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Out but not down
To Nicklaus, playing means playing well
Posted: Tuesday April 09, 2002 10:09 PM
Updated: Tuesday April 09, 2002 11:34 PM
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Jack Nicklaus appears at a news conference at Augusta National Golf Club. The six-time Masters champion is sitting this year out with a bad back. Jonathan Ernst
The Augusta Chronicle |
By John Boyette
The Augusta Chronicle
Jack Nicklaus arrived at Augusta National Golf Club on Tuesday sporting a beige coat and a bad back.
The six-time Masters winner donned his green jacket later in the evening for the annual Champions Dinner, but that's about the only part of this year's tournament he'll get to actively participate in.
Nicklaus, 62, withdrew from the Masters last week because of a recurring back problem. It is only the second time since 1959 that he has not played in golf's first major of the year. In 1999, hip-replacement surgery kept him out of the Masters.
"I'm sorry I can't play this year," he said. "I'd love to be playing."
Nicklaus, the winner of 18 professional major championships, actually went skiing last week. But he said there is a big difference between leisure sports and teeing it up in the Masters.
"If I want to play golf I can, and I really don't think that's for public consumption," he said. "I came out here and shot 76 and 81 (about three weeks ago) from the back tees."
Nicklaus has had plenty of opportunities to play the revamped Augusta National because he became a club member last year. But with his ailing back, he found himself hitting long clubs into many of the holes.
He hit a 4-wood into No. 10, a 3-wood to No. 11, a 3-wood for his second shot into No. 13, a 4-wood to 14 and a 3-wood into No. 18.
"Do you think I want to play in the Masters Tournament playing that way?" he asked.
Nicklaus said only five holes have not changed since he made his Masters debut in 1959 - Nos. 4, 5, 6, 12 and 16. But he wholeheartedly approves of the changes.
"I think the way this golf course is set up now, power is a very, very big issue on this golf course," he said, noting that accuracy will also be a factor.
Nicklaus said he hopes to play in The Tradition, a Senior Tour event, later this month. If all goes well, he will play in his Memorial Tournament in May. He also is scheduled to play this summer with Tiger Woods in a made-for-TV event.
"Obviously I'm working to try to get my game where I could play or be physically where I could play," he said. "I just don't think that I wanted to display what I have got going out here on this golf course."
With an extra 285 yards and alterations to nine holes at Augusta National - changes made to address technology issues - Nicklaus said the game's governing bodies need to act.
"I think ultimately what's going to happen is that sooner or later, there's going to be a set of specs, and I hope it's the USGA (United States Golf Association) or the R&A (Royal & Ancient Golf Club) or together doing it," he said of coming up with a uniform golf ball for tournament play.
Nicklaus has been advocating restrictions on the golf ball since the late 1970s, but said only recently has anyone paid attention.
"When they do that, the players will play it," he said.
Nicklaus also weighed in on whether former Masters champions should be allowed to make their own decision on when to quit competing. Gay Brewer , Billy Casper and Doug Ford all received letters this year from Augusta National Chairman Hootie Johnson asking them to not play this year.
"I think when you have earned an invitation to play in the Masters or any golf tournament, I think it's the player's decision whether you should play or not," Nicklaus said.
As for his own future at the Masters, Nicklaus expects to be back.
"If I can play and I can play decently, I'd love to come back here and play," he said. "If I can't, I'm not going to go out there with 4-woods and 3-woods on every hole."
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