Article #74
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Dear Jitterbug:
My family and I (father and brothers) often debate golf, golf history, records to be broken, unbreakable records, etc. Over Thanksgiving dinner, there were some opinions offered up about Tiger's chances of breaking Jack Nicklaus's major championship record. Just wondering about your opinions on that. How about Michelle Wie ever playing on the PGA Tour? Byron Nelson's record year of 1945? Bobby Jone's Grand Slam?
Jim Sarducci
Jitterbug Gang Fan
Jitterbug:
I don't think any records are completely safe, but some darn-near are.
For instance, it would be tough these days to match Byron Nelson's 1945 season when he won 11 straight tournaments, 18 for the season. Tiger sniffed it a few years back with, I believe, six in a row. Considering Tiger's limited schedule it would take almost the entire golf season for him to win 11 in a row. In fact, to do it, he'd almost have to win four consecutive majors with a few in between and probably one or two on each end. And, that's assuming some other guy named Phil or Vijay or Ernie doesn't happen to have an exceptional week during any of that time.
So, to answer part of your question, maybe somebody will win 11 in a row, but when it happens, there will be a lot more in the hopper than just the one record.
Mr. Vaughn:
Short of getting injured, Mr. Woods will break the 18 major championship record held by Jack Nicklaus.
For starters, he's got a lifetime exemption at Augusta. He'll win there every other year for the next ten or so. Don't shake your head, 'cause Augusta sets up well for Tiger's game, and has a smaller field in terms of players capable of winning. Shoot, he's already won there four times, and what is he, 30?
That'll bring him up to 15 majors. I suspect he'll win another five or six here-and-there majors in the next dozen years or so, too. He's simply got a sense of occasion nobody else can match. Now, as far as matching Bobby Jones and his magical 1930 season when he won the British Amateur, British Open, US Amateur, and US Open, forget about it. The money is too big these days for anyone to stay amateur long enough to accomplish such a feat.
Lord Berry:
It is ridiculous to think a female golfer could not be competitive on the regular PGA Tour. In only a handful of starts in recent years, Annika Sorenstam and Michelle Wie have neared making cuts against the men. If either woman kept at it, calculated what part of her game needed polished to be competitive, then undertook to improve, either player could make a living on any tour in the world.
Whether they choose to or not is another story.