Jack Nicklaus' record of 18 major golf tournament victories is safe. Eldrick Woods will not catch him.
There, I said it. I was going to say it after he missed the cut at the British Open. Y.E. Yang's takedown of Eldrick at the PGA Championship on Sunday (The Win and the Yang? Choking Tiger, Hidden Dragon?) leaves no doubt in my mind.
Eldrick is finished.
At least as far as the all-time majors winner is concerned. Notice how I call him, "Eldrick?" That's because he's no longer the Tiger Woods that stormed to 14 majors by the age of 32.
Here are the top five reasons why "Eldrick" has replaced "Tiger" and will fall short of the still-Golden Bear.
No. 5: Fatherhood. Knowing Eldrick as well as I do ... ... just waiting for the laughter ...I get the impression he's not a bad guy. He's never been accused of shooting himself in the leg at a club, making it rain at a strip club, taking female hormones, mistreating animals of any kind, doing anything improper in restaurants with patrons or in hotel rooms with hotel personnel. All he's done is curse ... and perhaps pass gas.
That means he's probably into being a dad. When that happens, your priorities change. You just don't spend as much time doing what you did before. You just want to be with your child. Therefore, he's probably just not spending as much time on the golf course. Doesn't make him a bad guy, either.
No. 4: His physical advantage is gone. Once upon a time, Tiger set the standard in physical conditioning for a golfer.
Nowadays, the majority of golfers spend a lot of time in the gym. How many Craig Stadlers and John Dalys are out on the tour. Take a look at the British Open and 59-year-old Tom Watson. He's a workout fiend. Everybody's doing it. The 37-year-old Yang took up golf at age 19. The guy matched Woods on the lenghts of his drives all afternoon.
When Eldrick gets his next chance at a major, he'll be 34. Sure, he can stay in impeccable shape, like Watson. So can countless others, who have taken his lead and erased the physical gap.
No. 3: The Mystique is gone.
Yang was the first to stand toe-to-toe with Woods, and Woods blinked (Yank's missed par putt on No. 17 Sunday notwithstanding). It was Yang, not Woods, acting like Tiger in a major on Sunday with his chip-in for an eagle on No. 14.
Maybe Padraig Harrington, Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els, Vijay Singh, Sergio Garcia, et al, might still bow to the mystique. But so many obscure golfers with nothing to lose, like Yang, now have proof that Eldrick is fallible.
And those golfers have some eight months to let Yang's victory sink in.
No. 2: Eldrick's biggest rival is Eldrick.
I couldn't help but notice hearing the CBS commentators on Saturday keep saying that Woods' shots were the "safe" plays -- the logic being he didn't need to do anything bold with such a huge lead.
This is the most convincing evidence that Tiger has left the building and Eldrick has taken his place. Did Tiger play the "safe" shots en route to his 12-stroke victory at the '97 Masters.
Uh, hello! He won it by 12 strokes. I think not.
But as Woods has aged, he has learned how to win by using his mystique and letting his foes psyche themselves out. I'm not criticizing; it has worked this entire decade. But the well-worn adage applies: The longer you let an underdog hang around ... eventually the 'dog is going to bite.
OK, that may not exactly be the old adage, but the point is that Woods' margin of error has dwindled, and eventually someone was going to be tough enough to take advantage.
Woods entered the PGA Championship as the hottest golfer on the tour. He played the first two rounds accordingly. On Saturday, he shut it off, and he couldn't turn it on Sunday. Eldrick has to return to his take-no-prisoners attitude for 72 holes.
No. 1: Like the Dixie Chicks song said, " ... Earl had to die.".
Any man whose father took him to the golf course when he was still in diapers probably learns a disposition to try to excel on the golf course to please his father.
That's how Woods won the U.S. Open last year on one leg. He won for his father, who died in 2006 after a lengthy bout with cancer.
That motivation dissipates with every passing day. Being the noted psychiatrist that I am ... ... waiting for more laughter ... ... anything? ... I think that Woods is finding it more difficult to please a father he can no longer see. Earl Woods was his father, mentor, confidant, and Eldrick lost a part of his game when his father died.
We'll see how prophetic ... or idiotic ... I am, beginning in about eight months, when the 2010 Masters rolls around.
I've been wrong plenty of times before -- too many to count.
But what if I'm right?
Keywords: Dixie Chicks, Earl Woods, Ernie Els, Jack Nicklaus, Padraig Harrington, PGA championship, Phil Mickelson, Sergio Garcia, Tiger Woods, Tom Watson, Vijay Singh, Y.E. Yang
