In 1996, golf legends Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer played a practice round with a young Tiger Woods at the Masters. Soon after playing with him, Nicklaus made a bold prediction. 

As per Arnold Palmer, soon after the practice, "Jack made his famous declaration that he had just played with a kid who was going to win more Masters than him and me combined (10). The following year, Tiger got off to a great start on that journey when he won the 1997 Masters by 12 strokes with a record 18-under-par 270 total."

The following year, Tiger Woods won the 1997 Masters and went on to win 15 major championships, which helped him establish himself as one of the game’s greatest players. However, Nicklaus' prediction still didn't come true.

Tiger Woods has won the Masters Tournament five times. With this, he is only behind Jack Nicklaus, who won it six times. However, as Nicklaus predicted, Woods still needs to win 6 more to make it come true.

There was one thing that Nicklaus didn't consider about Tiger Woods

Unlike Nicklaus, who played in 164 majors over his career, Woods’ opportunities were curtailed by physical setbacks. Injuries became a big setback in her career, and she might have stayed a bit behind that mark.

Tiger Woods has undergone various surgeries, including multiple back operations and procedures on his knee and ankle. In March 2025, Woods underwent surgery to repair a ruptured left Achilles tendon sustained while training, a setback that ruled him out of the Masters and other majors that year.

In fact, very recently, in October 2025, Woods revealed he had a collapsed disc and a compromised spinal canal, leading to a lumbar disc replacement surgery.

Do you think he'll be able to win 6 more Masters? Let us know in the comments!

Written by

Dolly Bhamrick

Edited by

Siddharth Shirwadkar