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.

And yes, people rolled their eyes at Earl Woods when he predicted Tiger would win 14 majors before he even turned pro, but guess what? Woods actually won FOURTEEN majors. So far, the biggest news surrounding any of LaVar’s overexposed offspring is that one got arrested for shoplifting in China. Maybe it’s time to cool it on those prognostications.

Anyway, as you can see, LaVar is featured prominently in our video, “The Biggest Sports Turkeys Of 2017,” but we’re sticking to golf here because there’s plenty to chew on as we head into Thanksgiving. Let’s dive in.

WE’RE BUYING
Austin Cook: This former Monday qualifying sensation finally has a full season to impress on the PGA Tour and wasted little time with his maiden victory at the RSM Classic. It’s tough to play much better than Cook, who only missed 12 greens all week and got up-and-down on 11 of those occasions. “Yeah, I slept terrible last night,” Cook said of having the 54-hole lead. Well, he can rest easier knowing he’s basically got three more seasons of fully exempt status. Although falling asleep in Augusta this April might be a challenge.

John Rahm: So much for that “controversy” surrounding Rahm being named European Tour Rookie of the Year. By winning the tour’s season finale, he jumped to No. 3 on the season-long Race to Dubai list and to No. 4 in the Official World Golf Ranking. All this just a week after turning 23. Combine Rahm’s season with what Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth have done in recent months and it’s not a stretch to say that the three best golfers in the world right now are all 24 or younger. Also, congrats to Tommy Fleetwood for hanging on to win the Race to Dubai. Good thing he got one of those under his belt, because at 26 he’s practically a fossil.

Lexi Thompson’s 2017: The numbers don’t lie, this was the best year of Thompson’s career so far. She “only” won twice, but she claimed the Vare Trophy for best scoring average on the LPGA and she also captured the season-long Race to the Globe title thanks to a runner-up at the season finale. But. . . Yeah. . .

WE’RE SELLING
Lexi Thompson’s final par putt of 2017: That was rough to watch. A (maybe) two-footer for likely the win and the honor of LPGA Player of the Year and. . . well, you know. Of course, you also know what happened to her at the season’s first major when a belated four-shot penalty cost her that title. Those are two pretty rough things to happen in one year to the same person. The $1 million bonus should soften the blow a bit, though.

Sam Greenwood

Unfortunately, the whole situation short-changed Ariya Jutanugarn, who birdied four of her final six holes, including draining the winning 25-footer moments after Lexi’s miss. As excited as we are about the sub-25 stars in men’s golf, the women’s game has even more.

This “ban golf” piece: Criticizing someone else’s writing is risky if you don’t have any Pulitzers to your name, but Joel Beall did a nice job here deconstructing this terrible column that trashes golf. Golf is by no means perfect — and neither is the writing of Joel or myself — but if you’re going to knock an entire sport and all those who play it without any facts and by drawing absurd parallels to serial killers, you deserve to be ripped.

Brandt Snedeker’s new diet: We’re happy Snedeker is back after an extended break due to a rare (for a golfer) sternum joint injury, but we’re saddened by the new diet he’s been advised to obey. His two main eating rules now are no sugar and no carbs, which means there’s not a single food in the world he can enjoy anymore. “A miserable, kind of boring diet to say the least,” Snedeker told reporters at the RSM Classic. Poor bastard.

ON TAP
The PGA Tour heads to. . . wait a minute, the PGA Tour is off! And so is the LPGA! Despite just wrapping up its season finale, though, the European Tour gets cranking on its next season right away with the UBS Hong Kong Open. The Race to Dubai never stops!

Random tournament fact: Miguel Angel Jimenez became the oldest Euro Tour winner ever at this event in 2012. And then he broke his own record the following year at 49 years, 337 days. What a stud.

RANDOM PROP BETS OF THE WEEK
— Miguel Angel Jimenez is cutting anything out of his diet in 2018: 1 MILLION-to-1 odds
— Tiger Woods will win a major in 2018: 20-to-1 odds (Actual odds)
— Brandt Snedeker would cry at the sight of a delicious deep-fried turkey: LOCK

PHOTO OF THE WEEK
Sorry Lexi, but we still can’t believe you missed this putt:

Tim Bradbur

OK, that’s it. No more Lexi or LaVar talk for the rest of this post. Moving on to happier things. . .

VIRAL VIDEO OF THE WEEK
The European Tour continues to pump out incredible video content, this time convincing a foursome of players to try to hit a two-yard-wide fairway set up in the middle of the Dubai desert. We don’t feel bad blowing the ending and telling you Ross Fisher managed to hit the sliver of green turf, because you should watch anyway:

The Two Yard Fairway ? pic.twitter.com/DjsW8oWv0z

— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) November 17, 2017

VIRAL VIDEO OF THE WEEK (TERRIFYING DIVISION)
When turkeys attack on the golf course:

If you golf during the week of Thanksgiving, do so at your own risk! ?: @daaavidfried

A post shared by Golf Channel (@golfchannel) on Nov 20, 2017 at 7:02am PST

QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“I feel there’s a huge gap between us. I don’t know whether it’s a lack of practice or whether I lack the strength to keep playing well. It seems there are many issues to address.” – Hideki Matsuyama on Brooks Koepka, who won the Japan Tour’s Dunlop Phoenix Open by nine shots. Deep breaths, Hideki. You’re still only 25. And you’re still ranked fifth in the WORLD.

