July 14 -
This is a running semi journal of the last major championship for Jack Nicklaus.
So long, Jack.
Jack NIcklaus has stood on the first tee in a major tournament 164
times. In 18 of them he came out the winner. He was
second in 19 of them. In nearly half of them he was in the top
ten. Not a bad success rate. Not a bad career.
On Thursday, July 14, 2005, Jack Nicklaus stepped to the first tee
in the Open Championship at St. Andrews in Scotland. It will be
the last time he does this. Besides his achievements in golf, the
18 major titles, the 70 PGA tour wins, the world rankings, the golf
course designs, it is NIcklaus's longevity in the sport that stands out
more than anything else. One hundred sixty-four times.
Eighteen wins. It is the measure that Tiger Woods is shooting
for. The measure by which he will be judged.
But it is more than Nicklaus's record and career that passes. It
is an era of pure play not marred by technology and the improvements it
brings to the game.
At age 65, Nicklaus knows his game is not at the competitive level of a
Tiger Woods or Vijay Singh. He knows that this is his last
hurrah, and he probably wants to go out in style by making the
cut. In the back of his mind, after shooting a 75 on the opening
day, he probably knew that it wouldn't happen.
In 2000, the last year Nicklaus played in the four majors he stood on
the Swilken bridge and waved to the fans. Arnold Palmer did the
same thing in 1995. It is a measure of the passing. This
time, when Nicklaus stood on the bridge, he will good-bye to us, to the
course, and to the game. We will miss him.
Tomorrow will tell if that good-bye comes in couple of days. Who knows. A lucky break or bounce...
July 15
Some things are not meant to be. There will be no charge on Sunday from the Golden Bear.
Imagine the fairways of every hole lined four or five deep with people
hoping for a last glimpse of the greatest golfer in their
lifetime. Imagine the applause of tens of thousands of those fans
almost on every hole. The cheer as he made a last birdie
putt. Players stood and watched. Fans wept. So did
Nicklaus. His playing partner, Tom Watson, had tears streaming down his
face as the eight times Open champions embraced on the 18th hole.
Yeah, it would have been nice to see Jack play on a Sunday one more time, but some things are not meant to be.
Tiger Woods may well pass Nicklaus's record for major tournament wins,
but what we saw today in Scotland was a genuine love of the man as well
as the player. For 45 years Nicklaus has more than become a name
as Tennyson said about his Ulysses. He has embodied all that is
good and right about the sport. We have seen Jack Nicklaus
grow up to become the man he is today. We have yet to see the man
Woods will be.
It was fitting that Nicklaus birdied the last whole. In his
entire storied PGA career he has risen to the occasion often. He
has scored his life that way, too. That was evident when he lost
is baby grandson early this year in a tragic drowning accident.
The grace with which he has handled whatever the golfing gods have sent
him speaks to all of us of what it means to be human, kind, generous.
As Nicklaus opened his round, Chris Dimarco and Nick Faldo paused in
their round on the 18th to watch Jack tee off. Then then walked
over to shake his hand. Other golf figures lined the
fairway to catch a glimpse as he walked up the 18th. They leaned
out the windows of the Old Hotel. It is fitting that his peers
gave him as thunderous a reception as the fans.
Forty five years. And in those forty-five years of competition on
the PGA Tour, his scoring average as remained under par 72. A
measure of his skill to be sure.
After his retirement from competive golf, Bobby Jones, the greatest
player of his time cam back to St. Andrews on a whim of seeing the old
course and playing a round. Five thousand came to watch him
play. He shot a par 72, birdieing the last hole. How ironic
that Jack birdied his last hole to finish with a par round.
I don't know if I will write more tomorrow on the Open. Par is a nice way to finish anytime.
Pictures of Jack's last day are flying all over the Internet. This is my favorite
To see some others, try here.
To see what Jack means to Cragin players, try here.
July 16
In a usenet group I belong to, I noticed several other comments that
mentioned Jack's last round, and the reaction of fans seems to be
universal. They were moved, as were most to tears.
With the sweater Jack was wearing, and his hair blowing in the wind, I thought I was seeing 1978 all over again.
Tears? Dang right. From the moment Chris Dimarco and Nick
Faldo stopped their round on the 18th to watch him start until that
birdie
putt.
If I remember the story of Bobby Jones right, when he came back for
that magical round in 1936, he birdied the last hole to finish with a
72. Ironic that Jack did that today, too. The only thing
that might have made today more memorable would be if the crowd had
started
singing, "Will ye nae come back agin."
I was looking over his stats for his career, and in all these years on
the PGA Tour and the Seniors Tour, all those competitive round, his
scoring average is still below 72.
I'm old enough to say that I saw Hogan and Snead play. Then I
grew up pretending to be Jack, or Arnold, or Gary. Now I get to
see the next
generation.
Woods certainly haa engraved his name in golf's history, and records
are made to be broken. Whether he does or not will be determined
by
his longevity.
What we saw today was something special. It was a genuine love of
NIcklaus and all that he embodied as a golfer and a human
being. I
don't know if Woods will combine the two and garner that same type of appreciation.
***
Wood it's still in the lead after the third round, but some players who
got out earlier shot well before the wind kicked up. Woods had to
grind around to shoot 1 under par for the day, but his lead was reduced
to two strokes. While he has never come from behind on the last
day of a major, in the nine majors he has, he has never given up a lead
he held after 54 holes. Seems as if golf is becoming as
statistics conscious as baseball is. One of the announcers kept
pointing out that Colin Montgomery has never beaten Tiger in 64
tournaments, or something like that. I don't know if he meant
that Montgomery has never finished higher than Wood in a tournament, or
if he meant that Monty has never had a round better than Tiger in those
tourneys or what. Regardless, Montgomery shot better today and
gained some ground, but will not be in the final pairing. There's
something about being able to walk down the 18th knowing you're in the
lead and nobody can catch you. There's something about that walk,
tto, when the crowd knows it.
If Monty comes out great guns and shoots lights out, his walk up the
18th will be to great cheering if he is in the lead. Walking up
the 18th anytime you're close is a great feeling. Ask Jack what
it felt like in 1986 at Augusta.
July 17
The Open Championship will end today. As I write this, Tiger
Woods is leading the way, not surprisingly, but the real story of this
year's Open is the retirement of Jack Nicklaus, arguably the greatest
golfer in history. Records are made to be broken, and Woods, or
somebody will probably do that some day. It remains to be seen
whether Woods or anybody garners the genuine affection that Nicklaus
has earned over the years. That was never more evident than
this past Friday as waves of cheers and applause and standing ovations
followed Jack around the Old Course at St. Andrews. It started on
the first hole with every step he took and culminated in a crescendo on
the 18th as he walked across the Swilken Bridge.
Speaking of that bridge, there are a lot variations of spelling and the
way that bridge is referred to. But that's a whol 'nother
story.
***
So I went to bed , woke up and watched the final couple of holes.
Woods completed his second career win at the Open with a five stroke
win. Most people said after his opening round that it was a
foregone conclusion. They were right. The story the first
two days of the tourney was Jack, and it was nice to see Woods mention
that in his speech accepting the Claret Jug. It's interesting how
Woods refers to him. When he met Jack in the interview room after
the Friday round, Jack compliment Tiger on his round. Woods said,
"Thank you, sir." During his speech today, he referred to the
thrill of Jack's last round, and said, "the greatest golfer, Mr. Jack
Nicklaus." Notice the "sir" and the "mister" Woods used.
That is a respect for the man and his accomplishments that Woods truly
has shown over his brief career. It's nice to see,
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