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What: “Tiger vs. Jack”

Where: The Golf Channel, tonight, 6 and 9.

Americans enjoy debating, particularly when it comes to arguing about who is the best at a particular sport.

In golf, the debate is: Who ultimately will be considered the greatest of all time, Jack Nicklaus or Tiger Woods?

The Golf Channel, in collaboration with Golf Digest, asks that question in this one-hour special. The question also is addressed in an in-depth feature article by Jaime Diaz in the December issue of Golf Digest.

Diaz serves as co-host of the television special with Brian Hammonds.

Of course there is no definitive answer to the debate, but both the television special and the magazine article are well researched and touch all the bases. The differences between Nicklaus and Woods, as well as their similarities, are explored.

For the Golf Channel show, which includes plenty of highlight footage of both golfers, more than 60 tour players, journalists and instructors were interviewed.

On the subject of driving length, Lee Trevino says: “Jack Nicklaus was hitting the ball almost as far as Tiger is hitting it today.... I wouldn’t doubt if Jack could out-drive Tiger using the same equipment.”

Says Ben Crenshaw: “[Nicklaus] was stupendously long. But it is safe to say we have never seen the game played like Tiger.”

Of putting, Miller Barber says: “If you had a 10-foot putt and you were going to bet your life on it, who would you ask to make it for you? I’d ask Jack Nicklaus.”

-- Larry Stewart