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Is it really all about the majors?


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Everyone talks bout how important the majors are and wanting to win them. The “experts” judge golfers based on major wins.

Then comes along a guy named Brooks Koepka who wins 4 of the last 9 majors and rarely wins a regular tour event and he gets knocked for the lack of regular event wins.

If it’s all about the majors then why does it matter if someone wins a tour event or not.

 

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I think it’s a combo of both whether the talking heads want to admit it or not. If i guy has a handful of tour wins and no majors then they ask what’s wrong with him and vice versa

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I am finding most of the cookie cutter tournaments rather boring now. The courses are set up the same, look the same, and are all hyped up the same.

There are a few I like, but would rather watch European Tour events because the golf courses actually look different.

I’m in BK’s camp.

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From the fan's perspective, it's probably all about the majors.  For the elite players, it's probably more about the majors.  For the rest of the guys on tour, just winning tournaments and making some money is likely their focus.

Even if BK never wins another tournament, one would have to consider him as a Hall of Famer.  4 majors is impressive, particularly in the brief period they were won.

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33 minutes ago, Shankster said:

I am finding most of the cookie cutter tournaments rather boring now. The courses are set up the same, look the same, and are all hyped up the same.

There are a few I like, but would rather watch European Tour events because the golf courses actually look different.

I’m in BK’s camp.

The type of course/course setup is kinda of irrelevant to the question. 

Mall we hear from the analysts is that all the players gear up for the majors and they are important hence the naming of them as majors...they knock guys for having success on tour without a major. They talk about the best player without a major.

then Bk comes along as does exactly what they talk about and has success and because he’s not dominating/winning periodically on tour how can it be and so on.  We all know the media and analysts will flip flop to fit he story they want to tell and to get viewers/clicks. 

So it really all about the majors or do they really want someone that wins a bunch of majors like Bk to win a bunch of regular events or can they be happy with a player like Bk who doesn’t care if he wins a regular event and just wins majors.

22 minutes ago, CarlH said:

From the fan's perspective, it's probably all about the majors.  For the elite players, it's probably more about the majors.  For the rest of the guys on tour, just winning tournaments and making some money is likely their focus.

Even if BK never wins another tournament, one would have to consider him as a Hall of Famer.  4 majors is impressive, particularly in the brief period they were won.

I think all the players want to win every event they play in and the lower end of the rankings are just trying to get any win they can. The elite guys are going to do things that give them the best chance to win as much as possible and setup their schedule to peak at the majors.

bk admitted he gets bored during rounds on tour so for him I think it’s all about the majors and his attitude and approach puts him above most of not all the rest each major. He’s not going to complain about his position in the tee time draw, the course or weather conditions and so on. He’s beat at least half the field before the first round d

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6 hours ago, RickyBobby_PR said:

We all know the media and analysts will flip flop to fit he story they want to tell and to get viewers/clicks. 

I think you answered most of your questions with this statement.  They have air time and web pages to fill and therefore need talking points to repeat over and over.  BK's career and personality provides plenty of talking points.

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On 7/15/2019 at 8:58 AM, Mr_Theoo said:

I think it’s a combo of both whether the talking heads want to admit it or not. If i guy has a handful of tour wins and no majors then they ask what’s wrong with him and vice versa

Might as well just @ Rickie Fowler next time 😂

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Based on press conference today it’s all about the majors for brooks. According to him he only plays golf when we see him in events and he plays the event before a major to find the groove

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I refuse to believe that it’s about whatever the talking heads tell us what they want us to believe.

Each of us have our own favorite events; none of those are less important than what we are told to hold in high regard.  

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I think majors set apart good players from great players but I personally feel it is a combination of regular tour wins and major wins that produce thr legends. Perhaps I'm taking this a direction not intended or desired but what Brooks has done is nothing short of amazing - he is truly spectacular in majors but is decidedly mediocre in regular events - certainly by comparison. Brooks, as Shankster mentioned, is bored during regular events and even when he tries to put major effort in non-majors (ie he said he was going to try and produce major focus for the Canadian Open - I do realize that a national open is a big deal even if not a major), he doesn't really perform. It truly highlights how spectacular Jack and Tiger truly are/were. The thought that one or the other is the most important when we are talking about the "best player without a major" moniker or the likes of Todd Hamilton (2004 Honda Classic and Open Championship) and Shaun Micheel (2003 PGA Championship). If Brooks never wins again (I don't believe this for a second) he is in the record books and I believe he is an anomoly regardless as it pertains the question at hand. I'm in the camp that both matter to be truly special in Golf.


