Jack Nicklaus had won 18 professional major titles in his peerless career, and Woods made it clear that he wanted to surpass Nicklaus before he was done dominating the sport. The only doubt—at least in my mind—came when I had dinner with Woods in February 1998 and casually mentioned he needed 17 more majors to tie Nicklaus.

“Sixteen,” Woods corrected. “Jack won 20 if you include his two [U.S.] Amateurs. I won the Amateur three times, so I’ve got four.”

That notion never took hold with the public. The number most associated with Nicklaus is 18 and always will be 18. The number associated with Woods is 15—not 18.

Regardless, the bar has never moved for Woods. The minute he broke his major drought of almost 11 years at Augusta National last April, people began bringing up 18 again. Can he win three more? How about four?

On Sunday, Novak Djokovic won his 17th major tennis title when he came from behind to beat Dominic Thiem to win his eighth Australian Open. The victory left Djokovic three majors behind Roger Federer and two behind Rafael Nadal. Here’s the difference between golf and tennis: Nicklaus was 57 and all but retired when Woods won his first pro major. Jack did make a remarkable run at Augusta in 1998 before finishing T-6, but Nicklaus was 11 years removed from his last major victory when Woods beat the field by 12 at Augusta in ’97.

Nicklaus was already predicting that Woods would blow away all his numbers before Woods won that first title. After Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer had played a Tuesday practise round with Woods in 1996, Nicklaus came into the interview room and declared, “This kid’s going to win more Masters than Arnold and I did combined.”

Nicklaus and Palmer won 10 Masters. Right from the start, the bar was set very high for Woods. But at least Woods knew exactly where the bar was, and who had put it there.

Tiger and Jack share a chat during the award presentation at the 2001 Memorial. (Andy Lyons)

Djokovic doesn’t have that luxury. He had to beat Federer in the semifinals in Australia last week. Nadal, who has had more trouble winning in Australia than anyplace else, was beaten in the quarterfinals by Thiem. A year ago, Djokovic beat Nadal in the final. Two years ago, the winner Down Under was Federer—then 36.

On the women’s side, Serena Williams has been trying to pass Margaret Court on the all-time major list since 2017, when she won her 23rd major title—also in Australia. Williams was pregnant when she won that title, and even though she has reached three major finals since the birth of her daughter in September 2017, she hasn’t been able to equal Court’s 24 major wins.

But like Woods, Williams knows the bar isn’t going to move on her. Court is 77 and in the news these days only because of her controversial politics.

Many believe that Federer, now 38, isn’t likely to win another major. But they believed that when he went four years without a major title from 2013 to 2016. Then he won in Australia and at Wimbledon in 2017 and again in Australia in 2018. Last year, Federer had two match points in the fifth set against Djokovic at Wimbledon before losing in the final. Never say never with Federer.

In golf, there are no true head-to-head records to help judge who might be better. Battles in the final round of a major are rare: Nicklaus beat Palmer in a U.S. Open playoff in 1962; Lee Trevino beat Nicklaus in another Open playoff in 1971; Tom Watson stared Nicklaus down in late-major duels at Augusta and Turnberry in 1977, and Pebble Beach in 1982. Only once—at the 2002 Masters—did Woods go head-to-head with Phil Mickelson and David Duval in a final-round showdown. Mickelson and Duval were contemporaries and stars, though not equals or even near-equals.

In tennis, you can look up the head-to-head records of Federer, Nadal and Djokovic anytime you want. Nadal leads Federer, 24-16—including 11-2 on clay, the surface where he is almost unbeatable. Djokovic also leads Federer, 26-23, and leads Nadal, 29-26.

There’s no doubt that Djokovic has been the dominant player of the last 10 years. When he won his second major (Australia in 2011), Federer already had 16 majors and Nadal had won nine. Each had completed the career Grand Slam—Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, U.S. Open. Since then, Federer has won four majors; Nadal, who turns 34 in June, has won 10—including two last year. Djokovic, who will be 33 in May, has won 15—including three of the last four.

Tennis’ next major is the French Open, at Roland Garros, where Nadal has won an astounding 12 times. Anyone want to pick against him? Federer, as he proved last year, might have one more Wimbledon in him—he’s won eight. And Djokovic just keeps trying to climb the mountain. Among active players, Stan Wawrinka and Andy Murray are next in major victories—with three apiece.

