Jones really didn’t have anything more to prove in golf. He knew he wasn’t cut out to tour as a professional.

Simlarly, once Nicklaus got past Jones and Hagen, there was no obvious goals for him to attain in golf.

Tiger has a goal that should keep him focused for at least the next few years. That might work to his psychological advantage.

Phil: I don’t really think Tiger would hang up his Foot Joys at 19 majors. If possible, he’ll want to get 20 just because it would stand as such a great number.

That said, if he gets 19, he’s probably going to be regarded by MOST people, inside golf and out, as the greatest ever. I can’t see people setting the bar for Tiger at some arbitrary number of majors beyond 19.

At some point it’s going to start to get to Tiger, no? Seems inevitable. Every man faces the “now what?” question sooner or later.

This is just speculation, of course, but I would guess Tiger was upset at the outcome because (a) he was forced to sit out the better part of a year, nursing his knee, waiting for Masters week to arrive; and (b) he drove back down Magnolia Lane knowing he COULD have won the damn thing. I don’t think there’s any great mystery to why he was so mad.

I’m a bit skeptical of the claims that Tiger’s swing (or his knee) is too messed up for him to continue winning majors. Again, he would have won last weekend if he had just rolled his putts a little better. He’s obviously not FAR from major-championship caliber play, even if we accept his performance at Augusta as evidence that he’s not quite there.

I agree it’s entirely possible Tiger is going to confront some difficult emotions as he makes his final assault on Jack’s record. This is something I had never thought about before, but it only makes sense if you think about it. If, indeed, the majors start becoming more difficult for him to win, it’s easy to see how frustrating speific losses — especially close losses — might become.

There’s also the fact, as you point out, that this has been his life’s mission for as long as he can remember. Part of him might be starting to look beyond the hunt for 19 and thinking, “And then what?” Part of him may be yearning to get to 19 ASAP while another part doesn’t want the chase to ever end!

I’ve been wondering for a while now if the grind of “the Quest” might be getting to him — or might soon start. It seems to me that every golfer has a “pressure threshold,” where the pressure really starts to affect their game when it hasn’t really before. For some guys it might simply be making the jump to the Tour from college. For a lot of guys it’s leading down the stretch toward their first victory. For others, that first “regular” victory may be no big deal, but when it’s that first major, they wilt.

Tiger thus far has been more or less immune, which is a big part of the reason he’s won so much. And I think that may well be because he’s really only had one goal his whole life, to beat Jack. And now that that goal is within sight (remember, this is the first season where he could theoretically have caught Jack’s major total) it’s starting to get to him, as Phil suggests.

I also wonder about the family life. Not that it’s not great, it probably is. But it’s another “layer” of things he has to think about that isn’t golf. For some guys, a new, happy family life probably loosens them up, helps them relax and play better. But that’s not how Tiger rolls. He’s a “focus” player, not a “relax and enjoy yourself” player.

In the love/hate Tiger debate, I’ve always been pretty pro-Tiger. I love watching excellence, and even dominance, in sports. But I also like interesting things to happen. And I think it will make the whole Tiger Woods story a lot more interesting if it takes him, say, 5-8 years (instead of 5-8 tournaments!) to pass Jack. I still want him to do it, but I want it to be hard!