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John Daly Thinks Tiger Woods Will Beat Jack Nicklaus' Records and Be the GOAT
December 23, 2021
John Daly saw enough from Tiger Woods during last weekend's 2021 PNC Championship to believe Jack Nicklaus' record of 18 major championships is still in danger.
Daly won the tournament with his son, John II, but it was the Woods tandem of Tiger and his son, Charlie, who stole the spotlight for the second straight year.
Charlie, 12, delivered a series of highlight-reel shots, and Tiger, playing for the first time since a February car crash, looked well on his way toward another PGA Tour comeback. His biggest issue will likely be regaining the leg strength to walk 18 holes (he used a cart in the family event).
Daly, a two-time major champion, explained on Fox News' Fox & Friends (h/t Riley Hamel of Golfweek) that fatigue was a factor for Woods, but he still saw the legendary competitive fire.
"I think Tiger's gonna be fine," Daly said. "He looked good. He looked a little tired, but he still looked great. He'll be back, and I could see it in his eyes. He's probably gonna beat Jack Nicklaus' records and be the greatest of all time."
Woods has won 15 major titles, the most recent coming in the 2019 Masters to cap a remarkable comeback story. That leaves him three behind Nicklaus for the all-time mark.
The 45-year-old fan favorite has consistently played down expectations, saying he's nowhere near ready to compete at golf's biggest events despite playing well in the PNC Championship.
"I'm not at that level," Woods told reporters Sunday. "I can't compete against these guys right now, no. It's going to take a lot of work to get to where I can feel I can compete with these guys and be at a high level.''
He added any future involvement will be limited, coming well short of the 20ish yearly starts he used to make during his peak seasons.
"I like competing,'' Woods said. "I'm not going to play a full schedule ever again. I'm going to have to pick and choose what events, and even then, my body might not cooperate with that."
In all likelihood, that probably means the 82-time winner on the PGA Tour will likely try to tee it up at the four majors and a select few other tournaments throughout the year. Playing with Charlie in the PNC Championship each December will likely be one of those stops.
Winning three more majors to tie Nicklaus' record, and a fourth to stand alone atop the all-time list, seems like an uphill battle given Woods' age, injury history and the in-their-physical-prime opponents he must face in the major fields.
Daly isn't betting against him, though.