Jack Nicklaus
Jack Nicklaus
Jack William Nicklaus, nicknamed "The Golden Bear", is a retired American professional golfer. He is widely regarded as the greatest golfer of all time, winning a total of 18 career major championships, while producing 19 second-place and 9 third-place finishes in them, over a span of 25 years. Nicklaus focused on the major championships, and played a selective schedule of regular PGA Tour events, yet still finished with 73 victories, third on the all-time list behind Sam Sneadand Tiger Woods...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionGolfer
Date of Birth21 January 1940
CityUpper Arlington, OH
CountryUnited States of America
It was obviously a great week for me and an exciting week, one that was kind of fun to look back on. It's about the only television event when I see it come on television, I actually stop and watch a little bit of it.
I have always said that if I am healthy, competitive enough, and can contribute to the tournament by being a part of the field, then the Memorial Tournament is the one event I would like to play,
I love the golf courses because it brought the best out of me. It made me prepare, made me work at it, made me do the things I needed to do to be better, and that's what I loved about USGA events. If you couldn't handle it, then you got beat, and that's OK.
I couldn't control Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Tom Watson or Lee Trevino. The only person I could control was me. The only person I could prepare for events was me. And if I didn't play well, I didn't play well, and I wasn't going to compete.
In many ways, Angelo was part of our family, and Barbara and I will miss him greatly.
I know what Augusta is trying to do. Whether they've gone overboard, I'm not sure. But they've eliminated a lot of guys who are able to win. That's the change at Augusta I have a hard time with.
I know what Augusta is trying to do.
I know that when I see Tiger Woods showed up a day early. And Charles Howell, Chris DiMarco and Jay Haas - they all four were here a day before anybody was supposed to be here to play the golf course and get ready for it.
I know what they're trying to do; they're trying to make it the same golf clubs that players traditionally should play into the greens. Whether they've gone overboard, I don't know. I just know they eliminated a lot of guys who don't have the ability to do that.
It was great for me because it felt like I actually had done something well and I hadn't prepared for it. I hadn't prepared for it like I did 10 years earlier when I would just be consumed by it.
They would be the only place that could.
If I were to look back on my work, I think I accomplished probably about 70 to 75 percent of what I could have. Maybe 60 percent. Somewhere in that area; two-thirds of what I could have accomplished. If I had been a really dedicated person, and really worked hard, I think I could have accomplished more.
It was like I could still summon what I had and still could use it coming down the stretch.
It obviously meant a lot to a lot of people. It was special to the golfing world because they just didn't expect that to happen.