PGA Tour players surveyed on best ever

[deasy55]

In each game department

Sorry if this has been posted elsewhere.

http://www.espnstar.com/golf/news/detail/item792415/Seve-declared-short-game-king/

Quick round up:

Best Driver:
Ever: Greg Norman
Now: Dustin Johnson

Best Iron Player:
Ever: Ben Hogan
Now: Rory McIlroy

Short Game:
Ever: Seve Ballesteros
Now: Phil Mickelson

Bunker Play:
Ever: Seve Ballesteros
Now: Luke Donald

Putting:
Ever: Tiger Woods
Now: Steve Stricker

Mental:
Ever: Jack Nicklaus/Tiger Woods (tie)
Now: Tiger Woods




Seve declared short-game king
Gone, but certainly not forgotten - Seve Ballesteros is the greatest of all-time when it comes to short-game skills and bunker play. That was the result of a survey carried out among PGA Tour players by American magazine 'Golf Digest', with Graeme McDowell among those asked their opinion. "From what I can tell it was just pure natural instinct," Northern Ireland's 2010 US Open champion said. "My coach Pete Cowen talks a lot about Seve's feel. He spent a lot of time with Seve working on short game, in the bunkers, and his basics were instinctive. "He just knew how to play every shot. He might not have known the technique, but he learned it in his head and he was just a pure natural." Ballesteros died on May 7 last year after battling a brain tumour for over two years. He was 54.

The players polled were asked to name the best now and the best ever in six departments of golf - driving, putting, short game, bunker play, iron play and mental game. Greg Norman was voted the sport's greatest driver with Dustin Johnson the best at the moment. In putting it was Steve Stricker now and Tiger Woods the all-time great, former Open champion Stewart Cink commenting: "Tiger Woods is the best clutch putter I've ever seen."

In short game Phil Mickelson came out top among the current stars, while Luke Donald was rated the best out of sand at present. No surprise there - he has led the statistics two of the last three seasons. Ben Hogan was rated the best iron player of all time, but Rory McIlroy is tops now, with McDowell saying: "He's a great iron player because he's got that flight - it's long and they have a soft landing. "He hits four-irons like I can only dream about."

In mental game Woods, even with only one victory on the circuit in over two and a half years, was still named number one now and joint best ever alongside Jack Nicklaus.

[Dave D]

wish i was around when seve was playing, never got to see him. the best iron player ive ever seen was Tiger, specifically when he won the Open at Hoylake. it was bone dry and the greens were so hard, most of the par 4s were 400+, to get any control into the greens players were having to hit driver in order to have a wedge into the green to be able to control it and keep it on the green. obviously hitting driver also brought dangers of rough etc into play.

not tiger, he hit long irons off the tee like bullets that ran out , and then would hit another long iron into the green so high it was unreal. never seen ball control like it.

[eric_b]

Greg Norman and Dustin Johnson aren't even comparable.....norman was long AND straight....making his driving his greatest asset.....sure johnson is long as all heck, but he's not exactly finding the short grass all that often....i'm not sure who would be comparable to norman nowadays....but it sure as heck ain't johnson.....bonus points to the first guy who says something about being a "natural athlete"....cause you know, dunking a basketball bare foot is really gonna help you on the links.....

Rory McIlory is a great iron player....but i would have taken luke donald....or maybe lee westwood....mcilroy's swing is prettier, but donald and westwood are fabulous iron players....but that's just my 2 cents.....

[Dizz]

[quote name='eric_b' timestamp='1335532844' post='4799566']
Greg Norman and Dustin Johnson aren't even comparable.....norman was long AND straight....making his driving his greatest asset.....sure johnson is long as all heck, but he's not exactly finding the short grass all that often....i'm not sure who would be comparable to norman nowadays....but it sure as heck ain't johnson.....bonus points to the first guy who says something about being a "natural athlete"....cause you know, dunking a basketball bare foot is really gonna help you on the links.....

Rory McIlory is a great iron player....but i would have taken luke donald....or maybe lee westwood....mcilroy's swing is prettier, but donald and westwood are fabulous iron players....but that's just my 2 cents.....
[/quote]

It was voted on by other guys out there...no? I mean what do they know?

[Chief Illiniwek]

I always thought Player was considered the greatest bunker player ever? I never really saw either play in their primes.

[Vindog]

[quote name='J.W.' timestamp='1335533068' post='4799604']
[quote name='eric_b' timestamp='1335532844' post='4799566']
Greg Norman and Dustin Johnson aren't even comparable.....norman was long AND straight....making his driving his greatest asset.....sure johnson is long as all heck, but he's not exactly finding the short grass all that often....i'm not sure who would be comparable to norman nowadays....but it sure as heck ain't johnson.....bonus points to the first guy who says something about being a "natural athlete"....cause you know, dunking a basketball bare foot is really gonna help you on the links.....

Rory McIlory is a great iron player....but i would have taken luke donald....or maybe lee westwood....mcilroy's swing is prettier, but donald and westwood are fabulous iron players....but that's just my 2 cents.....
[/quote]

It was voted on by other guys out there...no? I mean what do they know?
[/quote]

That and it wasn't a vote on who is the "modern day Greg Norman" but a vote on who is the best current driver of the golf ball...

But you're right in that he isn't in the fairway as much as he could be.

