Tiger Woods used to
keep a list taped to his bedroom wall of all Jack Nicklaus accomplished,
such as his U.S. Amateur victories, his NCAA title and above all the 18
professional majors that serve as a benchmark to the greatest career in
golf.
Here's one Woods probably
didn't include.
With his victory Sunday
in the NEC Invitational on Sunday, Woods became the youngest player to
win five times in one year since Nicklaus won his fifth tournament of 1963
in the Sahara Invitational at the same age -- 23 years, 8 months, 30 days.
Only Woods isn't finished.
He still has at least
three tournaments left this year, maybe more. The way he has played since
May, it is not unreasonable to think Woods can win again -- maybe win them
all.
The NEC Invitational
was his fifth victory in his last eight tournaments. Not even David Duval
was this hot when he won four times in the eight tournaments leading to
the Masters, in what now seems like an eternity ago.
"I'm playing well,
but I kept thinking this week that it's just a culmination of hard work,"
Woods said after his one-stroke victory over Phil Mickelson in the World
Golf Championship event for Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup players.
"I'm starting to reap
dividends of a better game."
And all of a sudden,
the comparisons to Nicklaus are starting to come into focus again.
They first surfaced
when Woods overwhelmed Augusta National more than Nicklaus ever did, winning
with a record-score of 270 by a record-margin of 12 strokes.
Nicklaus even suggested
that Woods might win 10 green jackets before he was done, which sounded
like a stretch when Woods went 10 majors before winning another one. But
while Woods has only two majors to three for Nicklaus when he was 23, he
has won 12 times on the PGA Tour, compared to eight times by Nicklaus at
this stage.
The way Woods has
dominated the deep and talented pool of worldwide players can make one
only wonder what the future holds.
"It can still get
better," Woods said.
He has been saying
all along he is building a swing that will make him more consistent, more
controlled. No one believed him, especially since he won only one time
on the PGA Tour last year.
Nick Price saw it
with his own eyes.
"I played with him
in the U.S. Open in '95 at Shinnecock Hills, and there was a lot of raw
talent there," Price said. "Over the last two or three years, every time
I've played with him it seems like he's just rounding off an edge here
or there. I think he's going to continue to improve, too."
Price's only concern
is that Woods doesn't lose his edge. The pressure on him isn't as great
as when Tigermania peaked in mid-1997, but it is still greater than what
any other player faces.
Woods took home $1
million from Firestone Country Club, making him the first player to surpass
$4 million in one season and giving him a more than $8.9 million
in three full years on the PGA Tour, already good enough for 12th in career
earnings.
He also is in the
middle of renegotiating his contract with Nike, a five-year deal reported
to be in the neighborhood of $80 million to $90 million. Woods
said this week those figures were too high, but that was before he won
yet again.
"By the time he gets
to 25 or 26, he's going to have conquered a lot of mountains," Price said.
"He'll have all the money in the world. He'll have probably won more majors
in the next three years. It's just a question of can he keep going like
Nicklaus did.
"The way he looks
right now, he'll be able to," Price added. ``My hat's off to him."
Woods became the first
player to win five tournaments in a season since Price in 1994. Price,
who won the British Open and the PGA Championship that year, remembers
what it was like to show up at every tournament feeling that if he played
well, he would win -- or at least have a really good chance.
"It's very hard to
describe," Price said. ``You feel like it's never going to come to an end."
Greg Norman, when
asked about Duval's play before the Masters, recalls feeling so confident
at times he would stand on the first tee, look around and wonder who was
going to finish second that week.
Woods doesn't quite
see it that way, even if his play suggests otherwise.
"I never had that
outlook," he said. ``I've always been very confident in my abilities, but
not the point where I'm going to say something like that. There are 72
holes, and anything can happen. I need to go out there and take care of
business."
