Jack Nicklaus once shared if he could outplay today’s PGA stars like Scottie Scheffler

In his prime, Nicklaus had every tool you could ask for. He was long off the tee, sharp with his irons, and backed it all up with incredible mental strength.

But with how much the sport has changed since then – technology, training methods, depth of field – it is fair to wonder if he would have been as dominant in today’s game.

At the start of this year, Nicklaus was asked if he thought he would be as successful now as he was back then. Here is what he said:

“I think that any player who has been dominant in his time would be dominant today. I don’t care what sport you are playing; what game you are playing, an athlete who has been dominant will probably be dominant at any time.

“May not be as dominant because of the number of players, but there are very good – if you brought Byron Nelsons, Ben Hogans, if you brought Bobby Jones, Walter Hagen, I think all these players would have been dominant players.

“There may have been 4, 5 dominant players rather than one or two dominant players, but they certainly would have been there. I certainly feel that Arnie and I would probably fall in the same category.”

With better equipment and more advanced training available now than ever before, when Nicklaus played, it is hard to imagine him being anything other than a major force in the modern era.

You could even make a case that outside of Scheffler there is not nearly as much elite talent right now compared to what Jack faced during his career.

The tour might be deeper top-to-bottom these days, but there are not as many true superstars as there were when Nicklaus was at his peak, such as Arnold Palmer and Gary Player 

How Jack Nicklaus and Scottie Scheffler’s major records stack up

The real measure of a golfer’s legacy is often found in major championships.

Nicklaus holds the gold standard, but can Scheffler put together a record that even gets him in the conversation?

Based on his current pace, Scheffler is well positioned to get within reach of those numbers over the next decade or so.

However, the big question is: will he have the staying power to keep chasing titles into his late thirties?

If he does, it would not be surprising to see him finish with double-digit majors and upwards of 60 PGA Tour wins.