Tiger Woods the golfer. Athlete? Great Athlete? Best ever?

[matfanofold]

Another thread has me wondering the popular consencus of this. We all know this has been debated before, but lets rehash it out again. Tiger, the golf player, the greatest ever to play the game of golf! However, do you consider him a "athlete"? A top athlete? The best ever athlete ever, in any sport?


Personally, I do not consider golf a real sport any more than darts, pool, lawn mowing, or lawn jarts. However, I assume by Tigers build that he is a ok athlete, and a damn fine golfer for sure!


Oh, and if you are indeed voting for "greatest athlete of all time", please chime in and offer an explaination, please? Perhaps I am wrong and would love to hear a valid reason as to his consideration!

 

[ChasHawk]

Didn't pick one because there was no option for...

great athlete and the best at golf.

Nowhere near the greatest athlete of all time though.

 

[matfanofold]

Didn't pick one because there was no option for...

great athlete and the best at golf.

Nowhere near the greatest athlete of all time though.

Fixed it for you!

 

[NYCrulesU]

When the phrase "greatest athlete" is brought up one name and one name only comes to mind. Jim Thorpe. Tiger is no Jim Thorpe. Not even close. Tiger is the best at what he does, golf. He will go down as the greatest golfer ever, until the next greatest golfer ever comes along one day.

 

[matfanofold]

Taken from a double post...

you neeed to be an athlete to play golf. Tiger Woods, Great Athlete best golfer ever but not best athlete ever. for best athleate ever i would say ruth or gretzy, or jordan. i dont watch ever sport though so i might not be right

 

[Jack Straw]

I know Hockey gets no respect but Gretzky has to be considered.

 

[200lbhockeyplayer]

I know Hockey gets no respect but Gretzky has to be considered.

Gretzky wasn't even a "complete" hockey player in many hockey fans' eyes.

That said, my modern "Best Athlete Ever" would be Dave Winfield because he dominated three sports...baseball, football and basketball. Upon graduating from Minnesota, Winfield was drafted by teams in the MLB, NBA, ABA and NFL. Of course, a guy like Jim Brown who was supposedly a better lacrosse player than football player would have to be in the mix as well.

I can't possibly ever come to the conclusion that Tiger Woods is "the best athlete of all-time" because I don't know what else he can do. "Best golfer"? Sure, we have concrete results that can easily debate that belief, but not best athlete.

 

[steve-a-reno]

For those voting great athlete or best athlete of all time, what athletic achievement have you ever seen Tiger Woods do? All I've seen him do is play golf. He very well might be a decent athlete, but I doubt any of us has ever seen him do anything like that.

 

[dadofandrew]

I picked great athlete and best at golf. I used to think you didn't need to be an athlete to play golf until I walked 27 holes in one day.

 

[hofautos]

it takes more athleticism to play a round of golf than to play left field, right field, dh or pitching, so if he is not an athlete then neither are a 1/3 of all baseballl players.

 

[hofautos]

I picked great athlete and best at golf. I used to think you didn't need to be an athlete to play golf until I walked 27 holes in one day.

+1, now swing the club too...

 

[200lbhockeyplayer]

it takes more athleticism to play a round of golf than to play left field, right field, dh or pitching, so if he is not an athlete then neither are a 1/3 of all baseballl players.

Rarely do baseball players come up in any sort of "best athlete ever" discussion.

 

[Chris D.]

I don't consider golf to be a sport or golfers to be athletes. Heck, I don't think I consider baseball players to be athletes, but they can be athletic. To me, athletes are well-rounded and multi-skilled at different sports and events, not specializing in just one. Golf is like bowling for me. I consider them hobbies. I'm not a Tiger or golf fan, but I consider him to be the best.

 

[steve-a-reno]

it takes more athleticism to play a round of golf than to play left field, right field, dh or pitching, so if he is not an athlete then neither are a 1/3 of all baseballl players.

:lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[NYCrulesU]

it takes more athleticism to play a round of golf than to play left field, right field, dh or pitching, so if he is not an athlete then neither are a 1/3 of all baseballl players.

:lol: :lol: :lol:

+1

 

[BunchOBull]

Great Athlete, the best Golfer...

Jim Thorpe or Jesse Owens get my votes for best athlete of all time. I think of Tiger and Michael Phelps in the same light...unstoppable at what they do, but certainly not jacks-of-all-trades.


edited to add: Dave Winfield was a pretty darn good athlete himself.

 

[Bornagaincollector]

I wouldn't consider Woods a great Athlete.The best golfer ever for sure.I agree on Winfield,i will add a few names.

Lance Armstrong
BO Jackson
Kirk Gibson[He did play 3 sports in Collegeif i'm not mistaken

I think Lebron James should get some notice.His hs football #'s are insane and many people say he would have made it to the NFL and been a great Player if he would have taken fb instead of bb.

 

[brouthercard]

I really think you have to clarify what "athlete" means and your definition of "great".

If your definition of athlete is someone who is capable of competing in sports at a professional level, then anyone who is a professional sportsman is a great athlete - the best of the best from all the colleges/high schools in the country.

If your definition of athlete is someone who can jump higher, run faster, throw farther, swim faster, bike faster, and propel themselves into the air with a plastic stick higher than anyone, then you really can't call anyone in professional sports "the best", you'd have to look at decatheletes or iron man competitors - people who are the most well-rounded athletes in the world.

Tiger Woods- he's probably athletic, I mean he could probably outrun you, jump higher than you, and hit a ball farther than you- so he's more athletic than 95% of the people in this country cause he competes on a professional level and stays in shape. But then again, so is John Daly, if you consider hitting a ball far to be athletic.

There are athletes of brute strength and power bursts, and there are athletes of stamina. Football players are the former and basketball and soccer players the latter. You have to be athletic to play baseball to a certain degree, but you must be skilled at a specific task, hitting a baseballl, or throwing the ball hard- David Wells and Prince Fielder are athletic by this definition.

Tiger Woods is an athlete, the best athlete in HIS sport, and the greatest golfer ever. I bet you Jim Thorpe couldn't hit a golf ball as accurately and as far as Tiger, and I promise you Adrian Peterson can't hit an 18 foot putt to win the Masters.

 

[ChasHawk]

ath·lete

NOUN:

A person possessing the natural or acquired traits, such as strength, agility, and endurance, that are necessary for physical exercise or sports, especially those performed in competitive contexts.

 

[G $MONEY$]

What about Tom Glavine? Great pitcher who was also an NHL draft pick.