Betting on the GOAT: Koepka’s Latest Major Victory Sparks a Debate
Brooks Koepka is back on top after getting his fifth major victory during the 2023 PGA Championship at Oak Hill Country Club. He went nine-under for the tournament and three-under on its final day—an impressive performance from a guy considered more of an amateur some years ago. As a result, people are now comparing Koepka with legendary golfers that dominated during their prime. Although farfetched, it is hard not to compare Koepka with Tiger Woods’s overall record:
When making comparisons like this, it is easy to leave out that the stats of Tiger Woods are taken from a much larger sample. Koepka has participated in far fewer tournaments, and by the time he has caught up with the number of tournaments Tiger has participated in. Well, his stats will be worse than now.
Tiger Woods is the best golfer of all time; it cannot be disputed. Even that table is a testament to that fact. Koepka has been on a fantastic streak since 2017, but that he will keep that pace is unlikely.
By the time Tiger was 23, he had already won his fifth major. He then continued with an extreme pace during the 2000s until he finally regressed, mainly due to injuries and personal troubles. Since the end of the 2000s, he has made a gradual comeback and even won his 15th major in 2019.
Tiger Woods has it all: success, money, fame, and being the best to ever do it in most people’s eyes.
So why does he continue?
It is all about Jack Nicklaus’ old record of 18 major wins. In the early day of Tiger’s career, he focused on winning 20 majors. His former caddie, Steve Williams, spoke out on this matter a few years ago. He said that Tiger was obsessed with breaking Nicklaus’ record. But that was before his career unraveled in 2008.
Tiger needs three more to tie the record and another to break the record. By golf standards, he is young at the tender age of 47. However, with his history of injuries, the question is if his body will hold up. The overall standard of the field has increased a lot over the last 20 years, making the tournaments tougher to beat. But he did it in 2019, so it is not impossible.
It is unlikely that Brooks Koepka or any other younger player on the tour will surpass either. The most exciting question in the GOAT debate is if Tiger Woods can beat Jack Nicklaus’ record of 18 major wins. If he does, even the most prominent critics would have to admit that Tiger Woods is the greatest of all time.
The best way to gauge Tiger’s chances is by looking at the facts, and the numbers, and leaving out all emotion. This can be done by checking the odds from major sports betting sites. The odds of Tiger Woods breaking Jack Nicklaus’ record are featured by select bookmakers from time to time. The most recent odds for Tiger breaking the record was +2000. We reached out and asked JustGamblers sports, for a comment on this topic. They said that his chances are dropping every year and that a fair estimate today is an odds closer to +3000 than +2000, especially after another missed tour due to injury. They went on to say that Tiger definitely has one more in him, but another four is highly unlikely.
It is hard to disagree with those odds. We ran a conversion, and +3000 is the equivalent of 3.2%. However, ask any golf fan or player on the tour, and they will say that Tiger Woods can still show up and win another major or even two. It all comes down to whether his body can withstand the training and build-up around the modern-day PGA tour.
But in our minds, the GOAT debate is already settled. Tiger Woods is the best golf player of all time. This is despite Nicklaus’ stats at the major. Besides his wins, he has 46 top threes compared to 26 top threes. But the field and the overall competition were extremely weak compared to the 2000s. The difference between the field today and the 2000s is noteworthy, but it is like night and day compared to the 1970s and the 2000s. So, while Nicklaus’ record is the greatest of all time, Tiger Woods is the greatest player of all time.
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