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Tiger Wood's has often been labeled as the best ever golfer, but with his recent controversies should be be at the top of the list? We asked, out of this list of 15 top players, who do you currently think is the greatest male golfer ever. You also had the option of other. See also our discussion on the best golfer ever.

When the poll was closed in 2025, it was a close vote between Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus, with Nicklaus "the Golden Bear" the most popular choice.

the results when the poll was archived in 2025

Disclaimer: These polls are not scientific, and only reflect the opinion of visitors to this website who have chosen to participate.

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Old Comments

Commenting is closed on this page, though you can read some previous comments below which may answer some of your questions.

• To me itâ s clearly Tiger Woods because he dominated the sport for several years at a time where there were much more. Players of top caliber that he had to compete against. Although Jack Nicklaus is a close second he does not compare to Tiger Woods who completely dominated the tour for several years Under much more pressure than Jack Nicklaus had to sustain during his reign as top player. (from Terrin Brysman, April 2023)
• Bobby Jones hands down. Won thirteen majors from 1923 to 1930 as an amateur playing part-time and did all of it before turning 29. NO QUESTION! Greatest achievement ever. Bone (2015)
• Put your mortgage money on one game. I love Jack but I bet on Hogan. Make all things even in the vote for the best ravel, equipment, purses, courses, schedules, possible tournaments etc. Jack finished top three in majors almost 50 times. He could easily have 25 or 30. Finally Tuger has someone to shoot at and all he cares about is breaking Jack's records. Jack passed everyone fairly early so he had no target. Jack, Ben, Tiger in a close finish! Jack Corbin Getz (2013)
• World War II prevented Ben Hogan from playing his first major until 1946. He went on to win nine majors in 16 starts. Hogan went on to win 31 tournaments in three years from 1946-1948, including three majors. In 1949, Hogan was nearly killed in a head-on collision with a bus, suffering a fractured pelvis and other broken bones.Doctors were unsure if he would be able to walk again, let alone play golf. Hogan was effectively crippled for the rest of his life, but he recovered but would never playmore than six tournaments in a season again. He was unable to compete in the US PGA Championship because it was a grueling match play format in those days. What Hogan did from 1950-1953 was almost superhuman, bearing in mind his physical limitations.He won six major championships in only nine total starts. In 1953 he won three majors in three starts. The British Open and PGA Championship had conflicting schedules, so Hogan was unable to attempt to win the grand slam. From 1946-53, Ben Hogan won nine major championships in only 16 starts. From the 1948 US Open to the 1953 British Open he won eight majors out of 11 in which he competed. He finished outside the top ten only once - at the 1947 PGA Championship. No other golfer, including Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods and any others you care to name can match the percentage achieved by Hogan. Oh, yes, I forgot to mention that Ben Hogan is universally acknowledged as the best ball-striker of all time. I rest my case. Derek Hooper (2013)
• Hogan was the greatest ball striker ever. However, he did not have the raw power of Nicklaus to overwhelm a golf course. Tough to compete when you're hitting a 5 iron into an elevated green when your opponent is hitting a 9 iron. Guest Derek Hooper (2017)
• Welll said. His work ethic inspires me to this day. You have to dig it out of the ground. Chip Derek Hooper (2014)
• Right on. See my comments above. Taking a poll today when so many "kids" voting never saw Jack or Ben play biases the poll by 50%. Jack Corbin Getz Derek Hooper (2013)
• I think Bobby Jones was. For one he couldn't play in the PGA championship as he was an amatuer. Couldn't play in the Masters as he had stopped playing golf competitively before the course was even built. Jack played for roughly 28 years to get 20 majors (counting amatuer), Tiger has been at it for 26 years counting amatuer years and has 18...JONES ? 13 majors in 8 years. Stopping at the age of 28 years old. Gary Lynd (2020)
• Look at this list of great players. Read the names carefully as over half of the names on this list competed directly against Jack Nicklaus. How many on this list competed directly against Tiger Woods? None. Yet Nicklaus won 18 majors to Tiger's 14. Guest (2017)
