SweetiePie:Ok Snaike, I'll bite. Who was the best golfer who ever lived...Tom Morris? His son?
SP... I see that you've missed the point altogether... That's ok.
The point is that there is no way to quantify ANY golfer as the GOAT. Every era, every generation, has their winners and their losers. Golf has been around for too long and had too many changes for any one person to be crowned king of all time.
You're a fan of Tiger's, congratulations. Your hero can do no wrong... fine. This is your opinion and you're welcome to it. Eldrick has proven himself to be the best golfer of this generation... but that's all. There is no way he can prove he was better or worse than any person he did not compete against in their prime.
It is, as I repeat myself, intellectually dishonest and short-sighted to think that the newest is the greatest when you can not compare the new to the old.
There is no answer to that question, Lily, if we are honest.
Another fine example is Formula 1. The times change, the cars change, the rules change... so, which was the GOAT? Juan Mangio winning basically everything in the 50s, Jackie Stewart in the 70s, or Michael Schumacher around the turn of the century? They've had about 60 years in their sport and you'll find just as heated a debate as any... and here we are with golf that's been around three, four, five times as long (depending on who you ask.)
Just because you've seen someone hit some 'miraculous' shots does not mean that the others who have come before couldn't, or even dare I say, "didn't" hit those same shots. But you've seen your hero and that's enough for you.
Objectivity and logic need to weigh in... =)