Tiger wins his 6th individual event in a row. A record?

Qadgop_the_Mercotan · October 1, 2006, 11:31pm

Like the title says. Any other golfer win 6 individual strokeplay events in a row before?

Mayo_Speaks · October 1, 2006, 11:35pm

Nope. The recently departed Byron Nelson won 11 in a row.

Qadgop_the_Mercotan · October 1, 2006, 11:49pm

Wow. That’s a few!

rexnervous · October 2, 2006, 12:04am

Though Tiger’s achievement is probably more impressive, given the amount of talent in the competition compared to back then.

Least_Original_User_Name_Ever · October 2, 2006, 12:43am

Agreed with the rex. Lord Byron won a lot, but the talent pool was more shallow. However, it’s like shooting 66 on a short municipal course: it’s still a hell of an accomplishment any way you slice it. If you belittle it, go out there and show me you can do better.

Tiger is amazing and if he never existed, we’d be talking about Phil Mickleson with the same reverence and air.
Okay, maybe not the SAME reverence, but relatively close to it.

Least_Original_User_Name_Ever · October 2, 2006, 12:45am

Additionally, I don’t want to hear ANYONE say that it’s not his 6th in a row because of the Ryder Cup. That’s complete bullshit and I’ll have none of that, y’hear?

Lamar_Mundane · October 2, 2006, 12:54am

I can’t agree with that. Phil has three majors, the same number as Vijay Singh and Ernie Els, and one more than Retief Goosen. I think those guys would have taken a healthy share of the Majors if Tiger was not around.

I don’t think any of them would come close to approaching Tiger-like reverence.

Xema · October 2, 2006, 12:58am

At least one of those was a team event. (I wanted to provide more detail, but I’m having trouble finding a list of the 11.)

Exapno_Mapcase · October 2, 2006, 4:32am

Nelson won eighteen events that year, including the only major. And he was second seven times.

I always assumed that the only reason he could have done this was that all of his competition was in the service and he was playing against guys like Pete Gray of the St. Louis Browns. (Look him up.)

But apparently not so.

There are a couple arguments thrown out by people who believe Nelson’s 1945 record isn’t as impressive as it looks. First is that the PGA Tour in 1945 included several team events, and several of Nelson’s wins came with him as part of a 2-man team. Second is that it was a war year; World War II, the argument goes, caused the fields to be weaker due to missing players. Specifically, detractors say, Ben Hogan and Sam Snead weren’t around to challenge Nelson for supremacy.

There were several team events on the schedule in 1945, but only one of them - the Miami Four-Ball - is among Nelson’s 18 victories. So the first point is, well, pointless. The second point is utterly bogus. Now, the overall quality, from top to bottom, of the fields in 1945 was certainly weaker than it would be in 1946. But many of the top players were, like Nelson, around the full year. Jimmy Demaret and Craig Wood, for example, played full seasons.

And Hogan and Snead were most definitely around. Hogan played 19 tournaments in 1945, while Snead played 27 (Nelson played 30 or 31 events, depending on who’s doing the record-keeping). So Snead played essentially the full season, while Hogan played about two-thirds of it. Hogan and Snead both won multiple times in 1945.

Dinsdale · October 2, 2006, 2:01pm

Yeah, not to take anything away from Tiger’s amazing accomplishments, but I’d put money on Snead and Hogan against just about any of the folk nipping at Tiger’s heels these days.

Was reading this a.m. that in Tiger’s mind, the streak was broken when he lost in the Match Play competition before the Ryder - but that doesn’t count against the streak because it wasn’t a PGA event.

Tho the competition may be deeper these days, Tiger certainly has advantages Byron never would have dreamed of. Equipment companies tailor-making balls and clubs for him, a crowd of people caring for his every need, multiple coaches, private jets, the ability to play in only a few events, any comfort money can buy. Of course, Tiger has increased stresses given the media spotlight these days.

Always tough to compare across eras. No question about it, tho - Tiger is amazing and before he is done there will be no question that he will have been the greatest golfer ever (except for his inexplicable vanishing act in the Ryder!)