In the wake of Tiger Woods' fifth straight tour win I have started to hear the debate of who is better: Tiger or Michael Jordan?

The argument for Tiger hinges on his crushing Nicklaus' record 18 majors, but considering he already has 12 and is only 30 years old, it is pretty much a forgone conclusion that he will get at least 19.  One needs only point to Tiger's win in the 2000 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach where he was the only player under par...and won by fifteen strokes (Woods finished 12 strokes under par).  Then there was his streak of consecutive cuts made which, even though it has been broken, is an indication of his consistency.  There isn't much more you could ask for from an athlete: dominance and consistency.

Then there's Jordan.  His resume is complete.  Six championships.  Six finals MVPs.  Five-time regular season MVP; ten-time scoring champion; ten-time first team All-NBA; all-time leader for points-per-game; oh yeah, just to show he could do more than score, he was on the first team All-Defense nine times, winning Defensive Player Of the Year once.  About as dominant and complete as it gets.  Was he consistent?  Seven of his ten scoring titles were in consecutive years.  He won back-to-back-to-back championships twice, and he probably would have won 8 in a row if he hadn't played baseball for two years (interesting sidenote:  there is a theory that those two years were actually a suspension by David Stern for gambling, but since Jordan was the face of the league, they disguised it as a "retirement").

The problem in comparing the two arises from the fact, not only do they play different sports, they play entirely different types of sports.  Golf is a solo sports played against, maybe, 60 other people that takes place over a four-day period.  Basketball is a team sport where one team plays only one other team on any given night.  Because of these differences, I find myself asking, if Tiger had played basketball, or if Jordan had played golf, would he have been as good?  Jordan's mental toughness was unquestionably the best in basketball for his generation, and this is the trait that is so necessary in golf (assuming the physical talent is there).  In fact, it almost seems like Jordan could have been more successful in golf; his teammates in Chicago were just holding him back from winning the title every year.  Tiger seems to have the same mental toughness and intensity as Jordan, but his performances in golf's premier team events, the Ryder Cup and the Presidents Cup, have shown that this does not translate to team competitions.  The fact is that in the Ryder Cup he has a record of 5-8-2 (official stats here) and in the Presidents Cup he is 10-9-1 (official stats here).

Playing for himself Tiger is phenomenal, but playing for a team seems to make him merely human.  Jordan, on the other hand, was able to carry mortals on his shoulders as he ascended to greatness.

Had they not been there to slow him down, it's scary to think how high he could have climbed.

Comments, critiques and suggested topics are welcome by replying here or by emailing me at KONsports@yahoo.com.