Tiger Woods has rarely been labelled as “the most underachieving golfer in the history of the game.” But that’s how commentator Brandel Chamblee perceives the all-time great despite one of the most decorated careers in the sport. Since turning professional in 1996, Woods has clinched 15 major titles and a record-equalling 82 PGA Tour victories.
However, he has only managed to secure one major win in the past 17 years – a fact Chamblee hasn’t overlooked. Despite not participating in this week’s Masters due to ongoing recovery from an Achilles injury he suffered last month, the 49-year-old remained the focal point of discussion on the recent episode of The Skip Bayless Show. Chamblee believes it’s no shock Woods continues to be golf’s biggest attraction, though he wished to see the veteran fulfil his potential.
“What he did, nobody had ever seen anything like it,” he said of Woods. “He was so far superior to any of his peers, far, far more superior to his peers than [Bobby] Jones was than [Ben] Hogan was than [Jack] Nicklaus was.”
While Chamblee hailed Woods as the greatest golfer ever, both he and Bayless concurred that injuries hindered him from achieving his utmost. In that sense, it’s difficult to disagree, though the extent of his underachiever narrative is perhaps unfair.
“It just tears me up to think about how some of his injuries were self-inflicted after he dominated this game the way nobody has,” said Bayless. He also cited a passage from the 2012 book, ‘The Big Miss: My Years Coaching Tiger Woods’, which claimed Woods tore his ACL during a 2007 training session with Navy SEALs.
Chamblee takes a provocative stance on Tiger Woods’ career, saying that the legendary golfer never reached the zenith everyone expected despite his extraordinary achievements. That much may be true, but there are plenty of all-time talents who never managed to win one major, never mind 15.
“I would say he’s the most underachieving golfer in the history of the game,” added Chamblee. “And the way I get there is, I can think of no other golfer who left 10 to 15 major championships on the table. Who left 30 to 40 regular tour events on the table. Of course, he’s the greatest player of all time, but he’s also at the same time the most underachieving.”
He also reflected on how Woods, during his peak years, spent time changing and then resetting his golf swing. The exercise seemed fruitless to him because it ultimately brought Woods back to square one, seemingly wasting valuable years.
“Nobody guessed beneath 20 majors at the end of his career,” Chamblee continued. “It was 20-25 majors … and over 100 tour events. Look, it’s still a debate, a lot of people still think Jack Nicklaus is the greatest player of all time. I say it this way: Jack had the best career, in terms of major championships. Tiger played the better golf.”
The golf analyst weighed up Nicklaus’ unmatched major tally against Woods’ superior win rate and larger margins of victory. He then posed the question of value between the two golfing titans and their different types of success, though both will be considered legends of the sport for good.
