Rozner: Jason Day great, but not Tiger great

At this time a year ago, Jordan Spieth was on the verge of what looked a historic run, sparking comparisons to the greatest players and streaks of all time.

But if you watched Spieth this weekend at the Byron Nelson in Texas, you had to wonder if it was the same guy. He's stuck deep in a two-way miss and the double-cross was prevalent Saturday and Sunday, just as it was at the Masters.

So this year it's Jason Day on a ridiculous run, the type that brings comparisons to greatest of all time.

And he's earned it.

Going back to last June, Day could have won the U.S. Open at Chambers Bay if not for vertigo. A month later at St. Andrews, he would have reached the Open Championship playoff if a putt on 18 hadn't been a revolution or two short.

The next week he won the Canadian Open and three weeks later he finally cashed in with his first major, capturing the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits and holding off Spieth with a 20-under par finishing score.

He made it 4 of 6 with wins at the Barclays and the BMW late last year, and then won the Palmer in March and Match Play the following week. With a win at the Players last week - considered the fifth major by PGA Tour players - it capped a stretch of 7 wins in 17 starts.

He's favored to win the U.S. Open at the OakMonster in June, playing with a scary confidence around the greens, combined with a power and accuracy that intimidates the field.

Really an extraordinary run by almost any standard.

But the standard by which he should never be judged is the Tiger Woods standard. It's an impossible level to reach and it's unfair to Day, but it won't stop the comparisons from those who are always searching for the next Great One.

It's still done with Michael Jordan every draft day, to no avail.

Day's 7 victories dating to last July is the stuff of legend, and his win at TPC virtually guarantees him a spot in the World Golf Hall of Fame.

But he is not Tiger Woods. Not even close to Tiger Woods.

Day now has 10 PGA Tour victories - a phenomenal career if it ended today - in 181 career starts.

In Woods' first 181 starts as a professional he won 46 times, a career total surpassed by only six players not named Woods.

Ten wins for Day by the age of 28 is a terrific accomplishment.

By age 28, Woods had 39 victories.

With a major in his pocket and in the prime of his career, Day has a chance to win several more.

By this age, Woods had collected eight majors.

Day's 7 wins in 17 starts is a ridiculous stretch.

Woods won seven in a row in 2006-07.

Day's longest streak is 2 straight wins, which he's done twice.

Woods won back-to-back 13 times and had streaks of three straight, four straight, five straight, six straight and seven straight.

Seven wins in 17 starts is an absurd 41 percent win rate.

Woods had a stretch from 2006-09 - interrupted by a broken leg and ACL surgery - in which he won 23 of 44 starts, a win percentage of 52.

Day is clearly the best player in the world right now and during his career he has been World No. 1 for 12 weeks, including the last eight.

By age 28, Woods had been No. 1 for 334 weeks. He's been No. 1 for a total of 683 weeks, including streaks of 264 straight weeks and 281 straight weeks.

In 2013, when he won five times, Woods went back to No. 1 and stayed there another 60 consecutive weeks.

Day has had a great two years, with 5 wins last year and 3 more this year.

Woods won at least five times in a year 10 times.

Day would have to win twice more this season and then have 13 straight years of at least 5 wins to approach Woods' career mark of 79 victories, taking Day to age 41.

Jason Day has already had a great career, and if he accomplished nothing else, he would be considered one of the best ever.

He's on an amazing run, but he is no more the next Tiger Woods than was Jordan Spieth last year, Rory McIlroy two years ago and Dustin Johnson, Bubba Watson, Sergio Garcia, Justin Rose, Luke Donald or Adam Scott at various points when anointed over the last decade.

There will never be another Tiger Woods. Trying to find one is a fool's errand, but that won't stop many from running it anyway.

brozner@dailyherald.com

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