Tiger Woods still believes he can win more majors than Jack Nicklaus

Tiger Woods still believes he can beat Jack Nicklaus’ 18-major tally. In an interview on “The Charlie Rose Show,” the interviewer asked the 14-time major winner if he thinks he can pass Nicklaus.

On first blush, it might be tempting to read this as an admission that Woods feels he won’t pass Nicklaus. However, it should be read as Woods setting up Rose for the second answer, saying that he still believes he will win at least 19 professional majors.

Woods hasn’t played competitive golf since August 2015, finishing T-10 at the Wyndham Championship before a pair of back surgeries in the next two months that have kept him out of action. Woods withdrew from the Safeway Open, his intended comeback start, on the Monday of tournament week while simultaneously announcing that he won’t play either at the European Tour’s Turkish Airlines Open in November.

The 40-year-old told Rose he still has plans on coming back to competition in December at the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas, which is run by his foundation. However, Woods’ resolve to compete still seems as tepid as the language he used in September to announce his intended return.

Woods said to Rose that the thing keeping him from returning is “more hard work.”

Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.