Tiger Woods is widely regarded as the greatest of all time, but he hasn’t reached the benchmark he set himself in the early 2000s.

He’s a 15-time major winner, but Tiger Woods doesn’t hold the record for the most major championships of all time. That honor belongs to Jack Nicklaus, who has 18.

In 2001, Woods said, “Jack’s record is the benchmark. I’m chasing it — absolutely.” From that moment, every major win was seen as one step closer to Nicklaus. It was his focus even in 2017, after a nine-year major drought. Woods said, “Jack’s record… I think it’s unlikely, but I’ll still compete.”

But after multiple injuries hampered the back end of Woods’ career, he’s accepted that he won’t achieve his goal. “That ship has probably sailed. But I’m proud of what I’ve done,” he said in 2023.

Woods only recently gave up on the target he set himself over two decades ago. But in 2012, Greg Norman explained why he thought Nicklaus’ record was safe from Woods.

Photo by Stuart Franklin/R&A/R&A via Getty Images

Greg Norman predicted Tiger Woods wouldn’t break Jack Nicklaus’ record in 2012

In 2012, Woods had 14 major championships to his name. Four years prior, he looked certain to pass Nicklaus after winning the 2008 US Open. But he needed multiple knee surgeries after the tournament, and his major drought began.

Woods was in poor form leading up to and during the 2012 season, but he showed flashes of improvement towards the end of the year. Two victories, his first since 2009, saw him surpass Nicklaus in PGA Tour wins, moving to second on the all-time list.

Despite Woods showing signs of being back to his best, Norman still said he would never break Nicklaus’ major championship record. He was asked on the eve of the Australian PGA Championship whether he was capable of winning five more majors.

He replied: “I don’t think so, no. Every year that passes by that he hasn’t won a major, it just gets that much harder to win a major.

“I don’t care how many you have won, it just becomes more and more difficult. He might win one or two more, but I don’t think he will win the four or five more that he needs to win to break the record.”

Woods’ form in 2013 threatened to prove Norman wrong. He took three victories early in the year and reasserted himself as the world number one. But he failed to win a major championship and underwent back surgery in 2014 during an injury-plagued season.

Woods famously went on to win the 2019 Masters, but he remains four short of breaking the record.

Greg Norman named the player who he thought could break Jack Nicklaus’ record

Norman didn’t think Woods would get to 19 major wins, but he also didn’t think Nicklaus’ record was totally safe. He thought a young Rory McIlroy, who had won two majors at the time, was capable of taking the record.

He said, “I think if anybody can break Nicklaus’ record, I think [McIlroy] could, because he is young, he is ahead of the game, he is ahead of the curve on a lot of things, and he has a very balanced life across the board.

“So I will keep my fingers crossed for him because I would love to see that happen. Somebody will do it one day, and it could be Rory. I am a big fan of Rory’s, he can be as big as he wants to be.”

Norman was correct about Woods, but he was way off with this one. McIlroy won the 2025 Masters to become a five-time major winner. Just 13 to go then!

What all of this shows is just how impressive Nicklaus’ record is. It doesn’t look like it’s going to be broken any time soon.