Basketball great Michael Jordan attended the 2018 Ryder Cup in September at Le Golf National in Guyancourt near Paris. Jordan is a longtime friend of Tiger Woods. File Photo by David Silpa/UPI |
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April 18 (UPI) -- Michael Jordan says he isn't the GOAT ... of comebacks. That status belongs to Tiger Woods, according to "His Airness."
Jordan made the comments about Woods in an interview with The Athletic. The sports icon won three NBA titles before stepping away from the game and switching his efforts toward a Major League Baseball career following the 1992-1993 NBA season. Jordan returned to the court during the 1994-1995 season and went on to win three more titles, completing a resume equating to the title of Greatest of All Time (GOAT).
Woods won 14 major championships and was at the top of the golf world before an 11-year major championship drought. He returned to Augusta National Golf Club last week to win his fifth Green Jacket and claim his 15th major championship.
"I took two years off to play baseball, but nothing like that," Jordan told The Athletic. "I'm pretty sure he questioned himself, whether he could get it back, and he had to put a lot of work in. But he took it head-on. He had to change his game; he had to change his perspective a little bit. To me, it was the greatest comeback I've ever seen."
Jordan sat with former world No. 1 golfer Luke Donald when he watched Sunday's final round. The basketball Hall of Famer said he is "happily surprised" about Woods' ability to regain command his clubs so rapidly.
Tiger Woods now has five Green Jackets, after winning the 2019 Masters Tournament Sunday at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Ga.
Jack Nicklaus had six Masters victories. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI
The comments follow Jordan's 2016 interview with ESPN, when he told said the golfer wouldn't "be great again." The two remained in contact.
"The thing is," Jordan told ESPN, "I love him so much that I can't tell him, 'You're not gonna be great again.'"
Jordan called to congratulate Woods after his latest triumph at Augusta.
"[Woods' opponents] got problems," Jordan told The Athletic. "His confidence is only going to build from here. The unknown is the biggest thing. You don't know what Tiger's capable of doing. He's won a tour event [the Tour Championship last September], he's won the Masters, he's won a major."
Woods, 43, will join the field and attempt to win his 16th major at the 2019 PGA Championship from May 16 to 19 at Bethpage State Park's Black Course in Farmingdale, N.Y.
Jack Nicklaus, who owns a record 18 major championships, was 46 when he won his last major at the 1986 Masters Tournament.
