Tiger Woods is unlikely to ever win another major championship, but Brandel Chamblee believes he should have won another 10.
It once seemed like a foregone conclusion that Woods would eventually surpass Jack Nicklaus to leave the game of golf with more major championships than anyone in history. But after winning just one major since 2008, Woods now seems less likely to play in another pro tournament than he is to win one. And while you can certainly point to his injuries or off-the-course missteps as to reasons why Woods will never catch Nicklaus, Chamblee believes weightlifting is what led to his downfall.
Chamblee joined The Dan Patrick Show on Wednesday morning to preview this week’s Masters tournament. And during the interview, Patrick asked Chamblee to guess what would have happened to Woods if he had never lifted weights.
“He would have probably won 125 golf tournaments and 25 majors,” Chamblee answered confidently, a massive leap from the 82 PGA Tour victories and 15 majors on Woods’ resume.
Chamblee noted that when Woods was just a teenager, Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer predicted he would win more Masters than they had combined, which meant they were estimating more than 11 titles for Tiger at Augusta National alone.
“He traded speed for strength,” Chamblee continued. “Maybe it helped him think he deserved it. Maybe it helped him be intimidating. And I’m sure he wanted to treat golf like a sport. But his body broke down pretty quickly. I just don’t know if he was training properly or that he got the proper rest. Either way, I don’t think it did him a whole lot of good.”
Chamblee surmised Woods wanted to look like an athlete, noting there has never been a more intimidating golfer than him.
“He did make the sport look cool, and he looked awesome,” Chamblee admitted. “And you can’t argue with the record. 15 major championships and 82 tournaments. But the injuries, changing his golf swing, kept him from being the all-time major champion.”
About Brandon Contes
Brandon Contes is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. He previously helped carve the sports vertical for Mediaite and spent more than three years with Barrett Sports Media. Send tips/comments/complaints to bcontes@thecomeback.com