What is best game in the world

[Redhook]

So without Tiger it IS boring?

Less exciting.

[Redsfan320]

I enjoy playing tennis (not very well), but as for watching it-- .

320

[BRM]

I just want to say I'm not talking about a Sunday stroll on the course. Shooting a 90 while drinking a few beers is not tough. It's fun and relaxing to play golf casually. However, golf at the highest level, is completely different.

The same could be said of nearly every sport. Playing rec league baseball on the weekend is fun. Playing it at the highest level is completely different. Same for football, basketball, hockey, etc.

[redhawkfish]

Baseball
bass fishing(not a game, but favorite activity by far)
Miami hockey

[SunDeck]

It seems impossible to say whether professional golf is more challenging than, say, pitching. Both require pinpoint accuracy, strategy and tremendous concentration. But as a person who took up golf in his forties, I can say it was not necessarily challenging to get my game to the mid eighties. Beyond that, however, one cannot go unless they have lots amounts of time to dedicate to the game. So, I see Redhook's point; it's not terribly challenging to shoot 90 on a Sunday, but to play four competitive rounds on the hardest courses in the world, and still be 10-12 shots under par? That's got to be crazy hard, and those guys make it look pretty easy. Maybe too easy.

For my money, World Cup downhill skiing is probably more challenging than any sport. Physically demanding, requiring tremendous strength, immense concentration to remember turns, visualize the course, reacting to sudden irregularities in terrain at 75mph. Not to mention, there is the possibility of a life threatening injury on every run. At least in NASCAR the driver is surrounded by 3000 pounds of engineering.

But the best sport is still baseball. Built in beer breaks, could there be a more perfect union of sport and leisure?

[texasdave]

I stand by my comment. I've played most other sports and golf, IMO, is the most challenging. It's not the most physically challenging, but with the added mental aspect of the game it pushes it to the top.

I just want to say I'm not talking about a Sunday stroll on the course. Shooting a 90 while drinking a few beers is not tough. It's fun and relaxing to play golf casually. However, golf at the highest level, is completely different.

You can't really say 'well aside from the physical part' golf is the most challenging. That is part and parcel of the entire discussion. Mastering the 'physical part' of a sport is a huge component of mastering a sport.

[Scrap Irony]

Golf is easy to play adequately. All it takes is practice, money, and time. That's why all those middle-aged men (and many women) are (or want to be) out on the links every chance they get.

To play better than adequately, however, takes great skill.

But to say it's the hardest thing to do in sports?

Laughable.

Hit a baseball.

Throw a 45-yard laser against the grain while a 300+ lb. behemoth is tracking your every move with intent for bodily harm.

Throw a pitch at Little League speeds to professional hitters who can hit it 500+ feet, depending only on air friction and raised stitching. 120 times a game for 36 games a year. Without flinching.

Skate down the ice, with sticks swinging, and a puck at your feet, while six others try to take said puck away. Backwards. At a high rate of speed.

Catch.

Run a marathon, then, in the last minute, find the courage, will, and determination to make a last-ditch effort around, through, and over the opposing team while not using your hands, so that you may have a chance to kick a ball through a goal that another man (who can use his hands) is protecting. Did I mention the spikes, kicking, and gouging?

[Kingspoint]

It seems impossible to say whether professional golf is more challenging than, say, pitching.

My Grandpa said "pitching" is the hardest game he ever played. To try to repeat a "perfect pitch" is the goal every time, and not even the best there ever was could do it.

Horseshoe "pitching", of course.

[oneupper]

Life

[KronoRed]

Life

Agreed.

[Redhook]

You can't really say 'well aside from the physical part' golf is the most challenging. That is part and parcel of the entire discussion. Mastering the 'physical part' of a sport is a huge component of mastering a sport.

I love how your bending my words. No, it's not the most physically challenging sport. I would rate all contact, speed, and endurance sports ahead of golf. As for skill, I'd put golf near the top with baseball and some other sports. Mentally, though, it stands alone at the top. It's so difficult to stay mentally sharp for a round, let alone a full tournament at the top level. And once again, there's no teammates to help you out when you're down or off your game. Plus, you have to all your foul balls. :

[Redhook]

Golf is easy to play adequately. All it takes is practice, money, and time. That's why all those middle-aged men (and many women) are (or want to be) out on the links every chance they get.

To play better than adequately, however, takes great skill.

But to say it's the hardest thing to do in sports?

Laughable.

Hit a baseball.

Throw a 45-yard laser against the grain while a 300+ lb. behemoth is tracking your every move with intent for bodily harm.

Throw a pitch at Little League speeds to professional hitters who can hit it 500+ feet, depending only on air friction and raised stitching. 120 times a game for 36 games a year. Without flinching.

Skate down the ice, with sticks swinging, and a puck at your feet, while six others try to take said puck away. Backwards. At a high rate of speed.

Catch.

Run a marathon, then, in the last minute, find the courage, will, and determination to make a last-ditch effort around, through, and over the opposing team while not using your hands, so that you may have a chance to kick a ball through a goal that another man (who can use his hands) is protecting. Did I mention the spikes, kicking, and gouging?

Good points and I agree all of them are very difficult in their own rights. It's very difficult to compare golf to them. There's physically demanding sports and there's sports that require more skill like baseball and golf.

I just believe that golf is the most challenging due the skill involved, the endless changing conditions for every shot, and the mental grind. I see how this seems to get under the skin of others, but I truly believe it. It's the best game in the world.

[Betterread]

One of the martial arts has to be the best game. As an American male, I'll say boxing. In martial arts, if you don't compete well, you may be killed by your opponent, literally.

[Yachtzee]

I'd say every sport has it's challenges, but my feeling is that the best games in the world are those that are not only challenging, but include a certain style and grace that can turn a simple game into poetry in motion. In my own opinion, baseball and soccer fit that description. There's just something about watching a skilled double play tandem at work or a well-timed bicycle kick on a beautiful cross that sends the ball just beyond the goalie's outstretched hands. It's as much art as it is sport.

[reds1869]

I'd say every sport has it's challenges, but my feeling is that the best games in the world are those that are not only challenging, but include a certain style and grace that can turn a simple game into poetry in motion. In my own opinion, baseball and soccer fit that description. There's just something about watching a skilled double play tandem at work or a well-timed bicycle kick on a beautiful cross that sends the ball just beyond the goalie's outstretched hands. It's as much art as it is sport.