It's that time of year again.  Time to shake off the cobwebs of winter , pull out the big stick and head for the course.  That means it's also time to renew the sad commentary about the pitiful competition Tiger Woods faces each year on the PGA tour.  Until someone, ANYONE can rise to the challenge I'll keep posting this each April.

There are many things people agree upon regarding the phenomenal career of Tiger Woods: his dominance in golf, his high "Q" rating for TV and especially his work ethic. However, the claim he's "the best golfer ever" always begs the question: Is he that good, or is his competition that weak?

Golf legend Jack Nicklaus, always gracious in his comments about Tiger, said, "Somebody is going to dust my records. It might as well be Tiger, because he's such a great kid." However, when Tiger broke Jack's 1965 Masters record by a mere one stroke in 1997 he did it using all the new fangled high tech equipment Nicklaus couldn't even dream of in his day. Also, something few people realize, the Augusta National course was longer when Jack set the mark than when Tiger broke it.

But more to the point, if Tiger is today's Nicklaus, then who is today's Gary Player (9 majors); Tom Watson (8); Lee Trevino (6); Seve Ballesteros (5) Ray Floyd (4)? They all fearlessly stalked Nicklaus throughout his career. How many of Jack's incredible 19 second place finishes in the majors would have been firsts if they were not around?

Take Tom Watson. Tom beat Jack in a classic head-to-head British Open duel at Turnberry in 1977, only sealing the win with a must make birdie putt on the final hole. Watson beat him again winning the 1982 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach when he chipped in for birdie on the 17th hole in the final round. Consider at the height of Nicklaus' dominance in 1971 Lee Trevino won the U.S. Open, Canadian Open and British Open championships in a four-week span. At that U.S. Open Trevino defeated Nicklaus in an 18-hole playoff and was named Sports Illustrated "Sportsman of the Year". Who compares to Trevino, the "Merry Mex", on today's PGA tour?

Now you have Phil Mickelson, with 3 majors, Ernie Els with 3 and Vijay Singh with 3. And the only players to push Woods in a major have been Bob May and Chris DiMarco. Anyone seen those two lately? Gary Player, a regular Nicklaus nemesis, has more major tournament wins than Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els, Sergio Garcia, Jim Furyk and Davis Love III combined. Yet they were considered at one point or another serious competition for Woods. Now their careers are winding down without ever mounting a serious challenge.

With todays seemingly uninspired competitors it's very possible that Tiger will win 25 or 30 major tournaments before he's done. Unfortunately he will have won them against a cast of Lilliputians unable to challenge him like the talented players of the past challenged Nicklaus. It's a shame for the game really and certainly no fault of Tiger's. Many of today's golfers can shoot low scores on Thursday, but when they collapse on Sunday, they blame it on Tiger's game, and not their own.