Jack Nicklaus says Tiger Woods is 'too good of a talent' to never win again
Tiger Woods, ranked No. 476 in the world as of this week, will miss his second Masters in the last three years and still has no timetable for his eventual return to competition. Woods had surgery to address a pinched nerve in his back last September, and had a follow up procedure done in October. Although Woods says he is making progress in his recovery, he wasn't ready to play for a fifth green jacket in 2016.
In a poll of 60 PGA Tour pros conducted by ESPN, 70 percent of Woods' peers said they don't believe Tiger will ever win another major. As his injuries pile up, however, many are questioning whether Woods, who last won in 2013, will ever win another weekly tournament. At Augusta National Tuesday, Jack Nicklaus said he's surprised Woods isn't competiting this weekend, and that he's sure Woods will hoist another tournament trophy in the future.
Via Golf.com:
Nicklaus also said that he doesn't feel his record of 18 majors is safe.
This isn't the first time Nicklaus has backed Woods to make a triumphant return (and probably won't be the last), but even if you take Woods' deteriorating health out of the equation, it's highly unlikely that he'll be able to return to his dominant mid-2000's form at the age of 40. Vijay Singh won an incredible 22 tournaments after turning 40, but he's the exception to the general rule.
Let's take a look at Nicklaus' own career after 40 (the same age Tiger is now). In 1980, Nicklaus won two majors (the U.S. Open and the PGA Championship), and finished fourth at the British Open. It's likely as good a year as any golfer over 40 could possibly have, but Woods isn't going to be able to match it barring some sort of medical miracle.
Over Nicklaus' next six seasons, he won three tournaments in total, including his classic victory at the 1986 Masters. To put it another way, even if Woods' run from 2017 to 2022 matches Nicklaus' own pace (we're throwing out 2016 because it's unclear when Woods will play), it would be viewed as a disappointment. For Woods to catch Nicklaus, he'd have to do something no one has ever done before.
