CHASKA, Minn. (AP) This is one time Tiger Woods can do without the comparisons to Jack Nicklaus.

Both won the Masters and the U.S. Open with three shots to spare. Both went to Muirfield with the world caught up in Grand Slam fever. Both left the British Open no longer chasing golf's ultimate prize.

Suddenly, the 1972 PGA Championship was just another major for Nicklaus, a strange feeling for a man who built his career around them.

"After you win the first two and then lose by a shot, the PGA was something I had a tough time getting up for," Nicklaus said. "And Tiger will have the same problem."

Woods couldn't disagree more.

One week after his bid for the calendar Grand Slam ended far too early, courtesy of an 81 in bad weather during the third round at Muirfield, Woods already was looking ahead to the final major championship of the year at Hazeltine National Golf Club.

"If you can't get up for a major, what can you get up for?" he said.

No, it's not quite the same.

The hype over a possible Grand Slam was one silver claret jug away from hysteria. The PGA Championship was bracing for a 50 percent increase in media credentials for what surely would have been the most anticipated major in over 70 years.

"Would it have been different? Yeah," Woods conceded. "I would have gotten a lot more questions. But it's still the same. It's just like when I had a chance to complete the (career) Grand Slam at St. Andrews. Ultimately, it comes down to one tournament, and you just compete in that tournament."

What does Hazeltine hold for him?

"You always want to end the year on a good note - every one of us," he said. "It's the last major, and you don't get another shot at it until next year. If you've lost the first three, you can always say, 'I've got one more.' After this, you're done for the year."

This hardly sounds like a hangover from someone who poured every ounce of desire into winning all four professional majors in the same year.

Nicklaus had reason to feel differently.

He didn't shoot an 81 at Muirfield and play the final 18 holes for pride. Five strokes down going into the final round, Nicklaus actually had the lead late Sunday afternoon and was poised to claim the third leg of the Grand Slam until Lee Trevino chipped in for par on the 71st hole and hung on to win by one.

Nicklaus could point to that 8-foot par putt on No. 16 that just turned away, or his failure to birdie the par-5 17th.

No wonder Nicklaus wrote 25 years later that "the frustration and disappointment were more intense than I care to remember."

At the PGA Championship that next month, Nicklaus opened with rounds of 72-75 at Oakland Hills and was never a factor, finishing in a tie for 13th. That came during a seven-year span in which Nicklaus never finished lower than fourth in the PGA.

Woods couldn't point to a single shot that cost him the British Open. It was an entire day. He would need a calculator to add up all the strokes in the third round - his worst score as a professional - that kept him from even having a chance on Sunday.

No wonder he already seems to have forgotten.

"I tried, and that's all you can do," he said with a shrug. "Sometimes we forget, myself included, that it's a sport. It's not life or death. You go out there and compete the best you can, and at the end of the day, it's over. You move on."

History is not on Woods' side.

The only other time he won consecutive majors was when he captured all four in a row, starting with the 2000 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach and ending 294 days later when he won the Masters.

What happened next?

He opened with a 74 in the U.S. Open and needed rounds of 69-69 on the weekend to tie for 12th. He was never a factor in the British Open, finishing 25th. He nearly missed the cut at the PGA Championship, and his tie for 29th was his worst finish in a major as a pro.

Nicklaus tuned in to the third round of the British Open and admired the way Woods coped with the stunning end to his quest for the slam.

"He handled it very well," Nicklaus said. "He was over being mad at himself. He had just lost the chance to win the Grand Slam, but he didn't cry."

There were other differences between Nicklaus in '72 and Woods in '02.

Nicklaus was 32 and had already tied Bobby Jones' record of 13 major titles (11 professional, two amateur). Woods is 26 and is still 10 professional majors away from matching the 18 held by Nicklaus.

Every major counts - especially since he will have to wait at least seven months after the PGA Championship to play in another one.

"I know that I've only got one major left this year," Woods said. "I'm going to give it my best shot."

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