He has a long way to go to get to Nicklaus. I am not pointing directly at anyone here, but so many people automatically say he is the best that never even knew what a golf ball was before he came along, thanks to ESPN and our wonderful media these days. Golf was played before 1997.
Yes, the fields may be deeper these days, but there was much more quality at the top in the Nicklaus era, as some have already pointed out.