A Phrase Tiger Woods Does Not Like to Hear

Tiger Woods has never come from behind to win a major. 

Jack Nicklaus came from behind nine times to win a major.

Arnold Palmer came from behind so many times that he once said he enjoyed the hunt on the final day of a major even more than being in the lead.

If there is one constant among all great athletes, it is that they do not like to be told what they can’t do or haven’t done.

Athletes that dominate their sport, such as Woods, want to dominate every single aspect of the sport. They want to break every record imaginable and don’t want to be challenged or defeated on any front.

Although Woods has won an incredible thirteen majors by the age of 32, he has never mounted that spectacular final round charge as was seen from Nicklaus in the 1986 Masters or from Palmer on numerous occasions.

When Nicklaus was making a final round charge, the roars could be heard from every corner of the golf course.

Palmer reveled in the opportunity to make a final round charge at the majors, as would his extremely loyal army of fans that had almost come to expect Palmer to make some kind of miraculous run whenever he was trailing in a major.

Tiger Woods is an enormously fierce competitor, which is why it is surprising that he has never found a way to climb the leaderboard when trailing in the final round of a major.

Last week at the Masters, Woods had numerous opportunities to mount a charge up the leaderboard on Saturday and Sunday, yet he was unable to capitalize on those opportunities.

Woods, who is typically immune to pressure on the greens and is widely regarded as the best clutch putter in the game, missed four putts that were within five feet of the hole on Sunday.

Woods finished alone in second place at the Masters, three strokes behind Trevor Immelman. Had Tiger made those four short puts on Sunday, as we have become accustomed to expect from the World’s number one, he would have undoubtedly won his fifth green jacket.

Serious golf fans watched over eight hours of golf this past weekend, fully expecting Woods to mount a charge at some point, particularly after he had made clear his intentions of winning golf's Grand Slam this year.

However, that charge never happened.  Woods' "A-Game" never arrived.

He was erratic off the tee, and his putting stroke eluded him on the greens all week.

In Woods’ younger years, it was not uncommon to see him win majors by 8, 12 and even 15 strokes.

Woods won the 1997 Masters by 12 strokes. He won the 2000 US Open at Pebble Beach by a record setting 15 strokes, but in the past few years, Woods has adjusted his strategy at the majors.

In Tiger’s first four major victories, he won by margins of 12, 1, 15 and 8. Since 2001, he has not won a major by a margin of more than five strokes.

Woods' strategy used to be comprised of relentlessly attacking every hole and every pin no matter how difficult, a strategy which contained a risk/reward scenario.

In recent years, Woods has played more conservatively in the majors.

Tiger typically has a decent first round, placing himself in striking distance of the leader. He will then have a very good second round followed by an even better third round on the customary ‘moving day’.

This normally provides Woods with a lead heading into the final round, which he then protects by playing intelligent golf and taking very few calculated risks.

There is no question that Tiger’s new strategy has been successful for him. He has been dominating, to say the least, over the past couple years, which have included three majors and a FedEx Cup championship.

But Woods’ new strategy has still not allowed him to win a major when trailing heading into the final round.

The words "Tiger Woods" and "never" rarely enter the same sentence, but, Tiger Woods has never won a major when trailing after 54 holes.

If I were a betting man though, I would place my bet on this statistic changing some time in the near future.

As is the case with any truly great champion, they don’t like to be told what they can’t do and haven’t done, and Tiger Woods is no different.