Jack Nicklaus: “Tiger is quite capable of winning”

Jack Nicklaus says Tiger is capable of winning still

The six-time Green Jacket winner responds to Tiger Woods’ claims that he can ‘win one more’ at Augusta National and whether Rory will complete the career Grand Slam.

Shortly after undertaking ceremonial duties as an Honorary Starter alongside fellow champions Gary Player and Tom Watson, the Golden Bear reflected on Masters memories and what it takes to win on the hallowed Georgian turf.

There was no need to ‘watch out on the left and right’ as the 84-year-old joked before getting the delayed 2024 Masters up and running with a fairway-splitting drive to roll back the years.

Player and Watson with just the five Green Jackets to their name naturally followed suit to the delight of the Thursday crowds who had waited patiently for the action to get underway.

Just two days earlier, kitted out in Sun Day Red, Tiger Woods had stated with no hint of uncertainty that “if everything comes together, I think I can get one more done,” and with only the third question of the press conference, the 18-time Major winner was asked if his six jacket record was safe.

“Well, there’s many answers that I always say, the proof is in the pudding, said Nicklaus. Tiger is quite capable of winning. I said in here 20 years ago, Tiger had a chance to win more than Arnold and I had put together.”

“I think he’s got a tough way to go to win. I think he’ll certainly hit the ball well enough to do so. Whether he physically can handle what has to happen with it, and he’s also got to be able to score better than everybody else, too. That’s part of the deal. But anyway, he’s a very special, talented athlete, and I wish him well.”

The trio of greats reminisced about Masters memories, head-to-head battles, the golf ball rollback, adversity on the course, and just how hard it is to get the job done at a Major championship.

“Well, I believe, to win majors or to win the big tournaments, that you had to love adversity because you’re going to face up to it. Doesn’t matter who you are, said three-time Masters champion Gary Player.

“I just felt that it is impossible to play a round of golf without hitting bad shots, so it was actually part of the game. I taught myself to almost enjoy it, but enjoyed it, maybe in I don’t know what fashion, but it’s part of the game.”

And on the subject of trying to get the job done, the annual narrative of whether Rory McIlroy will ever join the elusive Grand Slam club invariably surfaced again.

This will be Rory’s 10th attempt at achieving the game’s greatest feat since winning the last of his four Majors at Royal Liverpool in 2014.

Tiger ‘closed the deal’ at the first time of asking in 2000 at the Open Championship, becoming the youngest to do so with Nicklaus wrapping up the Slam on his fourth attempt.

On Rory’s prospects, Nicklaus believes the Northern Irishman is simply ‘too talented’ not to seal the deal.

“Is Rory McIlroy good enough to win the Grand Slam, absolutely. Do I think Rory will win here? Yeah. He could win this year. He could win next year. He’s just too talented not to.”

Commenting on the burden of striving to complete the Grand Slam, Watson, who unlike Nicklaus and Player didn’t manage to get over the line with the PGA Championship, didn’t feel it became a bigger deal with every attempt.

“It really wasn’t because every time I teed it up in a golf tournament, I was trying to do the same thing. I was trying to play my best golf in that tournament. And did it put any pressure on me to win the PGA? No.

“These gentlemen, they got it. They won their tournaments, and it is a feather in your cap when you win all four major championships. But is it something that I regret? No, not really. If I were destined to win the tournament, I would have won it.”

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Rob Jerram – Digital Editor

Rob specializes in the DP World Tour, PGA Tour, LIV Golf, and the Ryder Cup, spending large chunks of his days reading about, writing about, and watching the tours each month.

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