Casper on Tiger, Arnie

Billy Casper was talking about Tiger Woods a few days ago. He explained why Tiger is better than Jack Nicklaus was:

"They both are just unbelievable players but Tiger has two ingredients which Jack Nicklaus didn’t have,” Casper, 66, told reporters on Monday at a media day for next month’s Buick Open where Woods is a twice champion.

“One, Tiger has such a superior short game. Jack’s short game, other than putting, was just a little above average.

“And two, Tiger’s imagination to play shots that nobody else has played, try to play those shots and then bring them off is just amazing. Jack didn’t have that imagination.

Casper was talking about Tiger Woods again yesterday, this time more succinctly. The Flint Journal reports:

In his opening remarks, he called Tiger "the best-equipped player ever."

"What do you mean by best-equipped?" he was asked later during interviews.

"He's the best player ever. Period," said Casper, answering the question almost as soon as it was asked.

And Casper also had this insight into Arnold Palmer's collapse at the 1966 U.S. Open:

"Arnie was going for (Ben) Hogan's record for the lowest score in the Open," said Casper. "I was just fighting for second place and I knew I had to go par-birdie the last nine.

"But when Arnie realized he wouldn't get Hogan's record, he panicked. He hit three pull hooks on the last three holes."