Jim McCabe

AUGUSTA, Ga. - Jack Nicklaus confirmed the 45th Masters would be his last, while at the same time Tiger Woods captured his fourth green jacket in his 11th.

Newsworthy events, both of them, for they are icons for all time, definitive champions and consummate competitors. The fact that they were together in the same field at the Masters provides the sort of flavor that has always made Augusta National special.

Just don't think that they are in any sort of match-race race together, because they aren't.

Nicklaus crossed the finish line of his pro golf career many seasons ago, having set a standard of excellence that made him the game's greatest champion. For several years now, the Golden Bear has peeked back down the race course to watch player after player try in vain to come close to him.

Woods is the latest challenger — the only one, actually — and the speculation is strong that he'll be the one to succeed.

My hunch is, he won't. Nicklaus' record of 18 professional major victories is safe, too far beyond the reach of Woods, whose total finally reached the halfway mark with his recent Masters win.

Regarding green jackets, for instance, Nicklaus won three in his first 10 starts. Woods? He has won four of 11. It took Nicklaus 37 professional majors to win nine titles. The Masters' win was Woods 33rd major start.

So an edge to Tiger, right? Well, no.

Why? Simple. The next nine majors he won are already in the bank, his total of 18 in the record books, his work already done. For Woods, there is years of sweat and practice still to go — only the competition is stiffer, the talent pool deeper, the physical demands greater. Granted, at 29 he's still young and the talent is still supreme, but the game is changing at a more rapid pace than it did when Nicklaus was 29. Woods' exquisite talents as a shot-maker have been negated by the fact so many young kids are standing up and ripping away with drivers, finding it, then ripping away with wedges, comfortable in the knowledge that this is how they should play the game.

Woods in many ways has gone this route, too, and while he's quite good at it, he's not able to separate himself from the field quite as noticeably.

There is also the matter of Vijay Singh, Ernie Els, Phil Mickelson, and Retief Goosen. There were 10 major chances since Woods won the 2002 U.S. Open and the 2005 Masters and each of those four names triumphed once. It seems like just yesterday — though it was the year 2000, in fact — when Woods intimidated those names, but no more.

With the game more international than ever and young talent coming from all directions — Adam Scott from Australia; Sergio Garcia from Spain; Graeme McDowell from Northern Ireland —Woods is facing far more substantial hurdles than Nicklaus ever did. There is also the point that in the not-to-distant future, the realization will hit Woods that Nicklaus' record is out of reach, that it will not be worth the time and effort to keep such a schedule in an effort to put up a greater number. The fact that he is financially secure for this lifetime and the lifetimes of 100 other people will probably weight heavily to scale back.

The Champions Tour, my friends, isn't exactly in Woods' future.

So what is? A continued, single-minded pursuit of major championships, that's for sure. He could very well win his 10th major at either the U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2 or the British Open at St. Andrews. That will refuel talk of him catching Nicklaus' mark, but I don't see that happening, though I do suggest that it wouldn't preclude me from giving loftier stature to Woods.

So, too, does Paul Azinger. He acknowledges that Nicklaus may have a larger number of major championships, but gives the nod to Woods.

"The way I see it, when Tiger was on, nobody would have ever beaten him. Nobody. I think when Jack was on, somebody could still get him. But when Tiger's on, nobody can get him. That's what I think. Who else was winning U.S. Opens by 15? Nobody. Who else was winning Masters by 12?

"I think he's the greatest player, but he doesn't have the greatest record."

I agree.

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