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Considering most people on this planet can't even qualify for an event on tour, just making a career out of being a tour pro is pretty extraordinary to me. These "experts" can kick rocks, hardly any of them have tasted an ounce of what the likes of Brooks, Jack, and Tiger have.

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Majors attract all the top players which makes them special.  Who willing skips them?  Maybe a few other tournaments have this draw for players (Players’ Championship).

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The majors are currently the most prestigious obviously but at the same time is the pga championship on equal footing with The Masters or either of the Opens? There’s definitely a pecking order even among the current 4 majors so of course there’s going to be a bit of one in majors versus weekly stops.

No argument that there is plenty of subjectivity that goes in defining a successful career though. I seem to recall even Sam Snead saying he focused more on number of wins than he did the majors of the time.

There’s another talking point to add to the pot, the accepted majors have changed over the years and you never know, maybe down the line the pga championship gets dropped or Augusta decides to close its doors to the tour (yeah right..). Maybe even we get a 5th major years from now but would any of these hypotheticals change the definition?

The Canadian open was a major at one point and I don’t even know when it’s scheduled. People are fickle so it’ll change eventually just like everything else.

Personally I go for the quality of the wins over the quantity but there are plenty of weekly stops that are a huge deal to win along with the majors.


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  • 1 month later...
The majors are currently the most prestigious obviously but at the same time is the pga championship on equal footing with The Masters or either of the Opens? There’s definitely a pecking order even among the current 4 majors so of course there’s going to be a bit of one in majors versus weekly stops.

No argument that there is plenty of subjectivity that goes in defining a successful career though. I seem to recall even Sam Snead saying he focused more on number of wins than he did the majors of the time.

There’s another talking point to add to the pot, the accepted majors have changed over the years and you never know, maybe down the line the pga championship gets dropped or Augusta decides to close its doors to the tour (yeah right..). Maybe even we get a 5th major years from now but would any of these hypotheticals change the definition?

The Canadian open was a major at one point and I don’t even know when it’s scheduled. People are fickle so it’ll change eventually just like everything else.

Personally I go for the quality of the wins over the quantity but there are plenty of weekly stops that are a huge deal to win along with the majors.


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Sorry just saw this thread

First, since when have the accepted Majors changed? 1935 was the last time. That’s 85 years ago.

Attempts to call the Players a major have failed miserably even though it’s a tougher field than any of the Majors.

The accepted Majors in golf are not changing any time soon.

Jack followed by Tiger have made it all about the Majors in terms of defining greatness. In regards to TV ratings and press coverage it’s certainly all about them. For the casual golf fan it’s mainly about them unless Tiger is in contention.

This hasn’t always been the case in my lifetime - you could only see replays of the Open when I was younger and not all Americans went over to play - the Crosby was a bigger event in regards to viewership and interest here.

But it was still a Major.

For avid fans like us I suspect there are tournaments that peak our interest perhaps even more or as much as the majors. But we represent a very small segment of the golfing population.

I have my favorite tournaments that I enjoy watching - normally because I’ve played the course or attended the event live in the past.

Each top player has his own approach as to how to prep for those tournaments. Brooks is an extreme but Jack also used regular tour events as preps for his majors - similar courses or holes to what he might face - those types of things. Thirty years from now people will remember Brooks. Dustin Johnson not so much unless he wins a few more majors and yet it’s entirely possible that Johnson will spend more time as world number 1.

No one today things of Greg Norman asa better player than Faldo or Seve but back in the day he was the man - and then his career ended and he didn’t have the record in the Majors. He’s the Atlanta Braves of the 90’s to their being the New York Yankees.


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1 hour ago, revkev said:

 


Sorry just saw this thread

First, since when have the accepted Majors changed? 1935 was the last time. That’s 85 years ago.

Attempts to call the Players a major have failed miserably even though it’s a tougher field than any of the Majors.

The accepted Majors in golf are not changing any time soon.

Jack followed by Tiger have made it all about the Majors in terms of defining greatness. In regards to TV ratings and press coverage it’s certainly all about them. For the casual golf fan it’s mainly about them unless Tiger is in contention.

This hasn’t always been the case in my lifetime - you could only see replays of the Open when I was younger and not all Americans went over to play - the Crosby was a bigger event in regards to viewership and interest here.

But it was still a Major.

For avid fans like us I suspect there are tournaments that peak our interest perhaps even more or as much as the majors. But we represent a very small segment of the golfing population.

I have my favorite tournaments that I enjoy watching - normally because I’ve played the course or attended the event live in the past.

Each top player has his own approach as to how to prep for those tournaments. Brooks is an extreme but Jack also used regular tour events as preps for his majors - similar courses or holes to what he might face - those types of things. Thirty years from now people will remember Brooks. Dustin Johnson not so much unless he wins a few more majors and yet it’s entirely possible that Johnson will spend more time as world number 1.

