Half-Decades of Dominance

     In 2009, as Tiger looked poised to draw ever nearer to Jack's all-time record of 18 professional majors, the "Who's the Greatest?" question rightly also drew to the fore. Tiger has certainly earned a spot in that discussion already, and in the opinion of many already wears the crown.
     What I find interesting, however, is how the question is generally framed: Usually, it's from a "full career" standpoint; occasionally it gets asked as, "Who was better at their respective peaks?" With the full career option, Jack and Tiger generally stand head and shoulders above the crowd – particularly if you look primarily, or exclusively, at number of majors won, as many commentators do. The problem, as I see it, is that longevity becomes too large of a factor.
     For instance ... let's say Tiger Woods decides to retire from professional golf tomorrow to enter a monastery. He will still be four major wins short of Jack's career record. But everyone would say, "Yeah, but if that scandal thing hadn't have happened ...."
     Should that matter? Maybe, maybe not. It depends on how you approach things.

     Yet, looking at only one best year – for instance, Tiger's 2000 vs. Jack's 1972 or '75 – doesn't provide a satisfying answer, either. Lots of players who don't belong in the "best ever" conversation have had outstanding years. Think of Byron Nelson, who had arguably the greatest single year in golf history when he won 18 tournaments, including 11 consecutively, in 1945 (though many argue the competition was diminished that year because of World War II). Yet, Nelson retired young (at 32, in 1946), so it's hard to say what he might have accomplished down the line – or if his prime hadn't been interrupted by the Great War. He won "only" five majors in his career, but ... what if? (Image: In 2006, shortly after his death, Nelson was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal for his "significant contributions to the game of golf as a player, a teacher, and a commentator." Wikimedia Commons.)

     On the flip side, Sam Snead won a remarkable number of tournaments over a very long career. He still holds the record for most official PGA tournaments won (82). Does this qualify him as "best ever"? Probably not, because he didn't win as many majors (seven) as he probably should have. And he was just never as dominant as others under consideration (his majors were much more spread out than Arnie's seven, for example).
     So I've often thought it would be interesting to split the difference between the "career" and "peak" discussions and compare the best five-year runs of various great golfers. When looked at this way, a host of new names come into the picture, and a legitimate debate can be had that does not include only Tiger and Jack.
     In a series of future posts, Whiffling Straits will take a look at what I consider to be the best five-year stretches of the following legendary golfers:
     Tom Morris Jr. (Young Tom) – 1868-1872
     Harry Vardon – 1896-1900
     Walter Hagen – 1924-1928
     Bobby Jones – 1926-1930
     Byron Nelson –  1939-42, 1945*
     Ben Hogan – 1948, 1950-1953*
     Arnold Palmer – 1960-1964
     Jack Nicklaus – 1971-1975
     Tiger Woods – 1999-2003

Factors to be considered will include such things as majors won, other significant victories, total tournaments won, strength of competition, etc. The idea will not be to declare a winner but to simply present the relevant evidence and let readers decide for themselves who they think had the most dominant half-decade in golf history. I'll also devote a post to why a few conspicuously absent names, such as Gary Player, don't belong in this particular discussion.

     Stay tuned! Warming up on the first tee: Walter Hagen. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

* I'll be giving Nelson a WWII exemption for the 1943 and '44 seasons and Hogan a medical exemption for 1949. We can discuss whether this is justified when the time comes.