It is an interesting thought. Conventional wisdom says that he would be even more dominant with modern tech. But, maybe he was great for his time? What if you put A.J. Foyt in a modern INDY car? Would he dominate?
How Much Success Would Jack Nicklaus Have Today?
I know your kidding about Gretzky right???
I don’t know why I think this, but in today’s field and with todays tech I think he’d be closer to someone like Brooks than Tiger
I think only in golf where a legendary player like him would still be very competitive and win some tournaments/majors. With his skillset, competitiveness and modern tech, he would be top 10 imo.
Now if we're talking about other sports like hockey... I think players like Wayne Gretzky would be
Nope. He was a great scorer and a point collector during an era where goalies were hot garbage. Also, without supporting players like Semenko and McSorly, he would get destroyed since Gretzky never had a physical game. He played for my team for 8 seasons and I loved him but to say he's the Great one? Nah. Gordie or Orr imo are the great ones. Wrong thread. Jack would be great still!
To reverse it a bit. How would Tiger do back in Jack's era? I think he would dominate because his creativity and short game would outclass most. And he would still have the power.
It’s really hard to say. My gut is that he would be one of the top guys and have absolutely incredible performances but the talent gap at the top is tighter and he wouldn’t dominate like he did.
I think we would win a lot. I’m not sure he would dominate though. Players are different now. These are true athletes. I’m not saying players back then weren’t great. It’s just truly the players now are very talented athletes.
I don’t know average but he played in a time where goalies were a joke and pads were small. Even he acknowledged it’s much hard now to score. Thats why Ovi’s record is amazing. Goalies are a 1000000x better now.
Goalies were hot garbage in the eras of Patrick Roy, Martin Brodeur, Dominik Hasek, Grant Fuhr, Chris Osgood and Mike Vernon?
I think if anything, Gretz would be even more dominant in today's game. The goonery has been toned down considerably since his era, it's still undeniably a physical game but the players can't get away with the kind of hits they dished out back then. There are a lot more "pests" than true "enforcers" on NHL rosters now.
Those were 90's goalies minus Fuhr. Gretzky got a lot of his points in the 80's
80's goalies were mostly all Standup style tendies. Roy and his hybrid style changed the game for the modern goalies.
I never saw Jack play. I don't know how his short game was. He probably would be damn solid, but I don't know if he would be as dominate.
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He would dominate much like Tiger did. Physical gifts aside, his mental game would be the best in the game.
This take is as bad as this guy who argued that Larry Bird was an unathletic Kyle Korver: https://www.thehackersparadise.com/forum/index.php?threads/basketball-debate-need-thoughts.70089/
I think he would be dominant and I’m with those think his greatest asset is his mindset. I think I recall him thanking his family for their support because to be at the top for so long is a selfish quest.
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If he was playing today, he'd definitely shut up about it.
For having an opinion?
Let’s be honest, you could probably count on 2 hands the amount of very good to dominant Golfers in Jacks day whereas in todays game you could say there are dozens of very good to dominate Golfers who could easily win week in and week out… to be honest I hate conversations like these, to me why can’t we just let the greats (of their time) remain great without comparing their eras… cause nobody really knows, and isn’t it kinda hypothetical anyway? But to answer the question, no I don’t think Jack would be the Jack that we hear/know him to be.
Opinions can absolutely be disrespectful, yes. I was saying it jokingly so I'm not actually saying anything about anyone here, but they absolutely can be.
About? I don't need to treat Jack with any reverence.
He was a great player. Maybe his game would translate to 2025 golf, I dunno. But I don't think it's out of bounds to not think he's infallible.
Birdieputt
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exactly the man was carrying it over 300 yards with a little persimmon driver. Imagine what today's equipment would do for someone with that talent. It would be unfair. With the athletic training available he might be even better than he was.
Well he's like 90 and has a ton of artificial body parts so yea.