Tiger Woods: Star Must Win a Major in 2012 If He Plans to Catch Jack Nicklaus

Father Time is undefeated.

The wall is coming. When Tiger Woods hits it, if he hasn’t already, it isn’t going to be a pretty sight. If one of the greatest athletes in sports history fails to win a major this year, he’ll never accomplish the goal that just a few years ago seemed like a guarantee: break Jack Nicklaus’s record.

Woods was pegged as the 2012 U.S. Open favorite heading into the tournament after coming off of a win at the Memorial—just his second PGA victory since 2009. Finally, this had to be Tiger’s time, right? Wrong.

Before Tiger teed off on Saturday, he was in position to win his first major since 2008. By the time that his final putt of the day had rolled into the 18^th hole, Woods had bogeyed six times and countered his struggles with just one birdie.

Assuming that Tiger fails to overcome his five-stroke deficit to win the event, only two majors remain in 2012 for the stumbling star to avoid yet another season of disappointment. Woods is already 36 years old. Considering that he needs five major victories to pass Nicklaus on the all-time win list, he simply won’t have enough time to win that many if he doesn’t shrink that number this year.

Tiger hasn’t won the PGA Championship in five years and the British Open in six. What would make you think that he’ll be able to ignite a string of triumphs after another year of failure?

According to Michael Whitmer of the Boston Globe, Woods said of his pursuit of Nicklaus:

"

Well, Jack did it at 46, right? So I’ve got 10 [years]. [Tom] Watson almost pulled it off at 59. It can be done. We can play for a very long time. That’s the great thing about staying in shape and lifting weights and being fit, is that the playing careers have extended.

"

What Tiger failed to mention was that Nicklaus went on a five-year drought before winning his 18^th major. No matter what Woods believes, time isn’t on his side. If he wants to go down as the greatest of all time, it’s now or never.

David Daniels is a featured columnist at Bleacher Report and a syndicated writer.

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