Right from the start, the major bar was set very high for Tiger Woods. But at least he knew exactly where the bar was, and who had put it there.

It’s worth noting that Roy Emerson became the all-time leader in men’s singles titles when he won his 12th in 1967. That record stood for 33 years, until Pete Sampras broke it. Sampras won his 14th and final major at the 2002 U.S. Open. Seven years later, Federer went past him. Now, Nadal and Djokovic have also shot past Sampras—even though the three great champions have had to face one another constantly during their careers.

Nicklaus and Woods have no real challengers at this point for the top two slots in golf. Walter Hagen is third in professional majors won at 11—the last coming in 1929. Then come Ben Hogan and Gary Player with nine and Watson with eight. Watson was the most recent to win a major in that group—in 1983.

Phil Mickelson is the only active player other than Woods with five major titles—and he’s almost 50. Ernie Els, who just turned 50, has four. Rory McIlroy, 30, and Brooks Koepka, 29, have four apiece. Jordan Spieth, who is 26, has three.

If you set an over-under at 10 for McIlroy, Koepka and Spieth, most people would take the under. But you never know. Djokovic certainly didn’t appear to be a serious challenger to Federer or Nadal as recently as five years ago.

Chances are, though, that when the next challenger to Nicklaus or Woods comes along—if one comes along—he will know exactly where the bar is set. It might be a very high bar, but at least it won’t be a moving target.

The post Chasing GOATs: How Tiger’s major pursuit of Nicklaus differs from what’s going on in tennis appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

WE’RE BUYING

Korn Ferry Tour Championship: I’m not one of these golf purists who is going to tell you the KFT season finale was better than the Tour Championship, but it contained incredible drama in its own way, as usual. Watching guys go back and forth from having a job on the PGA Tour next season to being on the outs was riveting, and Doug Ghim provided the event’s lasting moment when he sunk this tester for par on 18 to graduate to the big leagues:

Intensity.
Passion.
Jubilation.@DougGhim is #TOURBound. pic.twitter.com/sz8tlOIkK6

— Korn Ferry Tour (@KornFerryTour) September 2, 2019

What a fantastic reaction by Ghim, who was one of nine players to jump into the all-important top 25 of the Korn Ferry Tour Finals points list. Of course, there were others who wound up outside the bubble. But let’s stay positive here. Putting up with the end of summer is sad enough.

Tom Lewis: This 28-year-old Brit needed no such drama at Victoria National. The former can’t-miss prospect couldn’t miss all week, winning by five shots to earn his PGA Tour card for the first time. Even more impressive is this was Lewis’ first start on the Korn Ferry Tour this season. And we don’t just mean since the Web.com Tour switched to being called the Korn Ferry Tour. No, this dude just carpetbagged his way to a PGA Tour card.

Stacy Revere/Getty Images

But good for him. And now he has the “good problem” of choosing whether to play predominantly on the European Tour or PGA Tour next season. Just a gue$$, but Lewi$ will play more in the U$A.

Sebastian Soderberg: The 28-year-old Swede (It was a good week to be 28) won a five-man playoff at the Omega European Masters that included Rory McIlroy. Not a bad way to pick up his first European Tour title.

Stuart Franklin/Getty Images

Kudos to Rory as well for not just showing up and going through the motions for a sponsor following his Tour Championship/FedEx Cup triumph. Or maybe he was just going through the motions, but he’s that good.

Lucky bounces: Especially when you haven’t won in nearly five years. Wes Short Jr. looked like he’d come up short again when his final approach shot came up short, but he used the rocks in the hazard to his advantage (Savvy!) and wound up two-putting for birdie and the win at the Shaw Charity Classic.

Can’t make this stuff up …

Wes Short Jr.’s second shot into the par-5 18th looked like it was heading into the hazard.

Thanks to the help of a rock, the ball landed on the green and Wes went on to make birdie for the @ShawClassic win. pic.twitter.com/KAQY6KDobi

— PGA TOUR Champions (@ChampionsTour) September 2, 2019

“Good, clean living!” as my friend Roks used to say.

