Woods 'unlikely to pass Nicklaus'

Woods already has 10 majors in the bag

BBC golf commentator Peter Alliss does not think Tiger Woods, who turned 30 on Friday, will go on to beat Jack Nicklaus' record of 18 major wins.

Woods clinched his 10th major at St Andrews in July to pass halfway in his pursuit of Nicklaus' landmark.

Nicklaus, 65, won 11 of his majors after the age of 30, but Alliss believes Woods' focus might now waver.

"I still don't think he will pass Jack Nicklaus' 18 major wins," Alliss told BBC Radio Five Live.

"There's a long way to go before he catches him. He may well do it, but I think there could be some other distractions along the way.

"But he's an amazing talent and wonderfully exciting.

TIGER'S 10 MAJORS Masters: 1997, 2001, 2002, 2005 US Open: 2000, 2002 Open: 2000, 2005 USPGA: 1999, 2000

"Considering all the nonsense he has to put up with - long-lense cameras, people prying into your private life and bounties put up to try and get a juicy snippet of naughtiness you might have done when you were 15 - I think he copes with life amazingly well.

"It's been a privilege for me to watch him play."

Woods won his first major in 1997 at the age of 21 and his Open triumph in the summer meant he became only the second player after Nicklaus to win each major at least twice.

Nicklaus clinched his first major in 1962 at the age of 22 and the player dubbed "the Golden Bear", who retired from competitive golf at St Andrews, ended with a last Masters win at the age of 46 in 1986.

JACK'S 18 MAJORS Masters: 1963, 1965, 1966, 1972, 1975, 1986 US Open: 1962, 1967, 1972, 1980 Open: 1966, 1970, 1978 USPGA: 1963, 1971, 1973, 1975, 1980

The distractions of family life did nothing to deter Nicklaus, who was married and had the first of his five children before winning his first major.

Woods, meanwhile, had won eight by the time he married Elin in October 2004 and it remains to be seen whether children will dent his ambition.

Like Woods' much-publicised major "slump" - or rebuilding period as he would prefer to call it - between 2002 and 2005, Nicklaus suffered a fallow period between winning the US Open in 1967 and the Open in 1970 as he came to terms with the death of his father.

Woods' father has also been ill, but his next landmark is to try to equal Walter Hagen's mark of 11 majors at the Masters at Augusta in April.

"Normally your golden years are in your 30s - hopefully that will be the case," said the world number one in July.