A handicap is a number that represents a golfer's demonstrated ability, allowing players of different standards to compete fairly. Under the World Handicap System, your handicap index is calculated from the best 8 of your most recent 20 rounds, adjusted for course difficulty.
Par is the number of strokes an expert golfer is expected to need on a hole or course, based on length: par 3, 4 or 5 for holes, and typically 70 to 72 for a full course. Scoring is described relative to par. One under is a birdie, two under an eagle; one over is a bogey. For most amateurs, breaking 100 for 18 holes is a solid milestone, breaking 90 is good, and breaking 80 is very good.
Pick two names from this sport’s all-time list. The larger number in each shared stat is highlighted.
| Stat | Jack Nicklaus | Tiger Woods |
|---|
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A handicap is a number that represents a golfer's demonstrated ability, allowing players of different standards to compete fairly. Under the World Handicap System, your handicap index is calculated from the best 8 of your most recent 20 rounds, adjusted for course difficulty.
Par is the number of strokes an expert golfer is expected to need on a hole or course, based on length: par 3, 4 or 5 for holes, and typically 70 to 72 for a full course. Scoring is described relative to par. One under is a birdie, two under an eagle; one over is a bogey. For most amateurs, breaking 100 for 18 holes is a solid milestone, breaking 90 is good, and breaking 80 is very good.
Strokes gained is a statistic that measures how much better or worse a player performs than the field average on each shot. From any given distance and lie there is an expected number of strokes to finish the hole, and a shot is credited with the difference it makes to that expectation.
The debate centres on two players. Jack Nicklaus holds the record of 18 professional majors and 19 runner-up finishes across a career spanning from the 1960s to the 1980s, the strongest argument by the sport's most valued measure. Tiger Woods has 15 majors but an unmatched peak: he won the 2000 U.S. Open by 15 shots, held all four majors at once, and spent a record 683 weeks at world number one.
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