In the world of professional golf, Jack Nicklaus has reigned for decades as the greatest golfer to ever play the game, holding the record for 18 major championship wins.

But as many golf fans -- and even non-fans -- are aware, there is someone hot on his tail for the major wins record.

For the past 11 years, Tiger Woods has blazed his way through greens around the world and is on pace to overtake Nicklaus atop the record books. Woods claimed his 14th major title by winning the 2008 U.S. Open, leaving him just four behind Nicklaus' mark.

And Woods is still going strong. After not winning a major in 2003 and 2004, Woods has returned to top form the past few years and has held the No. 1 ranking since June of 2005.

He has held the top spot several other times throughout his career, and from 1999 to 2004 he went 264 straight weeks holding atop the standings, 168 weeks longer than any other golfer has since the system was introduced in 1986.

Woods also was the highest paid professional athlete in all of sports in 2006, bringing in more that $100 million in tour money and endorsements.

Woods' success has rocketed him to the top of his sport, but it wasn't that long ago that golf fans believed Nicklaus' record would stand forever. No other golfer other than Woods has come within seven of his 18 major wins.

During the height of his career, Nicklaus' success on the course gained himself, and golf, popularity.

Nicklaus was named Sports Illustrated's "Athlete of the Decade" in the 1970s, a time when the likes of the NBA’s Julius "Dr. J" Erving, the NHL's Bobby Orr, the NFL's O.J. Simpson and boxing's Muhammad Ali were at the heights of their careers. Ali would later be named the magazine's "Athlete of the Century," but the '70s belonged to Nicklaus.

In 1986, Nicklaus performed what may consider one of the greatest feats in golf history when he won his record sixth Masters at the record age of 46. A week before the tournament, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution wrote an article calling him "done, washed up, through," after he hadn't won the event in 11 years. The ending was dramatic, as he entered the final round down by four shots before coming back to win.

Ten years after Nicklaus cemented his reputation as the greatest golfer ever with his dramatic 1986 Masters victory, Woods entered the world of professional golf with much fanfare and hype.

A child prodigy, Woods was taught about the game of golf by his father, Earl, who was a college baseball star at Kansas State. Woods took to the game early on, appearing at age 2 on “The Mike Douglas Show” putting against Bob Hope. At the age of 8, he won the 9-10 boys event at the Junior World Golf Championships. He won the U.S. Junior Championship at age 15, becoming the youngest golfer to ever win the event. He went on to win the event three times, becoming the only multiple winner.

In 1994, he became the youngest winner of the U.S. Amateur Championship, and in 1995 he enrolled at Stanford, where he won the NCAA title in 1996.

At age 20, already famous even outside the world of golf, Woods turned pro and immediately signed a $40 million endorsement contract with Nike.

Woods won his first major, the Masters, in 1997 by a record of 12 strokes, becoming the youngest winner ever, and the first of Asian or African-American descent. With his sudden success, Woods, like Nicklaus did before, raised golf's popularity, and he introduced the game to a young, Gen-X fan base.

There have been many other highs for Woods. No golfer has ever won a modern-era Grand Slam (winning all four major championships in one year), but Woods came as close as possible when he won all four in a row from 2000 to 2001, in what has become known as the “Tiger Slam.” Critics have pointed out it is not a true Grand Slam, to which Woods responded by telling Ed Bradley of “60 Minutes” that “they can say whatever they want. They didn’t have all four trophies sitting on the mantle, did they?”

Despite his record-breaking feats, Woods has endured some struggles. In 2006, his father and mentor died of prostate cancer. Woods took nine weeks off after Earl's death, and when he returned for the U.S. Open, he missed the cut. It was the first cut he had ever missed at a major event, ending his record-tying streak of 39.

But at the 2006 British Open, Woods bounced back and won the event by 18-under-par, just one shot shy of his major record of 19. An emotional victory, he sobbed in his caddie's arms after the win and dedicated the victory to his father. Woods then went on to win the PGA Championship. There he played at a record-tying pace, making three bogeys through three rounds.

Woods could retire today and still finish his career as one of the greatest golfers to ever play the game. But he shows no signs of slowing down and is on pace to overtake Nicklaus’ major championship record.

Woods himself seems to have much simpler plans. When asked by CNN’s Don Riddell in 2006 what his career goals were, Woods had a very simple answer.

“Win,” said Woods. “Three letters.”

Nicklaus expects Woods to do a lot more winning before the world's top golfer retires, and he is prepared to see his record fall.

“There isn’t a flaw in his golf or his makeup. He will win more majors that Arnold Palmer and me combined. Somebody is going to dust my records. It might as well be Tiger, because he’s such a great kid,” Nicklaus once said of Woods.