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Closer Look One last golden moment
By John L. Byrwa, CNNSI.com LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- "I think Mr. Nicklaus has just introduced himself," bellowed the blue-blazered gent whose job it is to announce members of each group to the gallery at the 18th green at Valhalla Golf Club. Rest assured Jack Nicklaus needs no introduction. But just to make sure everyone on the premises knew he was still able to wield a wedge with the best of the them, the Golden Bear brought an overflowing gallery to its feet and chill bumps to every square inch of your body with what was the final fairway shot of his PGA Championship career. And what a shot it was. Just 72 yards long, it lofted a few feet past the hole, hit into a small ridge and backed up toward the hole. You could feel the air around the green getting sucked into thousands of lungs as the ball tracked toward the cup and nearly went in for an eagle 3. Had it gone in, Nicklaus would have made the cut and earned himself two more rounds. Instead, all it earned was a footnote in the final chapter of a legendary career. And that was enough for the gallery. The noise was deafening, as loud as any ever heard on a golf course. "The wind was in my face and I hit a driver and a 3-wood as nicely as I can hit it," Nicklaus said as he recounted that 18th hole. "I had 72 yards, and I said, 'Hit up just behind the hole and I think it will come down a little bit.' And it did." Asked where the shot ranks among the countless he's struck in his career, Nicklaus never hesitated. "It ranks one short of making the cut," he said with a straight face.
Such is reality when a 60-year-old man realizes that it isn't 1980 anymore. Oh, for a few brief moments during the 82nd PGA Championship, Jack's 37th, it was 1980 all over again, the year he won his fifth and final PGA Championship. He hit booming drives, brilliant iron shots, precise putts. Just too few of them to make the cut in what all could possibly have been his last major. But nobody really expected Nicklaus to make a serious run at what would have been his 19th major title. In fact, nobody really expected him to tee it up Thursday after receiving word Wednesday that his 90-year-old mother, Helen, passed away. But Monday she told her son it was her wish for him to play, and play on he did. Playing in the same group as Tiger Woods, the heir apparent to Nicklaus' crown, the Bear made a brief run to make the weekend. He birdied the first two holes Friday, getting to 3 over for the tournament. The massive crowds were charged, and never missed a chance to voice their love for the game's greatest player. "You da man, Jack!" "We love you, Jack!" "God be with you, Jack!" On every hole he tipped his cap and smiled. But then Nicklaus returned to the year 2000. The shots didn't have the same crispness, the putts didn't roll with the same smoothness. In short, Nicklaus simply didn't have what it takes to compete with the flat-bellies anymore. "I would play major championship golf if I thought I could play," Nicklaus said as he wiped his lined brow. "I think I stretched it this year playing. I don't think my golf game is good enough to play anymore. If it's not good enough to play, then I probably won't play. Right now, I'm not even competitive on the Senior Tour. "It doesn't make any difference to me if it's major championship golf or anywhere, but obviously when your ability is leaving you, then you've got to do something else." And that would be? "I can throw a fly rod very nicely," Nicklaus said. "I think I can still dive decently - my boat works - and probably enjoy things like that. I can still - fortunately - I can still design a few golf holes. I can make them so I can't play them, but I might be able to make them so somebody else can play them." With that, the Golden Bear left us, with only our memories of a golden career capped by a golden shot. A career that needs no introduction.
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