viewpoint TOUR TALES & TRUE
Grant Dodd
The relativity of greatness
T
he terms “great” and “champion” have become malleable.
Perhaps it is the proliferation of differing forms of media or
an ever-growing public hunger for heroes, but sporting fig-
ures generally seem to meet the criteria for the previously
exclusive titles more readily than ever before.
Even if the application of these terms is more liberal, individual sports
will always have their defined greats. Every era in sport produces
figures deified by virtue of performance, their places in history and
folklore cemented forever.
Golf in particular has an elite and finite core of past greats. The
performance clauses required to qualify as a true ‘great’ are largely
unwritten and yet there is a strangely comfortable consensus
about those who occupy the inner sanctum. Entry to that hallowed
world comes through extraordinary achievement, followed by a
glacial, subconscious infiltration of the hearts and minds of the golf
public. The passage of time and our proclivity to glorify the past usually
does the rest.
Last century, the true greats of golf were clearly defined. Bobby
Jones, Walter Hagen, Sam Snead, Ben Hogan, Gene Sarazen and
Byron Nelson singularly qualify to fill the pre and early post-war period,
while Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Tom Watson are
the consensus picks from the latter half of the century.
In reality, there is no one from either period who can claim exception
to being excluded from this group. Fans of Lee Trevino may well feel
aggrieved, but for reasons unexplained he is only occasionally afforded
the same reverential worship.
Patently, another name already has a place in such company. That
same name could, in time, be viewed as belonging to an echelon of
greatness of its own.
Tiger Woods may eventually be considered the greatest golfer who
has ever lived. At this point in history he rules the modern game in such
a way that it is defined by his presence and persona.
Woods’ dominance of golf and of those who have competed against
him creates a difficult and rarely asked question. Of his contemporaries,
who can, or will in the future, justly qualify as ‘great’?
Further, if true greatness is indeed relative, is it possible that Woods’
version of great is so much better than that of his current opponents
that they are considered diminished in stature by comparison?
For all his talent, will Phil Mickelson assume a place in that hierarchy?
What about Ernie Els? Both players have three major championships
to their name and have often been brilliant, if enigmatic competitors.
Pointedly, however, Woods has largely dominated both in head-to-
head battles when an event is on the line, a factor that passes its own
48 Australian Golf Digest march 2008
Lee Trevino knocked
on greatness’ door.
form of judgment when comparisons are being made.
Nick Faldo, with six majors to his name, and Seve Ballesteros (with
five) are possibly the two from the modern era closest to such an
ordination. Yet with both players, it seems that an intangible is either
missing, or lost.
With Faldo, it is what might be described as universal appeal. The
brilliant Englishman had a metronomic, clinical and ruthlessly effective
approach to the game but the warmth that is accorded to other past
champions of similar (and lesser) achievement was rarely his to share.
His emergence as a commentator of note in recent times is at odds
with his previously fractious media relationship, but he has welcomely
revealed a more complex, faceted personality that may redefine him to
current and subsequent generations.
Ballesteros was undoubtedly one of the most talismanic figures ever
to play the game. His rise to the top was majestic and exhilarating; his
slow deterioration painful and soul destroying to watch. An agonising
demise shouldn’t detract from what he achieved but for some it will
be enough to see him denied the metaphorical ascension that might
otherwise have been automatic.
All of this is mere theorising. The machinations of time and a human
predilection for selective memory will eventually decide. But if the
golf world were Woods-less, one suspects that we would have a
completely different perception of the relative merits of many players,
both now and in the future.
The book of history will detail Tiger Woods’ achievements great and
GRANT HALVERSON/GETTY IMAGES
small, his name both title and postscript as new pages are composed.
Redefining greatness is likely to be included. Ultimately, it will be his
most significant accomplishment. ●
Grant Dodd has been a member of the Australasian PGA Tour since
1993 and played in the 1997 and 1998 British Opens. To ask Grant a
question, visit winingpro.com.