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Founding father Nicklaus to honor himself at Memorial next year
Posted: Sunday June 06, 1999 05:26 PM
DUBLIN, Ohio (AP) -- The Memorial Tournament, founded by Jack Nicklaus to honor the game's greatest players, will honor Nicklaus himself next year. A winner of 18 major championships, Nicklaus designed and built Muirfield Village Golf Club in the mid-1970s a few miles from his childhood home in Upper Arlington. He constructed the course expressly to host the annual Memorial Tournament, which in the past has honored Bobby Jones, Walter Hagen, Gene Sarazen, Byron Nelson, Sam Sneed, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player and, this year, Ben Hogan. Nicklaus, who has won the Memorial Tournament twice, was selected as the honoree by the international board which helps advise Nicklaus on the constitution and conduct of the event. "This will make the year 2000 very special for me," said the 59-year-old Nicklaus, who plans to play all four major championships in the same year for the final time. "I hesitated in accepting such a tribute while still an active player, but this is unquestionably one of the most gratifying and emotional honors of my career." Nicklaus has captured 100 titles around the world in his 37-year professional career, including six Masters, four U.S. Opens, three British Opens and five PGA Championships.
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