When it comes to professional golf, fans around the world share a number of opinions on various topics. Whether it’s who is the greatest golfer to play the game, or who is the best putter to ever live, there are plenty of talking points over the history of our great game.
Speaking at LIV Golf Miami, Greg Norman, who himself is one of the most decorated golfers of all time having spent 331 weeks as World No.1, made a bold call that many seemed to disagree with…
Appearing in the booth, Norman was speaking to LIV’s broadcast team with the Australian making the claim that: âTalor Gooch is the best iron player in the game of golf in the past 20 years that I’ve personally witnessedâ. He then went on to add: âIâve just loved watching him. His iron play is so precise.â
Looking at the stats, prior to LIV Golf Miami, Gooch is 17th in Greens in Regulation, with the American averaging a respectable 70.37%. What’s more, if you look at the figures, you could argue his short game is the strongest part of his artillery, as he currently ranks second in scrambling and sixth in putting average.
Although Gooch claimed the LIV Golf individual title in 2023, picking up three wins along the way, many on social media did slightly disagree with Norman’s claim that Gooch is the “best iron player in the game of golf in the past 20 years”, as many answered with the name of 15-time Major winner, Tiger Woods.
Norman and Gooch during the trophy ceremony at LIV Golf Adelaide
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Back in 2022, Collin Morikawa, who himself could put forward the claim of being one of the best iron players of recent memory, even claimed that “Tiger has the best iron game,” as the two-time Major winner added at the time: “I haven’t seen him hit a ball for a while, but when we had our TaylorMade shoots, you would see him out there and I’d talk to him and we did a little 10-minute video of watching him hit irons; it is amazing.”
Going into the final round at Trump National Doral in Miami, Gooch sits two shots back of overnight leader, Sergio Garcia, as a number of high profile names look to chase down the Spaniard. Garcia, who changed his putter earlier in the week, is yet to win on the circuit and, following rounds of 67 and 68, is in pole position to finally break that duck.
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