• Jack Nicklaus is the greatest golfer I ever saw, but Tiger is oh so close behind. There are no other golfers who are close to these two. Anne Mitchell` (2016)
• I am torn between Jack and Tiger. And I wouldn't argue anyone down too hard who said it was Nicklaus, Hogan or Jones... For instance, equipment has improved the performance of players so much that it's hard to not take that into account when comparing the all-time greats. However, I give the edge to Tiger for one reason: Tiger simply played against the largest fields filled with the widest pool of talent in the sport's history to date. And he absolutely dominated it for well over a decade. That to me is the one thing that transcends raw numbers of majors, tour victories, equipment changes, etc. Tiger truly played the BEST in the world during his era when the BEST in the world were pretty damn good and when the BEST in the world truly came from ALL OVER THE WORLD and he ABSOLUTELY DOMINATED them. I hate holding a player's era against him because it truly is out of that person's control (e.g. Lennox Lewis in boxing...GREAT all time boxer in a bad era.) but it does matter. Rashod Welch (2015)
• Hideous, Tiger Woods is not the best ever. Nicklaus is. Until Woods doesn't beat his record in a "fair" way (not like all those councils who decide on naming the best, which often is just the one with the highest financial interest). It's just that we always tend to nominate those who are active at the time. Media tends to take black guys. I'm not racist, the media is, towards the white race. Yes, MJ is the best Bballer of all times, no argument about this, Rice ist the best american footballer, also no argument, Usain Bolt is the best (dopped) sprinter of all times.
  But what about football (or soccer)? Pele is not the best, Beckenbauer, Muller, Maradona, Best and Garrincha were better. Boxing? Well, Ali is definetely not the best, Rocky Marciano would have wiped the floor with him. Tennis? Female best is not Serena Williams, Stefanie Graf was better and there are some other girls today, which are better. Male tennis, well I don't know any black players who might have won something. All I can say is: If you ever vote for somebody to be the best, think about all the facts, not just pure Numbers, as they might not be comparable. Just think about in which time an athlete was active. Consider the fact that some awards like MVP might not have been awarded back then. And other awards have been lost in time. Also, think of the competition the athlete had. Pele played in a very weak league oposed to Beckenbauer or Zidane. And think about the teammates (if it's a teamsport) the player had. Pele had a lot of legends on his side, who could've won the WC without him. And at last keep the skin colors out. Black people do not have superior genetics and physics, the black superstars just often come from a much more competitive background and are forced to work hard since their youth. ExtremeDeathman (2013)
• Tiger Woods is defenately the best player ever! (from Tomas)
• It's time to stop asking this question, it is clearly Tiger Woods by a mile. (from The Wise Man, Mar 2013)
• Tiger is by far the greatest thing to happen to golf. However,Ben Hogen made golf what it is today, exciteing ! (from Frank Stotz, Mar 2013)
• Tiger Woods brought exciting golf to most of the world-Asia!! He, unlike Jack, brought Arnie's charisma combined with Jack's abilities to billions of new viewers-the people of Asia. He is the Cassius Clay of golf-not the most majors, but everything else! (from Dean Knudson, Sept 2012)
• Byron Nelson. 11 in a row, and the others that season 2nd place? 30 majors can't match that. Then add his personality. Living the humble, arrogant free life. No wonder he lived so long. I miss him so much. My interest in playing the game dropped 50% when he passed on to Heaven. JN is more ahead of TW for this reason too: he's got TW beat in wins in three of the four majors, and tied in the other one. It's not just total, it should be rated that way too. Why doesn't anybody bring that up? And this is coming from a guy who can't stand JN. He's an arrogant, egocentric, self-absorbed, legend-in-his-own-mind, bad loser. He quit playing senior golf only when he realized his peers will probably beat him way more than he coud beat them. Cop-out if I ever saw one. His wife is much more respectful, modest, humble. TW and JN have a lot in common, personality wise, not just golf wins. (from  Tom Moore, MA, June 2011)
• Arnold Palmer any day (Oct, 2010)