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Tiger Should Copy Jack One More Time

Tiger Should Copy Jack One More Time

As a youngster, Tiger Woods would tape a list of Jack Nicklaus’ major victories on his bedroom wall. He knew from a young age that he was chasing Jack. Tiger was focusing on being the greatest golfer ever. He has become the greatest golfer of his day. There is still a little work left to be done to supplant Jack as the greatest of all time.

Tiger should be trying to copy Jack in another area. Tiger would do well to emulate Jack Nicklaus the parent, not the golfer. [ Tiger’s son, Charlie]

Jack Nicklaus is the greatest golfer ever. He is also one of the greatest parents in professional sports. I know that there are thousands of athletes that are wonderful parents, but no other athlete in sport has excelled and dominated his sport as Nicklaus has, while at the same time raising a family. Jack has a professional record that is unparalleled. Tiger recognizes this as we all do.

Their two careers are extraordinarily similar. Jack was a dominant amateur, winning two U.S. Amateurs. He played with golfers his age and dominated them. He won an NCAA championship in 1961. When he turned pro he kept on winning. Over his career he won eighteen majors and has won the Career Grand Slam three times. Jack accumulated 73 career PGA Tour victories. He has been a winning Ryder Cup player and Captain as well as a winning Presidents Cup Captain.

In addition to the on course victories, Nicklaus received several prestigious awards off the course. Jack was voted Male Athlete of the Century, Golfer of the Century, one of the Top Ten Greatest Athletes of All Time. He has been awarded five Lifetime Achievement awards and twelve hall of fame memberships. He was acknowledged as the Most Powerful Person in Golf on many occasions. He has a hospital with his name on it, The Nicklaus Children’s Hospital in West Palm Beach Fla.

In 2005, Jack was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. This medal is the highest honor the United States government can give to a civilian and only awarded to those who have an especially meritorious contribution to the United States. Over his career, Jack has acquired many more accolades. He has been voted Father of the Year and his family was named Golf Family of the Year in 1986. Certainly Nicklaus has had a wonderfully successful career.

Tiger was winning tournaments from the day he entered them. Throughout his career, it seemed that he was the “youngest” everything. He was the youngest winner of the US Junior Amateur, the youngest US Amateur winner, the youngest winner of the Masters, the youngest player to reach number one in the World Rankings and the youngest to win the career Grand Slam. Sarazen, Hogan, Player, Nicklaus and Woods are the only career slam winners.

Tiger was a dominant amateur also. He won at all levels and continued into college winning an NCAA championship in 1996 and the Jack Nicklaus College Player of the Year. In that same year he turned pro and promptly won two tournaments.

The following year he was the first African-American winner of the Masters and started his dominance of professional golf. He soon amassed fourteen majors, the most recent US Open being called his best performance ever. He has 65 PGA Tour victories. In 2001 he was the only player in history to hold all four professional major championships at one time, The Grand Slam.

Tiger has been PGA Player of the year eight times. He has been voted Sportsman of the Year and Male Athlete of the Year. He has been a member of both the Ryder and Presidents Cup teams. Tiger leads all active golfers in career victories and winnings.

Tiger Woods and his father started the Tiger Woods Foundation in 1996, to help promote minority participation in golf. In 2006 Tiger opened the Tiger Woods Learning Center. The Center educates and exposes children to opportunities in science and technology.

As this evidence shows, both Tiger and Jack have had tremendously successful careers and both have taken significant efforts to give back to their communities. The similarities do not end there.

Jack Nicklaus was raised by dedicated parents Charlie and Helen. Charlie was a sports fanatic and Ohio State alumni. He was a very involved parent and had a very close relationship with Jack. Jack was given every opportunity to succeed at anything he tried.

Charlie got him involved in golf early and nurtured his interest. Jack’s dad was a strong willed man with a dominating personality.

Tiger Woods was raised by dedicated parents Earl and Kultida. Earl was a Lt. Colonel in the Green Berets. Earl’s plan for Tiger started early. He was determined Tiger (Eldrick) was going to be a golfer, a championship golfer. Needless to say Earl was a very involved parent.

Tiger and Jack had very close relationships with their fathers. Both have said that their dad was their best friend. Their dads were their first and most influential role models. They grew up having a very similar home life. Even though Jack was playing golf at a private club and Tiger was beating the balls at a municipal course they both were given that push, that drive that champions have. The two of them arrived at the same place; their paths were only slightly different.

During his time on the PGA tour Nicklaus went to great lengths to try and give his family a normal life. He tried to be away from home for only two weeks at a time. At a time when pro golfers would be away for months, Jack avoided the long tour trips to be home with his wife and children. Nicklaus has said that throughout his career he had one fundamental principle that allowed him to be successful: family first.

There is probably only one person in golf that is respected more than Jack Nicklaus. That would be is his wife, Barbara. Barbara Nicklaus is the ultimate role model for a PGA tour wife and mother. Jack is very frank about his career and his family. It was Barbara’s strength and support that enabled him to be the golfer he was. It was because Barbara was there to run the household that allowed Jack to be a success.

Barbara Nicklaus is a generous and caring person. Elin Woods should give her a call. Barbara could share her secrets to a triumphant life on the tour.

As Jack’s children grew, Barbara would bring them on tour. Nicklaus tells the story of celebrating the 1980 US Open victory with a meal at McDonalds. It was his son Michael’s choice.

Tiger Woods is well on his way to challenging Jack Nicklaus as the greatest golfer of all time. He has started his family and appears to be a very involved father. He has had a very strong personal role model in his father. Tiger has his dad’s values and determination. He has used Jack as a professional role model with much success. He should look at Jack as a role model for a PGA Tour father.

Few men in the world are as successful in their professional lives as Tiger Woods.

He is as wealthy and successful as any athlete in history. He is also a man that is very comfortable with himself and the world he lives in. Jack Nicklaus was Tiger Woods thirty years ago. He was the biggest thing in golf and sports. He played golf with a focus and determination that made him the greatest of all time. He used that same focus to insure that his family grew up happy, healthy and normal.

Tiger is as focused on being a good father as he is on his golf game. He goes to great lengths to protect his privacy and is able to travel the world with his family. Tiger’s own family will reflect the values passed on to him by his Mom and Dad. He would do well to copy Jack’s model for a touring professional. Tiger should try to copy Jack one more time.

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56 Comments

  1. Tiger has been through a long stretch of bad luck. Hopefully next year we begin to witness the “greatness” in him once again.

  2. I am happy that Jack’s major record is safe. Jack was a great golfer and is still a great person. Tiger is a great golfer, but I wouldn’t trust him to help my Mother get up if she fell down.

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