He still has at least 10 yrs of playing time left if he recover from is injury, but do you think he's the best athlete ever. He is the best golfer clearly, and changed the game like no other, which nearly all will agree, but what about the best athlete ever. The argument for people who don't pay attention to golf is going to be golf isn't a sport and takes no athletic ability. I don't agree, and golf is very difficult and takes a strong mind along with athletic ability and strength and stanima. If Tiger isn't playing, im not watching, hes changed the game of golf and I'm not sure you can say the same about any other sport. Your still watching NBA if lebron goes down and the same goes with Arod or whoever if they go down. Same with football,but not golf. I'd say greatest athlete ever, and winning the US open on oneleg puts the final stamp on that, at least for now. 

Well I would say best Golfer. Not best lete though. Amazing guy! His stats do the talking.

Feel free to say who you think the best athlete is 

Pretty sure thats what I did LOL If you would like me to say who i think is the best lete I will. Brian Boutano.

RogerRomo:

Pretty sure thats what I did LOL If you would like me to say who i think is the best lete I will. Brian Boutano.

 

your weird lol. 

RogerRomo:

Pretty sure thats what I did LOL If you would like me to say who i think is the best lete I will. Brian Boutano.

Rudy Galindo was better...

no

Michael Jordan

No Forest Forest Gump was the best athlete ever. I think Lance Armstrong was the best athlete or at least one of the best ever

Jim Thorpe - the guy played baseball,football and basketball, as if that wasn't enough the guy was in the Olympics were he was in the pentathlon AND the decathlon.

nyc-cowboy:

Jim Thorpe - the guy played baseball,football and basketball, as if that wasn't enough the guy was in the Olympics were he was in the pentathlon AND the decathlon.

 

Wow, he gets my vote.  Now if he only earned some type of Nobel Peace Prize acheivement or even did some volunteer work he'd be an all round humanitarian in my book.  That would be one inspiring guy to look up to...not just a one of the best atheletes, but a great human being.

Bruce Jenner.

 

My personal opinion:  Sergei Bubka.  I was a Pole Vaulter back in high school in the late 80's, early 90's.  This guy was a god!! He was the first to break to 20 feet mark was the best at the sport for a long time.  I was good in football, basketball and baseball but Pole Vaulting was the most difficult.   Vaulting used everything athletically that I learned in those sports.  Plus more.

 Muhammad Ali.  He could knock out all of the above-mentioned "best athletes". 

Like someone above said, Jim Thorpe did it all.  And I hate to say this because he was a redskin, but Sammy Baugh was impressive in his day. As was Wilt Chamberlain. 

I've been playing golf for 25 years, and I love playing it more than almost anything in the world, but I have a very hard time putting any golfer in the same category as the 3 guys mentioned above, much less your average NFL, NBA, or NHL player.  And I say that because I don't believe you have to be a superior physical specimen in the prime of his life to do well at golf.  The only thing I can think of that great golfers have that others MAY not have is superior hand-eye coordination and the ability to concentrate on the task at hand.  The pro golfers are definitely special, since they can break par just about anywhere, but almost anybody can be a single-digit handicapper with proper instruction and good practice habits.  And if your handicap is in single-digits, you're plenty skilled at the game of golf (especially if you hold down a full-time regular job!).

So no, I don't thing Tiger is the best athlete ever, although I do believe he's the best golfer ever.  I also feel confident in saying that his will to win in golf may be greater than any other person involved in any single-competition sport.

n.c.cowboy:

Like someone above said, Jim Thorpe did it all.  And I hate to say this because he was a redskin, but Sammy Baugh was impressive in his day. As was Wilt Chamberlain. 

I've been playing golf for 25 years, and I love playing it more than almost anything in the world, but I have a very hard time putting any golfer in the same category as the 3 guys mentioned above, much less your average NFL, NBA, or NHL player.  And I say that because I don't believe you have to be a superior physical specimen in the prime of his life to do well at golf.  The only thing I can think of that great golfers have that others MAY not have is superior hand-eye coordination and the ability to concentrate on the task at hand.  The pro golfers are definitely special, since they can break par just about anywhere, but almost anybody can be a single-digit handicapper with proper instruction and good practice habits.  And if your handicap is in single-digits, you're plenty skilled at the game of golf (especially if you hold down a full-time regular job!).

So no, I don't thing Tiger is the best athlete ever, although I do believe he's the best golfer ever.  I also feel confident in saying that his will to win in golf may be greater than any other person involved in any single-competition sport.

What does Jim Thorpe being American Indian have to do with anything - you got something against American Indians. And if you want to talk about concentration- what about a race car driver that is in a car thats hotter than hell going at over 200mph where any mistake and they could DIE.

I think you must have misread what n.c. cowboy was trying to say.  He was not talking about Jim Thorpe's ethnicity.  He was talking about Sammy Baugh who played for the Washington Redskins.