Brandel Chamblee Thinks Lifting Weights Prevented Tiger Woods From Winning 25 Majors

In his long career, TIger Woods has won 15 majors, only second to Jack Nicklaus who has eighteen majors to his name.

Brandel Chamblee Thinks Lifting Weights Prevented Tiger Woods From Winning 25 Majors

Tiger Woods, Brandel Chamblee (Image via The US Sun/Getty Images)

In Short
  • Brandel Chamblee attributes Tiger Woods' failure to surpass Jack Nicklaus' 18 major wins to his weightlifting regimen.
  • Chamblee believes Woods' training approach led to physical breakdowns and injuries throughout his career.
  • Tiger Woods has fallen to 4169th in the Official World Golf Rankings after a lengthy absence from competitive golf.

There was once a time when everyone thought that Tiger Woods would surpass Jack Nicklaus to become the most decorated golfer of all time. In fact, he had won at least one major championship in four consecutive years before the scandal hit him hard.

After a wave of controversies and sponsor backouts, Woods has won a single major since 2008, The Masters win in 2019. It’s unlikely he will even appear at one major after his latest ignominy. The 50-year-old was recently involved in a car-rollover crash near his home in Jupiter Island, Florida, while being under the influence. He was due to return to action after a hiatus following a major surgery this week in the Augusta Masters before the incident.

Amid the chaos, golf analyst Brandel Chamblee has a new reason as to why Woods never surpassed Nicklaus’ 18 wins. Chamblee doesn’t blame Woods’ infidelity or his multiple stints with car accidents, but lifting weights.

“He would have probably won 125 golf tournaments and 25 majors,” Chamblee said on the Dan Patrick Show where he was previewing the Augusta Masters that starts on April 9 when he was asked what would have been Woods’ resume if he hadn’t lifted weights. Chamblee went on to add that Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer predicted Woods to win more Masters than both of them had when he was a teenager starting his golf career.

Chamblee said that Woods treated golf like a sport when it came to his training regimen, which he believes led to his downfall. Chamblee added:

He traded speed for strength. 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.

Nonetheless, Chamblee admitted that Woods made playing golf cool. While his main argument centered on lifting weights, Chamblee did say that injuries and changing his golf swing did contribute to his never becoming an all-time major champion.

Tiger Woods plummeted to 4169 in the Official World Golf Rankings

The 50-year-old golfer, Tiger Woods, had been away from golf for more than a year before he made an appearance at the new simulated form of golf, TGL, where he played a single game in the three-match finale for the Jupiter Links GC. He hasn’t seen outdoors play since the summer of 2024, when he played The Open.

Tiger Woods-2
Tiger Woods (Image via Newsweek)

In the latest rankings, Woods has plummeted down to 4169th, far, far away from his career-best number one. It’s no surprise, given the time he has stayed away. It’s only going to go down as he takes time off to recover physically as well as mentally. Though unclear if Woods made the flight, his private jet did land in Zurich, which is known for very private, catering for the 1% kind of rehabilitation facilities like Paracelsus.

The Masters is not only reeling from Woods’ absence but also Phil Mickelson. Mickelson, who’s skipping the tournament due to a personal family matter, was ranked 1398th in the rankings. He’s arguably one of the best golfers to never reach No. 1, with his career high being 2nd rank.

The 55-year-old has six major wins, including three Masters. With both Mickelson and Woods absent, all eyes are on defending champion Rory McIlroy, who completed his first career Grand Slam last year. Apart from McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler is one of the biggest names, being the current World Number One.

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