Tiger Woods’s ‘Wrong Decision’ Criticized by Gary Player After It Cost Him Chance to Surpass Jack Nicklaus’s Record

Woods’s career is a frequent topic of discussion in the golf world, and opinions vary. Analysts like Brandel Chamblee believe he still has a chance to make a comeback. Adding to the conversation, 9-time major champion Gary Player once chimed in, claiming that Woods ruined his own career.

Recently, Pat and Tom were on the Valuetainment YouTube channel to discuss Woods’s storied career. They showed a short clip where Gary Player was talking to KW Golf about Woods and how he ruined his career. He said, “Look at Tiger Woods. Tiger Woods had his career ruined. Completely ruined.” He dived further into the details and added, “Tiger Woods won 14 majors. And then he won his 14th major, the US Open at Pebble Beach; he won by 15 shots. You know what that’s like? It’s like running the 100 meters in seven seconds. The next week, he’s having a lesson from a man who, I don’t think, if he played in the Masters, could break 80.”

From 1997 to 2008, Woods was completely dominating the greens. He won 14 majors in this timeline, but it all stopped because of his one decision.  “And then he goes to another guy who probably couldn’t break 85 in the Masters with the pressure, or the British Open, or the PGA on the final day. And he’s having lessons from them,” Player added, further hinting how Woods’s coaches had no distinguished careers.

However, his other coaches like Butch Harmon, Hank Haney, Sean Foley, and Chris Como, had distinguished playing careers. Take the legendary coach Harmon, for example. His standout victory was at the inaugural Broome County Open in 1971. Even so, he went on to support other veterans, including Phil Mickelson and Greg Norman. Despite that, Player believes, if Woods hadn’t gone to them, he would have broken Jack Nicklaus’s record of 18 major titles, thus becoming the supreme athlete of all time. It’s not confirmed who these individuals were. But Player says it happens if one wants to get better.

“Why did Tiger do that? He was so good, but I understand he wanted to get better,” Player said. “If he had just gone along and never changed, he would have won at least 22 [majors]. He would’ve gone down as the greatest athlete the world has ever seen. But he made the wrong decision. And it’s very easy to do, because we all are trying to get better.” 

via Imago

Nowadays, the 15x major champion doesn’t compete often as the unfortunate saga of his injuries continues to hold him back. Last year, he only played in five tournaments. All majors and the Genesis Invitational. He missed the cut at three majors and finished 60th in the masters. Even this year, he went on to have Achilles surgery and is currently recovering at home, and highly unlikely he will play at any tournament this season. Despite these setbacks, golf expert Brandel Chamblee believes the 15x major champion can bounce back.

Brandel Chamblee hasn’t seen “anything like Tiger [Woods]” 

If there is anyone who can make a comeback anytime, it’s Tiger Woods. At least that’s what Brandel Chamblee believes. Chamblee talked about this on the Skip Bayless show. He compared Woods with other big names like Jack Nicklaus and Bobby Jones, saying, “Nicklaus came along, and nobody had seen anything like him, but when I say nobody ever seen anything like Tiger, nobody ever won four professional majors in a year on top of that, nobody has won them by as wide of as margin 15 shots, 12 shots.” 

He also considers Woods better than anyone and believes he is a mixture of some of the great athletes: “He was so far superior to any of his peers, far, far more superior to his peer than Jones was, than Hogan was, than Nicklaus was. He was kind of like Mohammad Ali, Michael Jordan, and Arnold Palmer all into one athlete.” Considering that he still believes that Tiger Woods might come back anytime and start dominating the greens.

“No, I am not at all surprised because he gave us so many comebacks. He came back on a broken leg in 2008 and won the US Open. Then he came back after the scandal in 2012-13 and ascended to number 1 again. Then he came back from a bad back to win the masters again. Each time, each comeback is more epic and more improbable than the previous one,” added Brandel Chamblee.

Do you think Tiger Woods can still make a comeback, or do you think his career is over? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below!