Roundtable: Is Tiger's year a success without a major?

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Tiger Woods might be living in the shadow of past years if he doesn't win a major this week at Hazeltine.

Every golf fan knows how the importance Tiger Woods places on winning majors. It's his top priority every year in his quest to surpass Jack Nicklaus' record of 18 major victories.

As he goes into the season's last major, the PGA Championship, Woods is 0-for-3 in majors this year. Should he fail to win this week at Hazeltine, he'd be shut out of majors for the first time since 2004.

So despite the fact that he's won five times this year and leads the FedExCup standings, would a major-less campaign in 2009 be a successful one for Tiger? He says it would.

"It's been a great year either way," Woods said Tuesday. "For me to come back and play and play as well as I've done and actually win golf events; to say at the very beginning of the year, when I was feeling the way I was, to be honest with you, I don't think any of us would have thought I could have won this many events this year."

But our PGATOUR.COM writers have their doubts about whether Tiger will really consider this a successful season should he come up short at Hazeltine? Let the roundtable discussion begin...

HELEN ROSS: If this were a normal year, I would probably say no, it's not a successful one -- and I have no doubt that Tiger would agree.

But considering that 12 months ago he was on painkillers and walking around on crutches, I think we need to use a different measuring stick than we would otherwise. Five wins, including Sunday's World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational, and five other top-10s in 11 stroke-play events is pretty darn impressive.

Granted, he missed the cut at the Open Championship, but I think we can cut him some slack there. And the way Tiger's playing right now, it's not inconceivable that he could equal Jack Nicklaus' 73 career wins by the end of the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup. So what if he has to wait another year or two for the major mark? He's been 2009's most dominant player -- with or without a win at Hazeltine this week.

JOHN MAGINNES: Absolutely not. If you produced a pie chart of success for Tiger each year and colored the major championship red, there would be very little else in the circle. The chart may have some blue for the half-dozen or so regular-season events that he wins and some green for the Playoffs, but more than three quarters of the chart would be red. That is not my assessment; it is his.

Tiger has made no bones about the fact that he has had Jack's 18 major championships in his sights. In eight of his 12 full years on the TOUR, Tiger has won a major championship. He won a tournament on the PGA TOUR two weeks before each of the majors this year, indicating that his game was primed and ready for the grandest stage.

The Grand Slam disappointment will not be tempered by the fact that Tiger went under the knife a year ago. If he doesn't win this week, then the year won't live up to the incredibly high standards that Tiger has set for himself. A five-win season would be a success for anyone in the game, maybe anyone in the game's history. But not for Tiger.

T.J. AUCLAIR: This season is absolutely a success for Tiger Woods, regardless of whether or not he wins a major championship.

Typically, a major-less season is a complete failure for the world's No. 1 player. However, this isn't a typical season.

Before the start of 2009, we all wondered how Tiger would bounce back from his reconstructive knee surgery. Barring that missed cut at the Open Championship, he's gotten better and better as the year has worn on, which is a testament to just how unbelievable the man is. Five victories in 10 starts? Are you kidding me?

The killer instinct is back and healthier than ever. So, yes, this season is a monumental success even without a major win for Tiger.

That said, I still don't think he'll end the year without one.

MELANIE HAUSER: To a normal person? Absolutely, it would be a great season.

To Tiger? Nope. With him, adjectives like good, acceptable, better-than-some-seasons come to mind. Rebuilt knee and rehab only count to us. This would be a very good year with his B game.

We're talking a different level here and, while it will be good enough for another Player of the Year award, it won't be enough for him. Too close too many times. Eighteen's right there. Coulda been this year.

That's the way he thinks. His 70th win on Sunday at Firestone gets him closer to a stunning record; but it's that goal of beating Jack that drives him.

Which is why, come Sunday afternoon, this whole discussion will probably be a moot point. And his season? It'll be a great one.

CRAIG DOLCH: Measuring success for Tiger Woods always comes in the most simplistic terms: It's all about the majors, baby.

So if Woods doesn't win the PGA Championship, his season has to be considered a disappointment because that's how Woods measures himself. He has said this numerous times: If you win a major, you can't have had a bad season. Continuing that logic, a non-major season can't be considered great, even with his five wins. I'll bet if you ask Woods to take a major or, say, a four-win season, he'd pick the former.

Sure, Woods has to be thrilled with his comeback from major knee surgery last June. But the fact he won his last start before each of the four majors this year shows his game was where it needed to be. He just didn't get the job done in the majors, the way he usually does.

Of course, he has one more chance.

STAN AWTREY: Tiger Woods operates on a different plane than everyone else. He lives for major titles and will be unfulfilled if he fails to win this week at the PGA Championship.

Woods has always seen the 18 major wins by Nicklaus as his Holy Grail and has steadily chipped away. That's the way Nicklaus did it. During the peak of his great career, Nicklaus only twice had a two-year stretch where he failed to win a major.

Woods has gone only three majors without a win, but three others passed while he was rehabbing the knee. A win this week would put him back on track to catch Jack and give him validation that it's al been worthwhile. He needs this win. Otherwise it's going to be a long offseason, regardless of how many other victories he nabs.

MIKE McALLISTER: Five wins but no major? Yes, you could argue the point that Tiger might be disappointed. But I don't think he'll stop at five wins. Even if he fails to win this week at Hazeltine, I think Tiger has at least one, probably two, and maybe three more wins in his bag this season. Add a FedExCup title and Player of the Year honors, and even Tiger has to be impressed with that.

But forgot the titles or the trophies. Here's why Tiger will consider this season a success, even without a major -- he has left no doubt that his return from surgery is complete, that there are no questions in his mind about his knee, about his body, whether he'll return to the kind of dominant form that we're used to seeing from him.

This year, in essence, was a set-up year for Tiger. He has successfully achieved that, meaning that he has set himself up for future major wins. When he underwent major reconstructive surgery last year on his knee, perhaps a tinge of doubt entered his mind on whether his body could hold up long enough to surpass Jack's 18.

Now? There are no doubts. He'll get there. We know it ... and he knows it.

BRIAN WACKER: The other day, I heard someone say that Tiger Woods is all about four tournaments a year. Then I heard Boston Globe columnist Bob Ryan correctly say that, no, Tiger is all about winning every time he tees it up. And Woods himself has said, on multiple times in fact, that he doesn't enter a tournament unless he intends to win it.

Well, Woods has won five of 12 tournaments this year and nearly won the Masters playing his B-minus game. Given that, even if he doesn't win another major or another tournament this year, 2009 has to be considered a success for Woods.

Interchange any name with Woods' and this would be a ridiculous conversation. That's the ridiculous standard Woods has set for himself and we have set for him. But he's still the best player on the planet, still won more than 40 percent of his tournaments so far and showed that he can overcome season-ending ACL surgery. That's pretty successful to me.