WE’RE SELLING

(My) unlucky weather: For important events, that is. Three weeks after playing only three holes in my first PGA Tour Pro-Am, I played a total of four holes in the only member-guest I was invited to this year. Womp-womp. This time, I managed to show up to lovely Aspetuck Valley Country Club on the one part of the one day that it stormed amid two weeks of perfectly glorious weather. At least it wasn’t raining (torrentially) when we took our group photo. That happened seconds later.

Thanks to my buddy Al for the look, but seriously, everyone, do NOT invite me to any important golf function going forward.

Paragliding: We’ve seen people doing this at places like Torrey Pines, but in Switzerland, Rory McIlroy had to back away from a shot because he was worried about hitting them:

Wait, a Paraglider? ?

Everyone wanted to see Rory McIlroy today… pic.twitter.com/7LhYX3X9t8

— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) August 29, 2019

How rude! Also, this looks dangerous! You couldn’t pay me Rory McIlroy FedEx Cup money to go up on one of those.

Brandel vs. Bob: Brooks Koepka’s dad, Bob, went after Brandel Chamblee on Twitter over the weekend. I love seeing someone stick up for his sons, and the back-and-forth was entertaining, but it was also a bit silly considering how much crow Chamblee has eaten regarding his Koepka commentary:

They say the NBA offseason has become more interesting than the season. If this is how golf’s offseason is about to go, sign me the hell up.

Brooksy’s dad taking runs at Brandel. America’s Guest catching multiple strays. Let’s light this candle and really live under par in Q4! pic.twitter.com/fquHoMcJRP

— Brendan Porath (@BrendanPorath) September 3, 2019

Not that I’m complaining. Keep this Twitter beef going, guys!

RANDOM PROP BETS OF THE WEEK

—There will be another five-man playoff on the European Tour: 1 MILLION-to-1 odds
—Tiger will win another major: 3-to-1 odds (Actual odds. Um … tempting.)
—I will never go paragliding: LOCK

PHOTO OF THE WEEK

Tiger and mini-Tiger watching Rafael Nadal (Sorry, Roger) at the U.S. Open:

Like father, like son. ?@TigerWoods and his family attended the men's singles match between Rafael Nadal and Marin Cilic at the U.S. Open on Monday. pic.twitter.com/mREsyxTPir

— Golf Digest (@GolfDigest) September 3, 2019

So cute. Tiger also unleashed a pretty ferocious standing fist-pump and I’ve never felt more excited watching tennis:

Game recognizing game. ?pic.twitter.com/xqLFNnFhDi

— Golf Digest (@GolfDigest) September 3, 2019

Good to see. That surgically repaired knee must be feeling better.

VIRAL VIDEO OF THE WEEK (TOUR PRO DIVISION)

As my colleague, Chris Powers, so eloquently put it, “Eddie Pepperell can’t stop, won’t stop roasting Bryson DeChambeau for slow play.”

We don't deserve Eddie Pepperell. pic.twitter.com/DurrrQJEFz

— Chris Chaney (@Wrong_Fairway) August 30, 2019

Good stuff, Eddie. Golf needs more mid-round interviews.

VIRAL VIDEO OF THE WEEK (NON-TOUR PRO DIVISION)

Introducing Silvia Rosenberger. She’s from Germany and she can putt the freaking lights out. At last week’s World Amateur Handicap Championship, Rosenberger won a $5 putting contest and got one crack from 60 feet for $25,000. You can guess what happened:

ICYMI: Epic moment at the Myrtle Beach World Am last night when this German golfer casually drains a 100 footer to win $25,000!

How much beer do you think she had to buy everyone after???#MBWorldAm #MyrtleBeachGolf pic.twitter.com/v0a0zthMmv

— Myrtle Beach Golf (@MyrtleBeachGolf) August 31, 2019

Well done, Silvia.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“To have it all come down to one putt is pretty surreal. It’s one of those things where if you make the putt, it does wonders for you, and if you miss it, it could go the opposite way. Now that I’ve finally made the putt, it feels like I have the opportunity to make some noise on the big tour and I’m just really, really excited.” —Doug Ghim after earning his PGA Tour card on the 18th at Victoria National on Monday.

Good to hear, Doug. Because you only get one week off before the PGA Tour season starts.

