Tiger Falls Behind Jack

Another year for the golf majors is complete. I've been comparing Tiger Woods to Jack Nicklaus for several years now (ever since it was a "foregone conclusion" that Tiger would break Jack's record of 18 major titles). Tiger has now competed in 70 majors as a professional. Here's how they stand after 70 major starts:

Tiger - 14 wins, 6 second place finishes, 24 top 3 finishes (14+6+4 others), 31 top 5 finishes, and 38 top 10 finishes.

Jack (and here is where it's hard to believe just how good he was) - 15 wins, 14 second place finishes, 38 top 3 finishes, 45 top 5 finishes, and 54 top 10 finishes.

77% of the time, Jack was in the top 10. Tiger's been in the top 10 54% of the time. And very close to winning (top 3)? Jack 54%, Tiger 34%. More than half the time, Jack was in the top 3 of a major. That's amazing.

At this same point in their careers, Tiger is 1 major win behind Jack. And it doesn't get any easier. For Tiger next year (and, by the way, he missed 3 cuts in the majors this year) he would have to win 2 majors to keep pace with Jack because in events 71 through 74 Jack had 1 win (1980 US Open) and 1 second place (tie) finish (1979 British Open).

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