Nicklaus hope for late farewell

He intends to hang up his competitive career this week in Great Britain.
THE WASHINGTON POST
ST. ANDREWS, Scotland -- Jack Nicklaus has come to play the British Open at golf's storied home one last time.
At some point this week, he will cross the Swilcan Bridge on his way toward the final green on the Old Course, where he almost certainly will stop for a moment, perhaps doff his cap for the cameras and the adoring crowd and then finish what he has said will be his final appearance in a major championship.
Nicklaus, 65, would like to postpone the emotional farewell until Sunday, the better to end his unparalleled career by making the cut and playing on the weekend.
He already has waved farewell to the Masters this year, just as he did at the U.S. Open, at Pebble Beach in 2000 and the PGA Championship that same year at Valhalla in Louisville, a course he designed.
And while he has left open the possibility that he still may occasionally play in his own tournament, The Memorial in his home town of Columbus, he said again on Tuesday that the most fitting end of all can only occur here.
"The Old Course to me is a very special place just because of what it is, where it is, how it sits here and how it relates to the history of the game," Nicklaus told a standing-room-only crowd in a media interview tent. "I suppose if you took St. Andrews and put it somewhere else, it would be just another golf course.
"But because it's here it becomes something very special," Nicklaus said. "St. Andrews has meant so much to me in the game and to so many people, that's why I selected it, and I think it's the most appropriate place for me."
Just as Tiger Woods set his sights on Nicklaus's record 18 professional major championships, Nicklaus once worshipped his own childhood hero, Bobby Jones, who once told him that in order for any player to be considered a true master of the golfing universe, a victory at St. Andrews was a necessity.
"I always had that in the back of my mind," Nicklaus said. "Actually, it was in the front of my mind."
Nicklaus accomplished that feat in 1970, getting a huge break when Doug Sanders missed a 2-foot putt on the 72nd hole that allowed Nicklaus to get into a playoff. He then won by a shot over 18 holes the following day.
Turnaround
Just as Woods had his own semi-slump in the majors until he won the Masters in April, Nicklaus hadn't won a major championship since 1967 when he came here in 1970.
His father, Charlie, who introduced him to golf and was his greatest fan, had died in February, and Nicklaus decided it was time to re-dedicate himself to the game.
"I sort of looked at myself and I said 'you know, you've just sort of gone along,' " Nicklaus said.
"Everybody goes through periods where they go up and down. My father sort of lived his life for me ... and I think I had let him down. When I won here it was very special for me. I walked into the press room and Bob Green [former golf writer for the Associated Press] looked at me and said 'Jack, that's 10 major championships. You've only got three more to tie Bobby Jones.' I said 'oh.' The honest to God truth, I had never counted them."
Eight years later, playing what he has since described as "my best four days of ball striking in a major championship," Nicklaus won again on the Old Course, the last of his three Open titles.
No other golfer has played the British Open any better. Consider that in 37 Opens dating from his first at Royal Troon in 1962 when he tied for 34th, Nicklaus has won three times, finished second seven times, finished third three times and fourth twice, with 18 top 10 showings. This week, he would happily settle for simply making the cut.
Nicklaus said he also was most appreciative of a comment made recently by Peter Dawson, chairman of the Royal and Ancient, that he would rather be treated as a competitor this week rather than a monument.
"That's why I'm here," Nicklaus said. "I'm here as a competitor. And we'll find out if that competitor can play through to Sunday and try to do the best he can. Obviously I still look at a scenario when I walk down (the 18th hole) late Sunday afternoon. That's maybe not the most realistic scenario, but I still look at it that way. At that point in time, it will be something different. It will be looking at my last tournament."