[KennyP]

[quote name='Vindog' timestamp='1335533608' post='4799674']
[quote name='J.W.' timestamp='1335533068' post='4799604']
[quote name='eric_b' timestamp='1335532844' post='4799566']
Greg Norman and Dustin Johnson aren't even comparable.....norman was long AND straight....making his driving his greatest asset.....sure johnson is long as all heck, but he's not exactly finding the short grass all that often....i'm not sure who would be comparable to norman nowadays....but it sure as heck ain't johnson.....bonus points to the first guy who says something about being a "natural athlete"....cause you know, dunking a basketball bare foot is really gonna help you on the links.....

Rory McIlory is a great iron player....but i would have taken luke donald....or maybe lee westwood....mcilroy's swing is prettier, but donald and westwood are fabulous iron players....but that's just my 2 cents.....
[/quote]

It was voted on by other guys out there...no? I mean what do they know?
[/quote]

That and it wasn't a vote on who is the "modern day Greg Norman" but a vote on who is the best current driver of the golf ball...

But you're right in that he isn't in the fairway as much as he could be.
[/quote]

You're being a touch harsh there guys. Wasn't Dustin the first to lead both driving distance and accuracy in one of the fed-ex playoff tournaments? I seem to remember this was the first time this had ever been done.

It's difficult to think of anyone better at present.

[Dave D]

id rather have Lee Westwoods driving game than Dustin Johnsons, jus sayin.

[Ranger Rick]

Always thought Westwood was pretty brilliant with the driver. Just checked the tours stats and he is leading Total Driving this year, 48th in distance, 12th in accuracy. Averaging 290 yards is pretty solid, and he hasn't been this short since 2004.

[bunter101]

[quote name='davekzg' timestamp='1335537039' post='4799992']
id rather have Lee Westwoods driving game than Dustin Johnsons, jus sayin.
[/quote]

Agreed, Westwood is the best driver of a ball. Long and straight.

RE Player being the best bunker player. He was until Seve showed up. Player = Donald... Seve = We could be waiting a long long time if ever.

[Vindog]

[quote name='KennyP' timestamp='1335535110' post='4799802']You're being a touch harsh there guys. Wasn't Dustin the first to lead both driving distance and accuracy in one of the fed-ex playoff tournaments? I seem to remember this was the first time this had ever been done.

It's difficult to think of anyone better at present.
[/quote]

I can think of several better, and it wasn't that difficult. I'm not knocking him at all, but one great tounament off the tee doesn't make you a great driver all the time. Just throwing that out there. I'm going to guess that manty of the votes for him were out of awe. I'm sure watching DJ and his swing pound the ball is very impressive. But he's never been ranked higher than 30th in total driving and his accuracy rankings haven't been that great through the years.

[tbowles411]

[quote name='Vindog' timestamp='1335537718' post='4800064']
[quote name='KennyP' timestamp='1335535110' post='4799802']You're being a touch harsh there guys. Wasn't Dustin the first to lead both driving distance and accuracy in one of the fed-ex playoff tournaments? I seem to remember this was the first time this had ever been done.

It's difficult to think of anyone better at present.
[/quote]

I can think of several better, and it wasn't that difficult. I'm not knocking him at all, but one great tounament off the tee doesn't make you a great driver all the time. Just throwing that out there. I'm going to guess that manty of the votes for him were out of awe. I'm sure watching DJ and his swing pound the ball is very impressive. But he's never been ranked higher than 30th in total driving and his accuracy rankings haven't been that great through the years.
[/quote]
Personally, I would put Westood in that stat. Heck, even Bubba Watson. As loopy as that swing is, he shapes shots, and rarely misses a fairway. And I heard that he's pretty long too...

[seak05]

Over the years Tiger's iron play has been massively underrated, and his putting slightly overrated. He gave himself a ton of birdie putts, and he is a good putter, so he'd covert on some of them. But Luke is a better putter than Tiger, and that was true even back in 2008.

Rory's iron game is slightly overrated. He hits a ton of gorgeous iron shots, but he's hit or miss, esp with a wedge. He' still young, I'd expect it to improve.

[Vindog]

Tiger's iron play underrated?

Taken for granted maybe. But I wouldn't say underrated.

[irlgolf56]

McIlroy's short iron play isn't as good as Donald's (not many are), but his overall iron game is superior in my opinion.

Saying that, I think Westwood is better than both of them.

[greens hit]

This sounds a bit too predictable and diplomatic to be a survey. Not one surprise in there. I'm a bit skeptical that it was a legitimate survey. Nicklaus/Tiger tie? What a freak occurrence.

[highdraw69]

i think Tiger is the greatest iron player ever, by a country mile (and the greatest putter); hogan was usually hitting his irons from the fairway, while Tiger can get on the green from anywhere

[Hacker#5252]

[quote name='greens hit' timestamp='1335541847' post='4800524']
This sounds a bit too predictable and diplomatic to be a survey. Not one surprise in there. I'm a bit skeptical that it was a legitimate survey. Nicklaus/Tiger tie? What a freak occurrence.
[/quote]

I think the players respect Nicklaus...and remember what it was like to be completely dominated by Tiger in a final round.

It is odd that 2 players would be perfectly ex-aequo though, I'll give you that.

I think Ken Venturi mentionned Byron Nelson as being the best ball striker ever. That would probably put him in the best iron ever category. In any case, these polls are to be taken with a grain of salt. Nobody knows who the greatest is, no matter what the category.

[spencer096]

id take rory's driving over DJ's, imo.

(now) irons is an interesting one...rory's not a bad pick, but lee and sergio belong in that convo too.