Who is the greatest?

[Neil Young]

You could argue that golf is simply less competitive.

I'm not sure anything meaningful can be said in terms of comparing the greatness of people in different sports. They both redefined the standards of the sport they compete in.

Which is part of what I am arguing.

[wiw]

How is it possibly less competitive? At the end of the day they've both dedicated their lives to a sport and become consistently better than thousands of others in it

I'm actually coming round to shaggy's viewpoint in that beating a field of 160 players consistently for years on end is phenominal

[red g]

what about this fella?

what they put there body through is quite incredible

[red g]

Woods obviously had to climb his way to no.1 but once there he has remained there ever since…at the pinnacle.

In fact I believe this debate isn’t even a valid one as Federer isn’t currently the no.1 in his sport. As great as he is, there’s no comparison in my opinion.

didnt woods have a couple of relatively bad years though? about 5/6 years ago?

I seem to recall him changing his swing and losing his number 1 spot to

[Shaggy]

There is also a clear difference between the mental demands of golf and sports like tennis or football. The latter are much more spontaneous and instinctive. Golf places a far greater mental strain on the individual and with that comes much greater pressure, self-doubt etc.

Running to the pub and running like Usain Bolt – at the end of the day it’s still running. Same as going for a bike ride and ‘racing’. It’s still sitting down and pedalling. Nothing more, nothing less.

[Imy]

There is also a clear difference between the mental demands of golf and sports like tennis or football. The latter are much more spontaneous and instinctive. Golf places a far greater mental strain on the individual and with that comes much greater pressure, self-doubt etc.

Golf thus belongs alongside Snooker and possibly darts?

[Darkon]

But tennis is far easier because you only play a small handful of opponents, and even then many of the better ones get knocked out and you don’t even have to play them. You can reach the quarters of a tennis tournament without breaking sweat, whereas in a golf event you have to beat 160 odd opponents….opponents who remain in the tournament until the very end, save those who miss the cut.

In golf you are playing against the course, against yourself AND against opponents, albeit indirectly.

But like I said all this is invalid while Federer isn’t even top dog in his own sport.

But still, out of the 160, only 10 or so a really in contest for wining. You hardly concern youself with the players placed 20+ coming last round... and properly not even 10+.

But Golf is far less physical than tennis, football etc. and calling it a proper sport means that you could put in Darts, Billiard, mini-golf and such as a top sport as well. The only thing that keeps golf from being a pub-game is the size of the course really.

As I asked earlier, which footballer at the age of 38 would you consider the be amongst the elite of players? Same goes with Tennis...

Tiger Woods is very good at what he does, and the best at it there has ever been - but I would still put federer above him.

Don't get me wrong i enjoy playing Golf once in a while - but I don't go home bragging about my day of sports.

[Neil Young]

There is also a clear difference between the mental demands of golf and sports like tennis or football. The latter are much more spontaneous and instinctive. Golf places a far greater mental strain on the individual and with that comes much greater pressure, self-doubt etc.

Running to the pub and running like Usain Bolt – at the end of the day it’s still running. Same as going for a bike ride and ‘racing’. It’s still sitting down and pedalling. Nothing more, nothing less.

The mental strain on athletes is enormous too. Can you imagine the demands of being able to put your entire effort into a concentrated 10 seconds of pain like Bolt or 1 minute like Hoy or 3½ minutes like a 1500m runner? Let alone the mental and physical effort required to haul yourself 260km then sprint like f*ck at the end like Cavendish did at Milan-San Remo. Then imagine what it's like to race every day for three weeks, climbing mountains at more than 20+ km/h.

Besides, golf is golf is golf. There is absolutely no difference in the game between Tiger Woods whacking a ball around at St Andrew's and you farting about on your local course. Except Tiger probably hasn't masturbated in an Old Course bunker.

[Shaggy]

The mental strain on athletes is enormous too. Can you imagine the demands of being able to put your entire effort into a concentrated 10 seconds of pain like Bolt or 1 minute like Hoy or 3½ minutes like a 1500m runner? Let alone the mental and physical effort required to haul yourself 260km then sprint like f*ck at the end like Cavendish did at Milan-San Remo. Then imagine what it's like to race every day for three weeks, climbing mountains at more than 20+ km/h.

Besides, golf is golf is golf. There is absolutely no difference in the game between Tiger Woods whacking a ball around at St Andrew's and you farting about on your local course. Except Tiger probably hasn't masturbated in an Old Course bunker.

It strikes me that the crux of the arguments of most people voting for Federer is they don’t like golf, and their derision of the sport in general forms the basis of their arguments for Federer,

I’m a fan of both sports and I think the question can only be answered fairly by people who like both.

Like I said it’s clearly pointless but it passes the time!

[Shaggy]

But still, out of the 160, only 10 or so a really in contest for wining. You hardly concern youself with the players placed 20+ coming last round... and properly not even 10+.

But Golf is far less physical than tennis, football etc. and calling it a proper sport means that you could put in Darts, Billiard, mini-golf and such as a top sport as well. The only thing that keeps golf from being a pub-game is the size of the course really.

As I asked earlier, which footballer at the age of 38 would you consider the be amongst the elite of players? Same goes with Tennis...

Tiger Woods is very good at what he does, and the best at it there has ever been - but I would still put federer above him.

Don't get me wrong i enjoy playing Golf once in a while - but I don't go home bragging about my day of sports.

I'm about to go out for lunch and will address this when I get back.

[Darkon]

didnt woods have a couple of relatively bad years though? about 5/6 years ago?

I seem to recall him changing his swing and losing his number 1 spot to

Aye, he lost his no. 1 spot to Vijay Singh who was no. 1 for 32 weeks in 2004-2005.

Vijay also took home most prize money in 2003, 2004 and 2008...

[Neil Young]

It strikes me that the crux of the arguments of most people voting for Federer is they don’t like golf, and their derision of the sport in general forms the basis of their arguments for Federer,

I’m a fan of both sports and I think the question can only be answered fairly by people who like both.

Like I said it’s clearly pointless but it passes the time!

Or neither.

In which case, I'm qualified. I just had my lunch in front of Eurosport which is showing Queen's. After a minute I said to myself, "**** this is boring, I'm going to go and do some work." The fact I'm now posting here obviously indicates I have allowed myself to be distracted from that in turn which only goes to show just how boring the tennis is.

[Darkon]

I'm about to go out for lunch and will address this when I get back.

Buying yourself time eh

[Imy]

It strikes me that the crux of the arguments of most people voting for Federer is they don’t like golf, and their derision of the sport in general forms the basis of their arguments for Federer,

I’m a fan of both sports and I think the question can only be answered fairly by people who like both.

Like I said it’s clearly pointless but it passes the time!

I like both, won't go as far as saying i'm some kind of die hard fan, like most i'll watch the big tournaments when they are on the TV.

[Joe King]

Both are sports played by the bourgeois therefore none of them are the greatest. I'll go for Steven Gerrard.