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Bearing down Nicklaus returns to PGA at his Memorial Tournament
Posted: Monday May 31, 1999 06:56 PM
By Benjamin Berman, CNN/SI The best. Before basketball had Jordan, before hockey had Gretzky, golf had Jack Nicklaus. By far the greatest player to every pick up a club, 59-year-old Jack Nicklaus makes his return this week to the PGA circuit. He also makes a return trip to his birthplace, Columbus, Ohio, and to a course he knows better than anyone. This week's Player to Watch -- Nicklaus -- and the PGA Tour travel to Muirfield Village Golf Club for the Memorial Tournament. This course was not just another Nicklaus-designed course, it is more like his prize course. He made this course for his game, his style and his hometown. Fittingly, the course was officially dedicated on Memorial Day, May 27, 1974, with an exhibition match between Nicklaus and Tom Weiskopf. The Golden Bear shot a six-under par 66 that day, which stood as the course record until 1979. In 1976 the first Memorial Tournament was played and Nicklaus' dream of a PGA tournament close to home became reality. And like so many storybook tales about Nicklaus, he won the event in 1977 with a 281 total -- good for a two-stroke win over Hubert Green. Then again in 1984 Nicklaus won the Memorial, this time in a playoff over Andy Bean. But one tournament, even his own, doesn't speak an inkling about the man. Nicklaus is truly a pioneer of the game in every way. His 100 professional victories is something unthinkable. His 18 PGA major titles and eight Senior major titles is incredible, and that doesn't even include his two U.S. Amateur titles. As amazing as his victories and statistics have been, his ability to stand the test of time may be the most astonishing. Not only has he won every PGA major, he has done it won each on several occassion. He has won six Masters, five PGA Championships, four U.S. Opens, three British Opens. He is the only player who has won all four majors on both the PGA and Senior PGA Tours. He first won in 1962, the U.S. Open no less, and last won in 1996 on the Senior circuit (twice that year). Over a 44-year span Nicklaus has continued to amaze fellow golfers, fans and anyone who can comprehend the game. In 1986 Nicklaus stunned the world by winning the Masters at age 46, the oldest to win in Augusta. Then in 1998, when he was labeled as too old and just a heroic has-been going through the motions at Augusta National, Nicklaus shocked the golf world again. He tied for sixth at that Masters, just four stokes back of the winner Mark O'Meara. The finish was Nicklaus' 22nd in the top 10 at the Masters.
The unbelievable stories, victories and records go on and on. He was the first PGA player to reach $2 million, $3 million, $4 million and $5 million in career earnings -- all at a time when there was no big purses on the circuit. He and Arnold Palmer hold the PGA Tour record for most years winning at least one TOUR event, at 17 (1962-78). His 105 consecutive cuts made (From Nov., 1970 to Sept., 1976) is second to Byron Nelson's 113. In the 1960s and 1970s there was nobody near Nicklaus' level. He finished in the top 10 in 122 of 186 events from 1962-1969. Proving he had equal love for the 1970s, the Golden Bear finished in the top 10 121 of 171 events. During that streak Nicklaus had a run of 45 tops 10s in 55 events from 1971-1973. Enough proof, he is obviously the best -- and in 1998 he was honored with the label "Golfer of the Century." But even the best are human, and Nicklaus learned through the years that he was far from a superman. After suffering from a degenerative left hip for years, he finally succombed to a hip replacement surgery on January 27 when he said the hip began to affect his quality of life as well as his game. What followed a successful surgery was a rigorous rehabilitation program with one goal in mind, to prove he could still play at the professional level. "I don't have any illusions, at the age of 59 or 60, of coming back and competing with the Tiger Woodses and David Duvals," Nicklaus said at a news conference on January 27. But somehow this statement is tough to believe from the beloved Golden Bear. But believe everyone does. After all the accolades, once again Nicklaus' golf talent is being questioned. To his own admission, he has not fully recovered from the surgery, but does it matter? This is the Golden Bear. He has been playing 18 holes daily as a part of the rehab. Yet the obvious still remains; Hip or no hip, age has clearly caught up with the legend. As a tune-up for Memorial, Nicklaus played in the Senior Tour's Bell Atlantic Classic. And defying the odds like everyone has come to expect, Nicklaus surprised the field. With two rounds under par and 18th place finish, he proved he was back. "I think I was better than I expected," Nicklaus said after he concluded his final round at the Bell Atlantic on May 23. "I would say that what happened to me physically and what I did, it was almost an `A.' I think my golf was about a `C.' It wasn't exceptionally good but I don't think it was terrible." Terrible Jack? Could you ever be? Once again Nicklaus is defying the odds. The best to ever play the game and yet shaken off because age is not on his side and neither is his health. But who's kidding who? He won't win. He couldn't win ... could he? Keep a close eye on the this week's Player to Watch, the Golden Bear at his Memorial Tournament.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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