Great White Shark Greg Norman believes current World No. 1 Rory McIlroy is more likely to break Jack Nicklaus’ record of 18 Major than Tiger Woods.
Woods is just four Major victories short of the Golden Bear but has remained stagnant since capturing the 2008 U.S. Open virtually on one leg at Torrey Pines.
However the double British Open winning Norman says he would not be suprised to see the now 23-year old McIlroy go past both Woods and Nicklaus.
Double major winning Greg Norman believes Rory McIlroy can surpass Jack Nicklaus’ record of 18 Majors. (Photo – www.pgatour.com.au)
“I don’t think so, no,” Norman said when asked if Woods was capable of winning the five majors he requires to pass Nicklaus.”Every year that passes by that he hasn’t won a major it just gets that much harder to win a major.
“I don’t care how many you have won, it just becomes more and more difficult He might win one or two more but I don’t think he will win the four or five more that he needs to win to break the record.”
McIlroy won the US Open in 2011 and this year’s US PGA Championship and Norman says the sky is the limit for the talented 23-year-old.
“I think if anybody can break Nicklaus’ record I think he could, because he is young, he is ahead of the game, he is ahead of the curve on a lot of things and he has a very balanced life across the board,” added Norman.
“So I will keep my fingers crossed for him because I would love to see that happen. Somebody will do it one day and it could be Rory.
“I am a big fan of Rory’s, he can be as big as he wants to be.”
Backing the Northern Irishman to take the crown, Norman believes while Woods may be capable of winning further major titles, he will fail to break the 26-year record.
Norman said: “Every year that passes by that he hasn’t won a major it just gets that much harder to win a major.
“I don’t care how many you have won, it just becomes more and more difficult. He might win one or two more but I don’t think he will win the four or five more that he needs to win to break the record.”
Norman was bullish about his chances at this week’s PGA Championship but conceded golf is low down on his list of priorities these days.
Asked his goal for the week, Norman quipped, ‘to do a Peter Senior and referring to the 53-year old Seniro becoming the oldest-ever winner of the Austraian Open last week in Sydney.
Indeed, Senior two years ago became the oldest ever winner of an Australasian Tour event in capturing the 2010 Australian PGA Championship.
