Larry Gude said:
...Tiger has not had the battles that Jack did with Lee and Tom and so many others. Jack finished second in something like 20 odd majors and third a ton of times. People stepped up.
Nowadays, people fold before Tiger.
Joking Larry...However, I wasn't really a fan (or golfer) before Tiger emerged on the scene so I'll have to take your word for the level of competition. I find it hard to imagine though that the players, equipment and courses were as formidable as those of today. Not taking anything away from Jack, et. al. but I would be surprised to learn that the powers that be took measures such as lengthening courses to combat the dominance of a single player. I think actions such as that set Tiger apart even from Jack. I think Tiger is so dominant that it seems that other players wilt from the pressure where in truth the results are more based on Tiger's God-given and practiced skill, mental toughness and physical strength that allow him to rise to the occasion and ascend to a level above that of his competition.
Time will tell if he's the greatest of all time. He is, without question, the greatest of his era. In light of that and given his seeming ability to rise to the occasion, even the other greats of his era may always fall short in comparison to their peers in times gone by.
I lost my secret codebook.