He has always insisted he would break Jack Nicklaus' record of 18 major titles, but it seems Tiger Woods is now not so sure.
The former world No. 1 needs four more majors to equal Nicklaus' mark, but the 40-year-old has not won one of golf's big four events since the 2008 U.S. Open and has not played competitively since August 2015 after multiple back surgeries.
Woods was asked in an interview that aired Thursday on Charlie Rose: This Week on PBS whether he still thinks he will get to 18 majors.
"To be honest with you, no," Woods replied.
When Rose asked whether he had accepted that, Woods laughed and said, "I've accepted I'm going to get more."
Woods confirmed to Rose that he plans to return to competition in December at the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas. To get back to the winner's circle, Woods admitted he needs to find different ways to win than he did earlier in his career.
"I'm the first to admit -- I can't do the things I used to be able to do," Woods told Rose. "Most people can't at my age, versus when they were younger. I have to find different ways to go about it."
Woods' personal life began to unravel in 2009 when his infidelities came to light, leading to a divorce from his wife, Elin.
But in answering a question about the burden of being Tiger Woods, he said, "The only regret I have in life is not spending another year at Stanford."
When Rose pushed him, given the public humiliation and fallout from the scandal, Woods replied, "All the things I've been through are tough, yes. They've been tough, but they've been great for me. But I wish I would've gone one more year at Stanford."
Woods later added, "I made a bunch of mistakes. But in the end, Elin is my ex-wife. She's one of my best friends. We've had two beautiful kids."
Surprise gifts
Cleveland rookie left-hander Ryan Merritt helped lead the Indians to their first World Series since 1997 by starting Wednesday's Game 5 of the American League Championship Series, retiring the first 10 batters he faced and needing 49 pitches to record 13 outs in a 3-0 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays.
"He was dotting every fastball, executing every curveball," Indians pitching coach Mickey Callaway said after the game. "This kid, he throws strikes. He's in like the 99th percentile in the year, from [Class AAA] to the big leagues, in throwing his breaking ball, his changeup for strikes, and I figured he would have a pretty good outing if he could do that."
Merritt's "pretty good outing" paid off in more than one way.
Thanks to some investigation by Sporting News writer Jesse Spector and Indians fan Ben Ferree, Cleveland fans were able to find Merritt's wedding registry. With a wedding set for January and Merritt going "above and beyond his years," according to Manager Terry Francona, Indians fans started buying items on the registry as a token of appreciation to Merritt.
"Later [Wednesday night], after all the champagne's gone and he's had a moment to catch his breath, the kid from McKinney, Texas, will be able to pull out his phone and see how one night captivating the sports world ensured that he'll never need to buy a muffin pan for the rest of his life," Jonah Keri of CBSSports.com wrote. "Playoff baseball can be just that weird, and just that wonderful."
Sports quiz
Who was the manager of the Cleveland Indians when they last got to the World Series in 1997?
Answer
Mike Hargrove
Sports on 10/21/2016