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Somehow, he will play
LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- The notepaper has yellowed by now, it's edges curling, but you can still read the handwriting. Just a couple thoughtful lines of thanks for a phone call of condolence on the death of his father. It was 1969 and Jack Nicklaus was just shy of thirty, still full of impending greatness but shuddering in those moments with the loss of not only a parent but also a great friend. Thirty-one years later, on the eve of his own golfing swan song, his mother is gone and the cycle of life continues. She passed away peacefully on Wednesday. He was on the fourth hole of a practice round when the word came. Somehow, he summons the inner strength to go ahead and play this 82nd PGA Championship on his own beautiful design at Valhalla. Somehow, through lost eyes, he will find whatever it takes to finish the job he started over 40 years ago when he played his first major. This will be, in his words, the last summer he plays all four majors. He stood on the bridge at Pebble Beach, on the bridge at St Andrews and will find one to pose on here...and then be gone. But how can he do such a thing, hours after losing his mother? Turns out, it is as she wished. Helen Nicklaus , who would have been 91 come Monday, had been seriously ill for two years and knew that death was near. She and her son made a pact that it wouldn't interfere with this final dance with destiny. He was to go ahead and play. Through that, he visited as often as possible, never knowing when the end would come. And he was just there Monday, saying goodbye for the hundredth time. She was prepared, he said, had been ready for quite some time. Now she was with Charlie, her husband, and his father, gone all these years. He will play, somehow. He will be swallowed up in one of the most disruptive and yet energizing waves in all of sport, playing in the same threesome with Tiger Woods and Vijay Singh . He will feel the love of those thousands on either side of him, will hear their words of support and encouragement, and it will carry him on to the end. Somehow, he will play. For that was what she wanted. Jim Huber is an Emmy award-winning journalist for CNN/Sports Illustrated and a regular contributor to CNNSI.com. The opinions expressed here are solely those of the writer.
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