Thursday 20 July 2017 12:55, UK
Gary Player believes that no current player could have matched Tiger Woods during his peak years.
The nine-time major winner also refuted claims that lifting heavy weights led to Woods' injury problems but acknowledged that the 41-year-old American faces a "monumental" challenge to return to top level golf.
Speaking at The 146th Open at Royal Birkdale, Player, himself a three-time Open champion, argued that Woods would have had even greater success had he stayed with coach Butch Harmon.
"I think one of the biggest mistakes Tiger Woods ever made was leaving Butch Harmon," he told Sky Sports. "He should never have left Butch Harmon.
"Of course, Tiger has his own reasons and it's not for me to say he's wrong but, in my opinion, if he'd stayed with Butch he would have won 23 major championships and he'd have gone down as the greatest golfer that ever lived.
"I think Tiger eventually got very confused with the swing, going to so many coaches. Once you have confusion here [points to his head], it's hard to play your very best."
However, despite his problems in recent years, Players insists that, at his best, Woods was more than a match for any of the current stars.
"There is nobody playing golf today that can play golf like Tiger Woods did, that I'm absolutely sure of," he said.
"I never saw a man with the talent that Tiger had, he was more focused than anybody I ever saw and contrary to what all these golf channels and others are saying that he pumped himself up, used too heavy weights and that was the demise of Tiger Woods - not at all!
"When Tiger Woods won he was as bulked up as I've ever seen. Everybody's body is different, Tiger hurt his back and he hurt his knee, he should have realised he had a weakness there and taken it easy on those type of exercises but don't condemn weight training and exercises."
Woods is currently recovering from a fourth back operation and Player believes the entire golfing community is willing him to make a successful return to the game.
"I don't know anybody that doesn't want Tiger Woods to come back," he added. "We want him to come back, we need him to come back: the sponsors, the media, the public. But he's got a monumental task ahead of him, so many things have gone wrong for him."
Watch continued live coverage of The 146th Open from Royal Birkdale on Sky Sports The Open and Sky Sports Main Event.
