Jack Nicklaus still isn’t ready to say Tiger Woods won’t catch his major tally
If you polled golfers and golf fans at large, the overwhelming majority would probably tell you they believe Tiger Woods has no chance of winning the five majors he needs to pass Jack Nicklaus’ major tally of 18.
However, one of those golfers that would say Woods still has a chance is Nicklaus himself, who has maintained throughout Woods’ personal and health struggles that the 14-time major champion will eventually catch him.
Once again, Nicklaus has answered in the affirmative when asked if he thinks Woods will get to 19 majors.
“He has always been a very focused young man with a great work ethic, and is tremendously talented. To count him out of [the majors record] would be foolish, he certainly has a very good chance of doing that,” said Nicklaus, according to CNN.
As we’ve said before, it behooves Nicklaus to maintain that Woods can catch him because the day he declares Woods’ chase over, it is one of the last big headlines he can make. The class act he is, the 75-year-old Nicklaus would much prefer Woods to play out the chase, letting the question answer itself inside the ropes, rather than potentially prematurely declaring himself the winner.
Woods, who hasn’t won a major since the 2008 U.S. Open, turns 40 on December 30. Even were Woods completely healthy, he’d face an uphill battle to reach Nicklaus. The highest number of majors any player has won beyond the age of 40 is three. Nicklaus himself did, winning two majors in 1980 before his miraculous Sunday at Augusta National in 1986. Ben Hogan won the second-most majors after 40 with three, all coming in his incredible 1953 season.
Ahead of his Hero World Challenge last week, Woods gave heartfelt insight into how he views his accomplishments and legacy, even were he never to add to his win tally. However, while there was a sense of despondency in Woods’ remarks, he remains confident he’ll play golf again.
Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.
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