LEFTOVERS: Golden Bear still expects record to fall

The ongoing storyline for Tiger Woods is whether he will catch Jack Nicklaus.

What once seemed a certainty now is in doubt, but Woods is playing well entering the Masters, reviving talk he will make golf history.

Just ask the man he’s chasing.

“The older he gets, and if he doesn’t win, it makes my record move out further,” Nicklaus told the media. “But I’ve said it, and I continue to say it, that I still expect him to break my record. I think he’s just too talented, too driven and too focused on that.”

Woods is four behind the Golden Bear’s record 18 major championships, but Tiger has been stuck on 14 since 2008.

After he wrecked his SUV, marriage and reputation on Thanksgiving night in 2009, Woods has been fighting to find his old form.

Now he has a hot blond girlfriend in skier Lindsey Vonn, has stopped pretending to be a nice guy and is back to winning tournaments. It’s almost just like the Tiger of old.

On the subject of golfers with hot blond girlfriends, tennis player Caroline Wozniacki caddied for Tiger pal Rory McIlroy in Wednesday’s Par 3 Contest at Augusta.

Wozniacki told ESPN she receives a nice paycheck for the gig, and she made sure to give McIlroy “a special prize.”

This being a family newspaper, we’ll keep it clean, but you have to figure McIlroy either will be distracted or energized this weekend.

■ DON’T MESS WITH THE MAMBA — A Robert Morris internal investigation revealed that disgraced basketball coach Mike Rice might have engaged in behavior similar to what got him tossed from Rutgers last week, though apparently not on the same scale.

Video surfaced last week of him shoving and kicking Rutgers players and throwing balls at them.

Kobe Bryant was asked on “Jim Rome on Showtime” what he would have done if Rice had become physical with him.

“I would’ve smacked the hell out of him,” the Los Angeles Lakers star said. “There’d be no question about it.”

Rome asked if an 18-year-old Bryant would have stood up for himself in that type of situation.

“Just a year later, I was going at it with Shaq,” Bryant said. “You think I’m going to let a coach throw a ball at my head?”

It would be fun to see how Bryant would react.

He could draw some serious pay-per-view numbers. Who needs Mayweather-Pacquiao?

■ NEW WAY TO LOSE — Phoenix Suns center Jermaine O’Neal did something so puzzling Tuesday night that even Chris Webber must be somewhere shaking his head.

O’Neal was called for goaltending on a 3-point shot of a tie game, handing the Houston Rockets a 101-98 win.

He told The Arizona Republic he thought the ball had come off the rim and wanted to prevent a tip-in by Houston.

Uh, the buzzer already had sounded.

What is a 17-year NBA veteran doing going up for the rebound in that situation?

“Phoenix is in the Western Conference basement for a reason,” Deadspin.com wrote, “and boneheaded plays like this show why.”

O’Neal tried to deflect blame by questioning the officiating in the fourth quarter.

Even Webber wouldn’t buy that excuse if he had a timeout.

COMPILED BY MARK ANDERSON LAS VEGAS REVIEW JOURNAL