Nicklaus sympathizes with Tiger Woods over major | Golf News

Jack Nicklaus has expressed sympathy for Tiger Woods, who has confronted quite a few major harm setbacks all through his golf profession. Woods is very unlikely to surpass Nicklaus within the all-time Major championship-winning standings, as he presently lags behind by three titles and isn’t the participant he as soon as was.

Nicklaus set a file with 18 Majors during his illustrious profession, dominating the game for practically three many years within the Sixties, Nineteen Seventies, and Nineteen Eighties. Woods appeared poised to interrupt the file after profitable eight Majors between 1997 and 2002.

By 2008, the 49 yr previous had received one other six titles, bringing his complete to 14, however fitness points hampered his progress. Woods’ most up-to-date Major victory got here on the 2019 Masters, the place he earned his fifth inexperienced jacket.

However, he hasn’t come close to profitable one other since then. Five years in the past, on the TPC Harding Park within the PGA Championship, Woods was requested about catching up with Nicklaus.

The American responded: “There’s not as many [opportunities to win] as when I first started playing. The reality is that the golf courses are getting bigger. They are getting longer.

“The margin between making the cut and the lead is a lot smaller than it was once. Used to be generally 12 to fifteen pictures.

“Now we had, what, nine shots here? It’s just different. It’s getting tighter and it’s getting harder to win events – but you look at the leaderboard of most Major championships, you see the same guys.”

Beset by harm points, the golf legend’s profession has been marked by notable setbacks together with a ruptured ACL in 2007 and a torn Achilles tendon a yr later, to not point out two critical car crashes in 2009 and 2021.

Speaking to the Golf Channel about Woods chasing the all-time Major file, Nicklaus stated: “If he remained healthy I think he would’ve gotten it, but he didn’t remain healthy.”

DON’T MISS

Expressing sympathy, Nicklaus remarked he ‘felt dangerous’ for Woods due to the gravity of his accidents, including with delicate understatement, “He’s had a relatively good career.”

Since profitable the 2019 Masters, Woods has taken half in 14 of the final 22 Majors, however with seven missed cuts and two withdrawals pre-tournament, his challenges proceed.