It’s been 2,064 days since Tiger Woods’ last major championship victory in 2008. That’s right……2,064 — by far the longest drought of his career.
The past six years, Woods has had his fill of disappointments on the weekend but because of his incredible play for the better part of the last two decades, he was still well ahead of the pace he needed to be on to break Jack Nicklaus’s record of 18 majors.
This year, Woods has only played in two tournaments but he’s off to the worst start of his entire career — finishing outside the top-20 in both events. And if he does want to catch Jack, he’s going to have to turn it around because 2014 will be pivotal for a number of reasons.
#1. It’s the first year he’s not on pace to eclipse Jack Nicklaus’s record of 18 majors
This will be the first season Tiger has ever started where he was behind Jack’s major championship pace. At 38 years of age, Woods could very well end up winning 20 majors but he isn’t getting any younger and the fields certainly aren’t getting any easier.
15 of the last 20 majors have been won by first time victors (Phil Mickelson has won two of the remaining five), and more so now than ever, the tour is full of young, top-tier talent. We’ll likely never see Tiger go on one of those “six consecutive win” stretches that we were so accustomed to seeing when he was in his prime, but he certainly still has a number of victories left in him. The question is, can he win one when it counts.
#2. He’s already won at 3 of the 4 venues hosting majors this year
Woods tends to play better on courses that he knows and he’s already notched major victories at 3 of the 4 courses hosting the majors this year. In addition to four victories at Augusta, Tiger won the British Open at Royal Liverpool in 2006 and also the PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club in 2000. This year might be the best chance he’s had in recent memory to get number 15 and he certainly won’t be able to use the excuse that the courses don’t setup well for his game.
#3. If he doesn’t win a major this year it will be the longest drought in between majors of any of the greats
Nickalus, Player, Hogan, Palmer and Watson never went through a drought like Tiger will have been through if he doesn’t win a major this year. Times, however, are different in that players now can compete well into their 40s. Woods has always been one of the most physically fit players on tour and even though he will probably still be able to play into his 50s, statistics have shown that it is much harder to win a major after the age of 40. Phil did it at 43 and Jack at 46 but no one has ever won four. And if Tiger doesn’t get one this year, that’s exactly what he’ll have to do.