Golf news - Jack Nicklaus: Tiger Woods can equal my record

ByEurosport

Updated 25/09/2018 at 07:17 GMT

Jack Nicklaus feels Tiger Woods can win another four majors to equal his all-time record haul of 18.

Tiger Woods of the U.S. is congratulated by Jack Nicklaus (L) after his final round of the Memorial Tournament

Image credit: Reuters

The American icon is convinced fellow American Woods is good enough to target another four or five majors over the next decade after ending his five-year title drought in stunning style to lift the Tour Championship on Sunday.

14-times major winner Woods has battled back from four back surgeries in five years to regain peak form at the age of 42, and will be a huge draw when the US bid for a first Ryder Cup win in Europe since 1993 this weekend.

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Woods will have to set a new standard in golf with nobody winning more than one major beyond the age of 43, but Nicklaus feels the changes in modern living, diet and exercise means that age is only a number as far as his fellow American is concerned.

"With today's equipment, and the way the guys take care of themselves, I think they could play well into their 50s," said Nicklaus on the golf channel.

Maybe Tiger's got another 40 majors to play. Out of 40 majors can he win five of them, I don't know? He's playing well enough. It depends how much he wants to work at it, how interested he is, and long he wants to make a commitment to do that.

Nicklaus lifted the last of his 18 majors at the age of 46 in 1986 when he won the US Masters.

And he believes Woods should focus on his own business rather than bothering with the critics, plenty of whom predicted his career was over as he toiled with injury and personal problems.

What people say doesn't mean anything. It's what you think. What's important is what Tiger was thinking. I'm proud of him.

"He's worked very hard to get his golf game back. He even worked really hard to get the five inches between his head thinking the right way again."

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