THIS WEEK IN PGA TOUR PROS LIVING THE LIFE
Here’s Justin Thomas and girlfriend Jillian Wisniewski sitting in court-side seats at a Chicago Bulls game:

2017 @PGATOUR Player of the Year @JustinThomas34 in the house! pic.twitter.com/9MaawkaQIP

— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) November 18, 2017

And Thomas might get asked back soon after the Bulls scored 40 points in the fourth quarter to beat the Hornets 123-120, just their third win of the season.

Y’all were great hosts.. Thanks for showing @jillian_grace3 and I a great time. Heck of a game too! https://t.co/GXIx9TvXeJ

— Justin Thomas (@JustinThomas34) November 18, 2017

We’re guessing JT will also be at the big Alabama-Auburn football game this week. Winning a major championship has its perks.

THIS WEEK IN DUSTIN JOHNSON-PAULINA GRETZKY BELEN MOZO-ROBERT FARAH PUBLIC DISPLAYS OF AFFECTION
Remember that one-week social media break Belen said she was taking? Well, it lasted all of five days. Mozo shared these photos of her and boyfriend, professional tennis player Robert Farah, frolicking on a beach:

In our free time we are acrobats ??‍- currently applying for cirque de soleil - – – – – #mexico #puertoescondido #beach #fitnessmotivation @robertfarah

A post shared by Belen Mozo (@belenmozo) on Nov 17, 2017 at 4:23pm PST

Easy to see who wear the pants in the relationship… Se vé fácil quien lleva las riendas en la relación… ? credit, the one & only: @stephan_ach Special effect daddy credits to : @ptorres @robertfarah @casainspiracion @eberjey ? – – – – #girlboss #athletes #couplegoals #mexico #puertoescondido #casainspiracion #fit #fitcouple

A post shared by Belen Mozo (@belenmozo) on Nov 19, 2017 at 1:55pm PST

Cool visual effect. Also, this is strictly a hunch, but these two probably will eat a little healthier than I do on Thanksgiving.

THIS AND THAT
Roger Federer moved ahead of Tiger Woods on Forbes’ ranking of the all-time prize money earners in an individual sport. Of course, Woods has still made over $1 BILLION more than Federer in total earnings, so we’re guessing he’s not too upset about it. . . . A photographer who fished Andrew “Beef” Johnston’s 3-wood out of a watery grave at the RSM Classic was told he could keep it by the affable Brit. Christmas come early! . . . Country music star Jake Owen has accepted a sponsor’s invite to play in next year’s Nashville Golf Open on the Web.com Tour. Good luck topping Stephen Curry’s pair of 74s at the Ellie Mae Classic, Jake. . . . And finally, I attended my first Knicks game in some time and was especially excited to see this new option at MSG concession stands:

Sure, the cup cost $9.25, but free refills?! For the entire game?! What a great night. Oh yeah, the Knicks also won.

RANDOM QUESTIONS TO PONDER
— How much does Fred Couples miss the Skins Game?
— What’s Tiger’s favorite Thanksgiving side?
—  Do I have a soda problem?

The post Lexi Thompson’s painful miss, Justin Thomas’ sweet seats, Belen Mozo’s bikini barrage, and the most terrifying turkey attack ever appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Alex Myers
It’s a good thing Tiger Woods is making his return to competitive golf next week, because he’s chasing Roger Federer now. And it has nothing to do with major titles.

Forbes reports the tennis great has passed Woods on the all-time list of prize money earners in individual sports. Federer didn’t win last week’s ATP Finals, but he did enough to move in front of Woods with total tournament winnings of $110,235,682. Woods, meanwhile, remains stuck on $110,061,012 in prize money for his career that has been derailed by an assortment of injuries over the past few years. Since earning more than $8.5 million during his PGA Tour Player of the Year campaign in 2013, Woods has only earned $556,873.

Federer, 36, has 95 wins, including 19 grand slam singles titles. Woods, 41, has 105 worldwide wins (79 PGA Tour titles), including 14 majors championships, which only trails Jack Nicklaus’ record total of 18.

If Woods, who underwent a fourth back surgery in April, can put forth one more sustained comeback, he should probably wind up ahead of Federer, who continues to defy the odds of competing at such a high level of tennis at his age. But even if Woods can’t (Actually, he probably still is ahead of him because Forbes doesn’t count money he’s earned on the European Tour for some reason), we shouldn’t feel too badly for him. In total earnings (including endorsements), Forbes’ $1.65 billion figure for Tiger crushes Federer’s $600 million.

That’s right, Woods has made $1 BILLION more than his friend and fellow legend. So the next time the two meet up for a meal, Woods should still be buying.

The post Tiger Woods loses his grasp on the top spot in another sports ranking — for now appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.