No one today things of Greg Norman asa better player than Faldo or Seve but back in the day he was the man - and then his career ended and he didn’t have the record in the Majors. He’s the Atlanta Braves of the 90’s to their being the New York Yankees.


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It takes more than the tour calling a major a major. If the fans don’t buy in it’s not going to work. 

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The talent is so good now that a win anywhere is a fantastic accomplishment.

Now take a guy like Fred Couples. Incredibly well-liked and admired for a beautiful swing. Has played competitive golf for decades and won “just” one Major and two Players’.

The way he’s fawned over you’d think he had multiple majors, a career grand slam perhaps.

He won most of his money in the Silly Season.

It’s just one example but a career can be made without winning the big one.


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It takes more than the tour calling a major a major. If the fans don’t buy in it’s not going to work. 


Agreed and exactly my point - what constitutes a major is unlikely to change - it hasn’t for 80 plus years. That is five generations of players. The longer that continues the more it will be about then.

In terms of measuring greatness it is about the majors. Because they are played at different times and in different places winning all four is a huge accomplishment - it demonstrates a varied skill set.


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52 minutes ago, revkev said:

 


Agreed and exactly my point - what constitutes a major is unlikely to change - it hasn’t for 80 plus years. That is five generations of players. The longer that continues the more it will be about then.

In terms of measuring greatness it is about the majors. Because they are played at different times and in different places winning all four is a huge accomplishment - it demonstrates a varied skill set.


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The “majors” are an interesting topic when you look at the history. Palmer considered winning the open and the pga championship his own grand slam in 1960 iirc as a way to compare himself to Jones, after he won Masters and Us Open.

Jones considered Western Open (now the bmw championship during FedEx cup playoffs) and the north and south Open as majors. The Western Open has a pretty storied history. 

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We've never seen a Brooks Koepka before.  He clearly doesn't care about regular Tour events and has no problem admitting as much.  With that said, I don't believe he is the only player in history that feels this way.  I believe he is the only one arrogant enough to admit it publicly. 

For me, the Majors are above and beyond anything the Tour does.  The Tour is great but it's not The Masters, The PGA, The Open or the US Open.  For that matter, the men's and women's US Amateur, Junior Amateur, British Amateur, North-South and Western Amateur hold higher prestige for me than anything the Tour does.  If you've never experienced any of these in person, do yourself the honor!  The Players features a great field and what some would argue, a great course.  I certainly do not agree with the notion TPC Sawgrass is a great course!  Contrived media exaltation doesn't make something great in my opinion.  It's being pushed to hard to be on equal footing with the Majors and that's something that happens organically.  Not forced!

My opinion hasn't changed in 15 years.  The European Tour has a better product than the PGA Tour and it really isn't that close.  They don't get the notoriety the PGA Tour gets because of several factors.  Most notably,  Americans aren't willing to admit something foreign is better in some way than what we can offer.  Couple that with the fact the PGA Tour does the most "American" thing possible by throwing ridiculous amounts of money at the Tour in an effort to buy legitimacy.  Maybe that's just my cynical nature, who knows.

Watching the Solheim Cup over the weekend was refreshing.  Here are a group of the best players in the world, playing for nothing more than bragging rights and competitive spirit.  It was amazing to watch and money, FedEx Cup points or rankings was never mentioned.  To me, that's why watching the NCAA championships is better than watching any PGA Tour event.  It's never about obscene amounts of cash.  It's about competitive spirit.

 

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Watching the Solheim Cup over the weekend was refreshing.  Here are a group of the best players in the world, playing for nothing more than bragging rights and competitive spirit.  It was amazing to watch and money, FedEx Cup points or rankings was never mentioned.  To me, that's why watching the NCAA championships is better than watching any PGA Tour event.  It's never about obscene amounts of cash.  It's about competitive spirit.
 


I couldn’t agree more.

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There is a purity and an essence of team and family that is rarely seen in men’s sports.
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@sixcat - The Master’s didn’t become a major organically - it was extremely contrived. Having written that I’m not an advocate of the Players as Major and agree that it feels like the Tour tried to cram that one down our throats.

 

We disagree on Sawgrass that’s established so no sense to rehash old debates. The fact remains that Sawgrass is generally highly rated and that as both courses are currently constituted it allows for a far greater group of potential winners than Augusta which is both a course and the host of a tournament designed to favor a certain player type - long, highly rated, high ball hitter. Only an act of God (cold and windy weather) changes that.

