Tiger Woods still can pass Jack Nicklaus for all time major record

Jack Nicklaus thinks Tiger Woods can still surpass his 18 majors one day, and he’s unequivocally correct.

Tiger Woods was close at The Players Championship, and he was competitive at the Master’s. That said, he still hasn’t won any PGA tournament since 2013, and he hasn’t won a major since the 2008 U.S. Open.

Most fans and media members think Woods is done winning majors, and may not even win another tournament in his career. There’s one person you can leave off that list — the only man he’s chasing, Jack Nicklaus.

Nicklaus spoke to the media at his tournament, and he said Woods need to learn to “win again.”

In fact, according to Rex Hoggard of the Golf Channel, he told reporters that Tiger can still chase his record down.

"“When somebody said, ‘How is your [major] record, Jack,’ I said, ‘If Tiger comes back and plays I still think he’s got a shot at breaking my record,’” he said."

Nicklaus is right about Woods eventually being able to chase him down. Some of it was physical for Woods — his back injury. Now it’s 100 percent mental for Woods.

How do we know it’s all mental with Woods? It’s simple. Tiger has had one or two good rounds in many tournaments, but he can’t put four together. Sometimes he’s good making the cut but struggles on the weekend. Other times he’s struggled just make the cut and had a tremendous weekend.

At The Player’s Championship, Woods had an opportunity to win despite struggling early, but there was one difference. He didn’t struggle on Thursday and Friday, just Thursday. His struggles on Thursday cost him the tournament.

Next: Complete List of U.S. Open Winners

We are two weeks away from the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills CC in Southampton. If Tiger Woods can finally put four rounds of golf together, don’t count him out. Reaching 19 majors may not be in plain view like it used to be, but it’s not too far away that it’s untenable.