Tuesday, June 19, 2007
He’s no closer to Jack Nicklaus’ record, but he’s putting himself in contention.
OAKMONT, Pa. (AP) — Jack Nicklaus figures at least one of his major championship records is safe.
Tiger Woods left Oakmont having squandered another chance to win a major while playing in the last group, unable to make but one birdie in the final round of the U.S. Open despite having a short iron for his approach to the green on a half-dozen occasions.
The next opportunity will be at Carnoustie for the British Open, where he is the two-time defending champion. And if he does show up, it will be his first major as a father. His wife, Elin, gave birth Monday to a daughter, Alexis Sam Woods.
Nicklaus had his first child when he was an amateur, so he won all 18 majors with children.
“I think that [record] is probably in pretty good shape,” Nicklaus said earlier this year.
The magic number has always been 18 for Woods, who effectively launched his assault on the Nicklaus benchmark when he won four straight majors ending with the 2001 Masters, giving him six at age 25, and he hasn’t hit too many dry spells since then.
This is not one of them.
In contention, again
Sunday at Oakmont was his fourth straight major in the final group, an incredible statistic that gets forgotten because the U.S. Open was his second straight major as a runner-up.
Almost as impressive as the 18 majors for Nicklaus are the 19 times he finished second.
Is it possible Woods can reach that record before the other?
It seems preposterous now, because Woods has 12 trophies and only four consolation prizes. What the last year has shown, however, is that winning starts with putting yourself in position, and no one has done that better, not even close.
“My last four majors,” Woods said, ticking off his record, “1, 1, 2, 2. Not terrible, but it could have been a little better.”
In an age of instant gratification, it can be difficult to see the big picture.
What made Nicklaus such a dominant force in the majors was that he was usually around the top of the leaderboard on the final round, finishing second by making a mistake (’63 British Open), getting outplayed (Lee Trevino, Tom Watson), or simply having too much ground to make up in the final round (’64 Masters).
During a quarter-century of contending in majors, he has experienced just about everything.
And maybe that’s what awaits Woods.
Consistency
The shocker was not that he missed the cut at Winged Foot last year for the first time in a major, but that it took 10 years for it to happen. Woods is 12-0 in the majors with at least a share of the 54-hole lead; one of these times, he won’t win. It happened to Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, even Ben Hogan.
There have been 29 majors when Woods trailed going into the final round, and he still hasn’t won from behind.
“I haven’t gotten it done,” he said. “Put myself there, and haven’t gotten it done.”
That will change, too.
What separates Woods from everyone else in the game is the number of times he gives himself a chance, and those are starting to pile up in alarming fashion. In the last 10 majors, Woods has been atop the leaderboard or within two shots seven times.
“Finishing second is never fun,” Woods said.
But it’s not all bad, either. And over the course of his career, it’s bound to happen more often.