Jim McCabe

HOYLAKE, England - Allow me a mulligan, but if you prefer not to, then understand I’m going to take it anyway.

Back a few years ago when I suggested Tiger Woods would not catch or surpass Jack Nicklaus’ record for 18 victories in the professional majors? I’d like another swing.

He will.

Who knows, maybe Woods will wake up Monday morning and decide to take his yacht around the world. Maybe he’ll decide he’s sick of all those British Open spectators snapping pictures of him as he swings and never comes here again. Maybe he’ll even ask to have his amateur status reinstated so he can go back for those two years of eligibility he has at Stanford.

But assuming none of that happens and assuming he maintains the competitive fire that burns deep in his soul, then he’s got the GPS in his brain set for 18 and it’s only a matter of time until he reaches it. Think about it: He’s won 11 in 39 tries, which is a batting average of .282. Just for yucks, let’s say he bats only .235 over the next 17 majors, that would add on four more wins, bring his total to 15, and he’d be 34, which is right about when he’d be hitting his peak.

Frightening, isn’t it?

Only if you’re named Chris DiMarco or Sergio Garcia or Adam Scott or Luke Donald or Trevor Immelman or Charles Howell or anyone of another couple dozen talented PGA Tour guys who are in search of a major win.

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But if you’re passionate about your golf and love the fact that we’re living right smack in the middle of this Woods phenomenon, then it’s not frightening at all. It’s bloody brilliant. As a colleague once remarked to me as we waited for a bus that would deliver us at the 2000 PGA Championship and where Woods that day would win his third straight major championship of the season:

“It’s like getting a chance to see Babe Ruth.”

I agreed with him that day, wondered if it really was true for a few years, but now wholeheartedly concur. I also agree with Paul Azinger, who last year said, “Jack Nicklaus has the better record, but Tiger Woods is the best player.”

Interactive Chart careers of golfing greats as Woods continues quest for most major victories

Soon, we will be able to amend that, for Woods will surpass Nicklaus’ record. It’s not so much that he’s got so much skill as it is the fact he possesses a mind for the game like no one else.

“He would have been very proud, very proud,” said Woods, after his masterful closing round of 5-under 67 left him at 18-under 270 and in possession of a second straight British Open title, this one over the toasted fairways of Royal Liverpool Golf Club. He had been asked about his late father Earl and how he had always taught him to play smart golf. “He was always on my case about thinking my way around the golf course.”

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Once again, Woods did that far better than his competition, which melted away in the pulsating warmth. That is why he’ll continue to win these major championships, because the men chasing him know that when Woods is at his best, he is unbeatable. When luminaries such as Ernie Els and Jim Furyk and Garcia and DiMarco can’t crack Woods, then the road to major victory is made that much easier.

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