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I became aware of Jack Nicklaus in 1957 when my 17-year-old brother, Dan, returned home from competing in the USGA Junior Championship in Rockville, Md. Dan was very competitive and I had never heard him praise any of his peers. He told me that, while at the tournament, he saw one of the best golfers in the world: 17-year-old Jack Nicklaus, who arrived at the tournament with a professional caddy, while other participants used local caddies or had friends or family members on the bag. I was fortunate to be at Jack Nicklaus’s first professional tournament — the L.A. Open at Rancho Park in 1961. I was walking back to the clubhouse along the fairway on the 9th hole, a 530-yard par 5. Most players, because of the narrow opening to the green, were laying up on their second shots. But not Nicklaus, who waited for the group ahead to putt out before reaching into his bag for a 1-iron and hitting his shot to within 20 feet of the hole. I’ll never forget that shot, and the confidence it took to play it. Later that afternoon, I was at the practice range watching Nicklaus hit drivers. His upper-body coil and lower-body resistance in the backswing was picture perfect. The incredible force of his downswing and follow-through were awesome, and many of his shots ended up about 280 yards away — an almost miraculous distance in that era. After watching him for approximately 30 minutes, I was in total agreement with my brother — Jack was the best. In the early 1980s, while standing behind the second green at the L.A. Open at Riviera Country Club, I saw Nicklaus preparing to hit his second shot from the center of the fairway around 170 yards away. His shot was superb and the ball landed softly about 10 feet from the hole. On the next hole, a 430-yard dogleg right, Nicklaus nailed his tee shot and again hit his approach to within 10 feet. But things got truly amazing on the 4th hole, a 240-yard par 3 that was playing into a stiff wind. I got to the tee in time to watch the preceding group. They all used woods and no one reached the green. Nicklaus’ two playing partners also used woods — with the same result. Nicklaus again grabbed his 1-iron, teed up his ball and went into his pre-shot routine. The post-shot routine again had Nicklaus marking his ball within 10 feet of the cup. The next day, the sports section of the local newspaper had only one line about Nicklaus’ round, stating that he shot an even-par 71. I’ll always remember that because it seemed to slight an incredible performance. Luckily for me, I’ll always remember seeing the greatest player in history up close on the course. The power, precision and speed of Nicklaus’s swings early in and throughout his career will remain in my memory forever. N |
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