THIS WEEK IN CELEBRITIES PLAYING GOLF

When Justin Timberlake needs a bunker lesson, he goes to one of the best: Rory McIlroy.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B1rFfrRn9U_/?utm_source=ig_embed

And how about the Green Bay Packers dressing up as “Happy Gilmore” characters?

https://www.instagram.com/p/B1uCidahZV0/?utm_source=ig_embed

Impressive. But … where the heck is Shooter?!

THIS WEEK IN PHIL BEING PHIL

Phil had Justin Thomas on an episode of “Phireside with Phil” to tell another great story about Phil (although, we’re still waiting for that second part … ):

One of my favorite people on Tour …

My man JT (@JustinThomas34) joins me for a 2-part series to tell stories when we first played together. #PhiresideWithPhil pic.twitter.com/e0OhAcVYow

— Phil Mickelson (@PhilMickelson) August 29, 2019

And Mickelson reminded everyone how great his calves are:

Let us not forget. #CalvesLikeAdonis pic.twitter.com/raP1uIUB6I

— Phil Mickelson (@PhilMickelson) August 27, 2019

Running on the beach while holding weights is going to be featured prominently in his “Body By Phil” fitness series.

THIS AND THAT

It looks like Patrick Reed has a sweet new ride:

Great to be back in Hamburg, Germany for the Porsche European Open! Before I left, I broke in my commemorative Masters GT2RS! Excited to play the next three events on the @EuropeanTour. #PEO @KLMOpen, @BMWPGA #1of1 pic.twitter.com/SP5XGIzJcb

— Patrick Reed (@PReedGolf) September 3, 2019

It’s good to be a Masters champ. … Congrats to Hannah Green for winning her second LPGA title by one shot over Monday qualifier Yealimi Noh. Congrats to the 18-year-old Noh for even coming close. She’ll be back. … Shout-out to Golf Digest Executive Producer of Video Christian Iooss, who broke his leg in a surfing accident over the weekend. Yet another reminder of why you should retire from all sports and activities other than golf once you turn 25. Feel better, Iooss. … And finally, my daughter is convinced I’m Tim Robbins/Andy Dufresne from “The Shawshank Redemption”:

My daughter is convinced I’m @TimRobbins1 as Andy Dufresne (?), so, yeah, it’s a great day… pic.twitter.com/7tOSsyjFPC

— Alex Myers (@AlexMyers3) August 29, 2019

And I don’t plan on correcting her anytime soon! Also, Tim Robbins liked this tweet. Man, I love Twitter.

RANDOM QUESTIONS TO PONDER

What’s the best movie of all time (Other than Shawshank)?
Does Silvia lose her amateur status after winning the $25K in the putting contest?
How do you say “Quid pro quo” in German?

The post Tiger Woods roots for Rafael Nadal, Brooks Koepka’s dad goes after Brandel Chamblee, and the luckiest bounce of 2019 appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Coleman Bentley
Sometimes life gets in the way of sports. It’s a harsh reality, but one we all eventually have to face while standing in a “BACK 2 SCHOOL!!” aisle staring blankly at Post-it notes until the world melts away. Things get even more complex when your life is sports, however. Just ask Rafael Nadal, who had to deal with a pesky Rogers Cup final interrupting Tiger’s epic performance at Bellerive on Sunday.

“I’ve got to check on Tiger!” ?

When you’ve got the #RogersCup final at 4pm but you’re also a massive golf fan! @RafaelNadal @TigerWoods pic.twitter.com/B1Kbr6lWCm

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) August 13, 2018

Following his victory over Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-2, 7-6 (come on, there was no way that was going three sets with El Tigre making a charge), Rafa, like every poor golf sap on earth—including the whole of the UK, where the PGA Championship WASN’T EVEN TELEVISED—immediately began swiping through his phone to track his buddy’s progress. “What’s Tiger doing?” he then asked crowd, who, let’s be honest, we’re also keeping one eye on the leaderboard as well.

Interestingly enough, Rafa’s career arc isn’t all that different from Tiger’s: Periods of almost unthinkable dominance interrupted by devastating injury. Perhaps that explains why the best athlete in tennis would rather be watching Tiger contend 800 miles away than win himself. Or perhaps it’s just a testament to the sheer animal magnetism of the Big Cat on the prowl. Either way, it’s good to see we’re not alone. See honey, we told you so.

The post Rafael Nadal is all of us checking on Tiger Woods’s final round during Rogers Cup match appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.