus was part of “The Big Three” for most of the 1960s, Woods is part of “The Big Four,” though to a list of rivals that includes Vijay Singh, Ernie Els, and Phil Mickelson, one could easily include Retief Goosen and make it “The Big Five.”

But Woods does not enjoy the separation between the layers of talent that Nicklaus had, mainly because there are greater numbers and deeper talent pools in today’s landscape.

When Woods doesn’t win, there is a long list of solid candidates ready to step in; that was not the case during Nicklaus' reign, which is why the majors were dominated by a small group of players.

Nicklaus
Yes, he knocked Arnold Palmer from the throne and had Gary Player, Billy Casper, Johnny Miller, Tom Weiskopf, Lee Trevino, and Tom Watson at their top form, too.

But Nicklaus didn’t have to worry about Europe’s best and Australia’s best and Sweden’s best and Japan’s best week-in, week-out on the PGA Tour.

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

He didn’t have teenagers trying to knock him off, nor did he have to worry about elite junior programs turning out world-class golfers on a yearly basis.

In other words, he had talent to compete with, but it wasn’t as steel-eyed and deep as it is today.

Part 6: Popularity

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