Jack Nicklaus Says Tiger Woods Has Had a ‘Relatively Good Career’

If we’re talking Major wins, Jack Nicklaus is the one guy who can downplay the accomplishments of Tiger Woods.

Whether he meant to or not, Nicklaus calling Woods’ PGA Tour run “a relatively good career” is a pretty understated assessment of the 14-time major winner.

🏆❌🐅 #NO CHANCE — Jack Nicklaus says Tiger Woods will not break his record of 18 Majors: “If he remained healthy I think he would’ve gotten it, but he didn’t remain healthy… I feel bad for him + he’s had a relatively good career.” Nicklaus then added of his major record: “Oh,… pic.twitter.com/r1bJw8TmNh

— NUCLR GOLF (@NUCLRGOLF) January 11, 2024

Nicklaus spoke about Woods and other topics in a wide-ranging interview on Golf Channel this week. He said that when Woods is eligible to play on the Champions Tour in less than two years, the 50-year-old version of Woods would be a force on that circuit.

“I think Tiger will play the senior tour,” Nicklaus said. “He’d be able to get in a cart, and he’ll absolutely kill everybody.”

The Golden Bear also believes that just based on Woods’ skill alone, he would’ve become the new all-time record holder for major wins.

“If he remained healthy, I think he would’ve gotten it, but he didn’t remain healthy.” Nicklaus added, “I think [the record] will probably stand for a while.”

Jack Nicklaus doesn’t think Tiger will reach his Major Championship count because of his injuries.

If Tiger would have stayed healthy, how many Majors would he have won? pic.twitter.com/BneE930v3S

— Golficity (@Golficity) January 12, 2024

Nicklaus also mentioned that LIV Golf, who he said approached him with a multimillion-dollar offer before the league hired Greg Norman, has earned a seat at the table of the professional golf world.

“I hope that they get this thing together all in the best interest of the game of golf. The LIV thing has been a powerful addition to the game, probably impacted a lot more than we thought it was going to, but it has, and it probably will continue to do so.”

Nicklaus added that he hasn’t talked to PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan specifically about the potential deal with the DP World Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, but he does continue to throw his full support behind Monahan.

Cover Photo via X