 

I agree that in Jones’ day there was not an emphasis on what we think of as majors. In fact in Jones’ day it wasn’t a big deal to be a pro. Once the Masters became known as a Major in the mid 30’s though the four have been locked in. Both the Open and the PGA have had struggling moments but each has prevailed.

 

The Westerns (Open and Amateur) have storied histories.

 

 

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59 minutes ago, revkev said:

@sixcat - The Master’s didn’t become a major organically - it was extremely contrived. Having written that I’m not an advocate of the Players as Major and agree that it feels like the Tour tried to cram that one down our throats.

 

We disagree on Sawgrass that’s established so no sense to rehash old debates. The fact remains that Sawgrass is generally highly rated and that as both courses are currently constituted it allows for a far greater group of potential winners than Augusta which is both a course and the host of a tournament designed to favor a certain player type - long, highly rated, high ball hitter. Only an act of God (cold and windy weather) changes that.

 

I agree that in Jones’ day there was not an emphasis on what we think of as majors. In fact in Jones’ day it wasn’t a big deal to be a pro. Once the Masters became known as a Major in the mid 30’s though the four have been locked in. Both the Open and the PGA have had struggling moments but each has prevailed.

 

The Westerns (Open and Amateur) have storied histories.

 

 

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That very well may be true of the Masters becoming a Major.  Several books offer insight into how the Masters came to be considered a Major.  Most disagree or can't offer definitive proof as to where, when and how it began.  I suspect, the golf universe forced the issue out of admiration for Bobby Jones.  One thing all of those sources agree upon is, the Masters wasn't considered a Major until sometime around 1960 when Arnold Palmer listed his "modern grand slam" events, not the 1930's as you suggest.  You can read a snippet of that in the attached link.

Regardless of how the Masters became a Major, it certainly holds the respect and adoration of the golf world today.  The Players simply isn't on equal footing!  At least not in my estimation.  For that matter, why wouldn't the BMW be considered on equal footing with The Players?  It has an equally elite field, more storied history, exceptional host facilities and is considered by everyone not from the US to be just a notch below The Open.

https://www.golf-monthly.co.uk/tour/us-masters/augusta-blog/why-is-the-masters-a-major-152766

 

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In answer to the thread question, no I don't think this is the case... at least for the majority of fans/viewers.  One thing to consider is how much has changed in televised golf.  It wasn't until the late 70's that any network covered a complete 18 hole round. With the subsequent addition of ESPN in 1979 and TGC in 1995, coverage of tour events blossomed. Add to that coverage of the LPGA, European, and Asian tours, and we now have, seemingly, 24/7 coverage.  This may lead to viewer fatigued for some and heighten the interest in the majors. This is like the Division and League series in baseball which also get more viewers - but for the true baseball (golf) fan it isn't all about those events. One fans ramblings... 🙂

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26 minutes ago, fixyurdivot said:

In answer to the thread question, no I don't think this is the case... at least for the majority of fans/viewers.  One thing to consider is how much has changed in televised golf.  It wasn't until the late 70's that any network covered a complete 18 hole round. With the subsequent addition of ESPN in 1979 and TGC in 1995, coverage of tour events blossomed. Add to that coverage of the LPGA, European, and Asian tours, and we now have, seemingly, 24/7 coverage.  This may lead to viewer fatigued for some and heighten the interest in the majors. This is like the Division and League series in baseball which also get more viewers - but for the true baseball (golf) fan it isn't all about those events. One fans ramblings... 🙂

The baseball analogy is a good one.  I believe there is some viewer fatigue in my personal feelings toward golf and baseball.  I'm very much a traditionalist.  I'm fine with an AL/NL Championship Series but does a third place divisional team really deserve to make the playoffs?  It's happened.  There's a strong possibility it could happen again this year with the Cardinals, Brewers and Cubs.

I have always been resistant to authority.  Having the Tour and TV tell me The Players is on equal footing with the Majors is going to naturally force me to push back hard the other way.  

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Every players sees success differently.  Those just starting out are looking to maintain their card and compete for a win.  Getting close to a win, their expectations change to winning any event where they tee it up.  

Let's look at Koepka, since this this thread seems to be about him.  I watch the European Tour early on weekend mornings in bed with coffee and Baileys at 5am.  OK, it's a habit, I admit!!  I had no idea who Koepka was until he won on the European Tour.  He started on the Challenge Tour and got to the European Tour by winning 3 events.  Yes, he won several events to get to the PGA Tour, and I applaud him for taking the playing route to the PGA Tour rather than going through Q School.  Although his first PGA Tour win, the Waste Management Phoenix Open, was in 2015, he was finishing high in the majors.  He was 4th at the US Open and 15th and the PGA in 2014 and 10th at The Open and 5th at the PGA in 2015.  Clearly, his game suits playing on tough courses against the best players.  

