Faldo: Time running out for Tiger

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  • September 8, 2011

Nick Faldo does not believe Tiger Woods will still be able to surpass Jack Nicklaus’ major record.

Nick Faldo was quoted in a recent interview as saying that he did not believe Tiger Woods would surpass Jack Nicklaus’ major record.

Speaking to the Montreal Gazette, Faldo echoed the thoughts of some others who feel that the four more majors required just to draw even with the record would be a bridge too far for the former world number one, who has now gone nearly two years without a win.

“I do, personally (believe that),” Faldo said last week.

“I was one of the few guys that said it right after this all happened and [Tiger] was trying to get back to the Masters last year.

“Mentally, he’s actually a pretty sensitive guy. He’s very sensitive to any comments or criticisms that we have. It’s just about global communication. Something like that, trying to deal with that, I thought it was going to really affect him. Plus, there’s probably a lot going on in his life that we don’t know about. It’s just having that peace of mind. There’s nothing nicer for a golfer to go to the golf course all day long and you do what you want to do, practice-play or play-practice, and then you look at your watch and say, ‘I’m going home – it’s 6 p.m.’

“Now, I know what it’s like. The phone’s always going; people are texting, emailing. I can’t concentrate like that. That’s the first thing I thought: ‘His concentration will be shattered.’ He had this amazing ability to go away from a tournament and then go on and practice as close to tournament-mode as anybody could do or better than anybody else could do. Now, I think that’s been shattered. I can’t imagine that it’s like. The phone is ringing off the hook and there are all sorts of things to talk about.

“That’s one of the simplest things that can affect you, whether it happens for business reasons or personal reasons. Once you break that concentration, it really does affect you.”

If there’s one person that doesn’t agree, however, it’s Tiger himself, who has been quoted many times in the recent past as saying that his goals remain unchanged and that the utimate aim is still to catch Jack at 18 majors.

Woods’ next challenge, though, will be putting in a good performance at the Frys.com Open at the start of October before heading to Australia for the Australian open and the Presidents Cup in November.

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