Tiger Woods’ career was ‘ruined’ by these two decisions that stopped him being ‘greatest ever’
Fellow golf legend Gary Player has spoken out, pointing out two career decisions that, in his opinion, held back Tiger Woods from becoming the ‘greatest ever athlete’.
After Woods’ US Open victory in 2000, Player believes his decision to take two advice sessions ruined his career.
Woods, widely regarded as one of the finest golf players ever, boasts a professional career graced by 82 PGA Tour victories and 15 major championships.
Player, himself a committed player with nine major titles under his belt, assumes that Woods might have outdone himself on the major platform if it had not been for those specific post-Pebble Beach win counselling sessions.
Speaking to KW Golf, Player said: “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.”
He mentioned further: “And then he goes to another guy who couldn’t probably 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.”
From this perspective, Player suspects that if Woods hadn’t whipped up coaching from these two individuals, he would have shattered Jack Nicklaus’ record of 18 major titles thus positioning him as the supreme all-time athlete.
“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.”
Golfing ace Tiger Woods’ epic journey to his first 14 major championship wins was a storm of triumphs from 1997 to 2008. After an 11-year gap, Woods made a stunning return at Augusta National in 2019, bagging his fifth Masters and his 15th major.
Now at 48, Tiger Woods plays less frequently, mainly due to health issues. A car accident in Los Angeles in February 2021 seriously injured his right leg, casting doubt on his golfing future.
In the last three seasons, Woods has only played in eight tournaments, finishing all four rounds in half of them. His second outing of 2024 was at the Masters last month, where he continued his streak with a 24th straight cut at Augusta, setting another record.
But just a day later, Woods recorded his worst score in a major, with a 10-over-par 82 on Saturday at Augusta. Despite the weekend’s difficulties, the champ of the 2019 Masters chose to look at the bright side of his tenacious display.
“It was a good week. It was a good week all around. I think that coming in here, not having played a full tournament in a very long time, it was a good fight on Thursday and Friday. Unfortunately yesterday it didn’t quite turn out the way I wanted it to.”
