Nicklaus honors Woods

Incredibly happy for Tiger Woods — and for the game of golf — on his 82nd PGA Tour win.

JACK Nicklaus celebrates Tiger Woods’ victory.

INZAI, Japan (AFP) — Jack Nicklaus led the tributes to Tiger Woods after the golfing great secured a record 82nd US PGA Tour win at the weather-disrupted Zozo Championship.

“Incredibly happy for Tiger Woods — and for the game of golf — on his 82nd PGA Tour win,” tweeted Nicklaus, who has won 18 majors.

“For a number of years, all we wanted was to see Tiger healthy again, but for his quality of life.“

“But it’s very obvious that the surgery and the hard work Tiger put in resulted in quality of golf,” Nicklaus added after Woods tied Sam Snead’s all-time mark for PGA Tour wins.

Woods carded a final-round three-under 67 for a three-stroke victory over home favorite Hideki Matsuyama after play spilt over into Monday after Friday was washed out.

Woods had been one victory short of Snead since winning his 15th major at the US Masters in April and had not played for No. 14 Tony Finau, who was also in the field in Japan, called Woods a “Living legend!” on Twitter. “Congrats on No. 82 Tiger Woods,” he added as social media lit up on the news of yet another career comeback milestone.

World number two Rory McIlroy who tied third, a distant six strokes behind Woods, said he quickly did the math and said he would have to win “six times a year for the next 10 years” to get close to Woods.