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 I've never had a particular reverence for Ellias Sports Bureau types who incessently crunch numbers to measure an athlete's might, whether it be for the purpose of rankings, Hall of Fame worthiness or bar room debate.
Numbers are no doubt helpful when comparing the careers of two players who competed in different eras, or present-day athletes who are competing side by side. Unfortunately, it's likely that the two sides of the debate, after much spirited discussion, will arrive at an impasse.
Fortunately golf fans and scholars will be able to avoid this pitfall, unless Tiger Woods elects to take an early retirement. As an indivudual sport with four tournaments recognized as superior to all others, golf's barometer for greatness is 18. Until Woods gets to 19 and passes Jack Nicklaus, the Golden Bear should be regarded as the greatest. If they tie, well that would expose all of us to one hell of a debate. And if Tiger reaches 19, 20 or more major champinship victories, he will hands down be regarded as the greatest golfer of all-time.
I think those scenarios are widely agreed upon by professional golfers, pro shop attedants, golf cart girls and distinguished members of the media.
With three more majors to be played this year, starting with the U.S. Open in June, and a Tiger-friendly set of venues in 2010 that includes Augusta, Pebble Beach and St. Andrews, this question may be answered quickly or it may take many years.
In a recent Sports Illustrated survey of 72 players on the PGA Tour, 100 percent of the respondents to the question "Will Tiger Woods break Jack Nicklaus's record of 18 majors" answered yes.
The UK's Telegraph held a roundtable discussion with players during last week's Ballentine Championship in South Korea, and Fred Couples weighed in on the topic.
"I do think Tiger will break Jack's record," he said. "It will be very interesting to see what happens over the next couple of years. If he doesn't win one of the next eight majors, althought I don't know how he won't, it will get interesting because there comes a time when everyone's success rate slows down. He wants to do it and therefore I think he will do it. Tiger pretty much achieves what he sets out to do."
It's still early in the game, but if Tiger fails to win a major championship this year it will be only the fourth time since he won the 1997 Masters that he's failed to win at least one major championship (1998, 2003 and 2004).
Woods will play in back-to-back tournaments for the first time since returning from knee surgery, starting with this week's Quail Hollow Championship in Charlotte. Next week he'll be in Jacksonville for the PLAYERS Championship.
Even with his victory at Bay Hill, it's obvious that Woods has yet to return to championship form. Everyone will be expecting him to win the U.s. Open at Bethpage Black this year, and he very well may do so.
His performance in the 2009 majors will go a long way in shaping the storyline for Woods' pursuit of Nicklaus. Win at least one, and his march toward history will be portrayed as fated, ruling out failure as an option. Walk away from '09 emptyhanded and believers might considering conversion to the church of skepticism; they might even pull an Arlen Specter and jump ship.
Either way, until Woods retires or reaches Nicklaus' record of 18 major championships, his pursuit of history will be the biggest storyline in the world of sports, and that's not open to debate.
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