Tiger Woods ‘beat a lot of nobodies’

• Dan Jenkins claims Tiger Woods beat ‘nobodies’ for his majors
• “Much more talent than there was during Tiger’s peak years”
• Woods demanded an apology from Jenkins for an article last year

Best-selling author and highly respected sportswriter Dan Jenkins has said that Tiger Woods had it easy in his span of 14 major wins by claiming he beat ‘a lot of nobodies’ to win his titles.

Speaking at a Q&A which was picked up by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram – the writer’s hometown newspaper and location for this week’s Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial on the PGA Tour – Jenkins dismissed Woods’ challengers in the era of his success, with the exception of Phil Mickelson and Ernie Els.

On the subject of the latest generation of golfing talent including Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth and Rickie Fowler, Jenkins went on to say: “There’s much more talent at the top (and the bottom) than there was during Tiger’s peak years. Tiger beat a lot of nobodies to win most of his majors.

“Go back and look who was second to him in those majors and tell me where they are now” – Dan Jenkins

“Yeah, there was Phil and Els around, in and out, but go back and look who was second to him in those majors and tell me where they are now.”

Of the players who have finished runner-up to Woods at majors, only Mickelson, Els and Retief Goosen have won multiple majors, with Shaun Micheel, runner-up at the 2006 US PGA Championship, and David Duval, runner-up at the 2001 Masters, both one-time major winners.

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However, five of Woods’ 14 major wins were by five shots or more. But, this isn’t the first time Jenkins has spoken out against the 39-year-old.

In December last year, Woods demanded an apology from Golf Digest after Jenkins mocked the former world No.1 in an imaginary interview piece. In response, Woods said the article ‘failed as parody, and was really more like a grudge-fuelled piece of character assassination’.

And Jenkins continued to downplay Woods’ career in the interview, claiming he’d be lucky to capture another major title.

“He won’t break Jack’s record, and he’ll be lucky to win another major” – Dan Jenkins

“I never took Tiger’s dominance for granted,” he said. “The media loved him because he was golf’s only rock star, only dynasty, and people like dynasties in any sport. People also like to see dynasties crash and burn. Every golfer hits a wall eventually. Tiger has hit his, in more ways than one. He’s lost his game and putting stroke and his head.

“All this is a roundabout way of saying, no, he won’t break Jack’s record, and he’ll be lucky to win another major. He’s a few months away from turning 40, which means he will only have five good years left to do it. In all of history, only four players have won a major beyond the age of 44.

“One more thing to consider: Tiger gets older every year, and the current best players are much younger and are no longer intimidated by him.”

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