Again, agreed - no question, Tiger in his prime was better than the top players of today. Also agree Mickelson and Els are solid players for any era, although Phil has a maddening tendency to be his own worst enemy. Garcia, except for Ryder Cup, not so much.
But ultimately, my lyin` eyes tell me that the top players of today - B. Watson, D. Johnson, Speith, McElroy, Day - though not better than Tiger, will prove to be better golfers than those of the 90`s and 2000`s that Tiger was competing with. Also think the tour is deeper now than it ever has been.
Here are the runners up in Tiger`s major victories:
1997 Masters - Kite
1999 PGA - Garcia
2000 Open - Els, Jiminez
2000 British - Els, Bjorn
2000 PGA - Bob May
2001 masters - Duval
2002 Masters - Goosen
2002 Open - Mickelson
2005 Masters - DeMarco
2005 British - Montgomerie
2006 British - DeMarco
2007 PGA - Woody Austin
2008 Open - Mediate
Impressive list, but only modestly so.
Maybe the TV media "pilloried" Tiger after a negative reaction to a poor shot, although I can`t say I personally recall them making a huge deal over it. On the other hand, my recollection is that from a larger overall perspective he was held in awe, was loudly and deservedly praised for his incredible skills and competitiveness, and that he was the star of the golf show, whether atop the leaderboard (as he typically was) or not.
Re being bored with WCBB - not in the slightest!!!