Most everyone says it's all about the majors, and that's what it has been for Tiger.  Yes, Tiger has won a bunch of other tournaments, but I'm fairly certain that Tiger teed it up early in his career at events to hone his game in competition to prepare for the majors.  Maybe Koepka doesn't feel like he needs that same preparation; certainly his strategy seems to be working.  If he can be competitive in majors while not playing in a lot of other events, I like his chances to remain healthy throughout his career.  He will win plenty of other events if he gets close to the lead.  I don't understand why the media needs to harp on it.  Let him play however he wants, and I will enjoy watching.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On ‎9‎/‎19‎/‎2019 at 9:14 AM, sixcat said:

That very well may be true of the Masters becoming a Major.  Several books offer insight into how the Masters came to be considered a Major.  Most disagree or can't offer definitive proof as to where, when and how it began.  I suspect, the golf universe forced the issue out of admiration for Bobby Jones.  One thing all of those sources agree upon is, the Masters wasn't considered a Major until sometime around 1960 when Arnold Palmer listed his "modern grand slam" events, not the 1930's as you suggest.  You can read a snippet of that in the attached link.

Regardless of how the Masters became a Major, it certainly holds the respect and adoration of the golf world today.  The Players simply isn't on equal footing!  At least not in my estimation.  For that matter, why wouldn't the BMW be considered on equal footing with The Players?  It has an equally elite field, more storied history, exceptional host facilities and is considered by everyone not from the US to be just a notch below The Open.

https://www.golf-monthly.co.uk/tour/us-masters/augusta-blog/why-is-the-masters-a-major-152766

 

With all due respect the Masters was most certainly considered a major when Sam Snead won it in 1949, well before Arnie.  No argument that it is respected by the golf world - my point simply is that it has a weaker field than a number of "regular" events and is therefore easier to win so long as you are one of the insiders - you essentially have a permanent invite to a tournament on a familiar course where at least 1/3 of a short field has no chance of winning.

 

I'm also not advocating for the Players as a major - four is plenty and the four that we have are as good as anything else that we'd be likely to come up with. 

 

Back on point at the top of the Golf World its far more about the Majors than anything else.  I realize there's a different thread for this but its gone dormant - I was watching Morning Drive this week and the contributor seemed pretty convinced that Brook's not being selected as Player of the Year was of a matter of personalities.  I don't know, I don't really care, its not unreasonable to have voted for Rory IMO, but it is important to note that someone on the inside (this guy was a player) thinks that's the case.

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With all due respect the Masters was most certainly considered a major when Sam Snead won it in 1949, well before Arnie.  No argument that it is respected by the golf world - my point simply is that it has a weaker field than a number of "regular" events and is therefore easier to win so long as you are one of the insiders - you essentially have a permanent invite to a tournament on a familiar course where at least 1/3 of a short field has no chance of winning.


I’ve never seen anything suggesting 1949 (or any year other than 1960) in print. I’m not disagreeing with you but I will need further proof. Having read several books including Curt Sampson’s, 1960 seems to be widely accepted.

I mention Curt Sampson because his book pulls no punches. It garnered him a lifetime ban from the tournament and facilities. For him to concede 1960 leaves little doubt in my mind of its accuracy.

Brandel Chamblee even suggests 1960 so it must be true, right?


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It depends on who you ask I guess.

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/jon-rahm-is-winning-at-a-historic-rate-he-just-hasnt-won-a-major-yet/

https://www.golfdigest.com/story/pga-championship-2018-does-brooks-koepka-have-the-most-unusual-ratio-of-major-titles-to-pga-tour-wins

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/golf/article-5785983/Tiger-Woods-not-won-major-10-years-care-more.html

They even asked the Tour pros a question related to this thread at https://www.golf.com/tour-and-news/2018/09/12/anonymous-pga-tour-survey-tiger-woods-donald-trump/

Quote

WOULD YOU TAKE ONE MAJOR OR 10 TOUR WINS?

ONE MAJOR: 36%
10 TOUR WINS: 64%

“Depends if it’s 10 Puerto Rico Opens.”
“I’ll take history over padding my bank account.”
“Would you rather win $10+ million or $1.85 million in the lottery? All about the cash.”
“Which major?”

So even amongst Tour pros it depends on who you ask.  I would imagine that would be the consensus amongst the general public as well.

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  • 6 months later...

I remember Nicklaus stating that his goal was to eclipse Bobby Jones who had 13 majors, Tiger had Jack Nicklaus's major record on his wall so I think that answers that question.

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