Harvey Penick on Jack Nicklaus

photo credit: D.Hilgart   “I can’t take the slightest bit of credit for Jack Nicklaus, but he is the greatest player in history.  Most anybody would have said the young Nicklaus couldn’t have played well with that right elbow flying up the way it does.  But he moves it back to his side as he starts down.  And they’d say you can’t play well lifting your left heel as much as he does, but they would be wrong.  He doesn’t lift it any more than Bobby Jones did.  Lifting the heel gives him a good turn and a comfortable position at the top.”

“At PGA School,  Byron (Nelson) and I thought Nicklaus stood out head and shoulders above the fifty players in the school.”

Jack William Nicklaus

photo credit: nsaplayer   Possibly the greatest player of all time, Jack Nicklaus will celebrate his 70th birthday on January 21, 2010.  Born in Columbus, Ohio, he now resides in Palm Beach, Florida.  Nicklaus won 114 tournaments in his long PGA career.

Jack Nicklaus was the “frumpy” kid who challenged Arnold Palmer, the beloved General and leader of “Arnie”s Army.”  It took years for golf fans everywhere to adapt to Nicklaus’ stiff demeanor and style.  After all, he was the giant slayer, the chubby Knight that took down Arnold Palmer, the King.

Nicklaus is now golf’s beloved elder statesman, a man that finally after all these years, showed his emotions at the conclusion of  his final round at The Open.

As the song goes “thanks for all the memories,” Jack.

The Cover of GOLF DIGEST

photo credit: BlatantNews.com   The cover of the Jan. 2010 edition of GOLF DIGEST depicts Tiger Woods and President Obama with Woods as Obama’s caddie.  It’s ironic that prior to the release of the magazine, the Tiger Woods sex scandal became public.  The top layer of Woods was peeled away only to expose the real person.  The phoney perception that he and his handlers built has now come tumbling down.

President Obama should realize that golf has a $195 billion impact on our economy and accounts for 2 million jobs.  How will Tiger’s disappearance impact golf and the Amercan economy?  His “exit stage left,”  may not be as devastating to golf as some may think !  We’re in store for new faces and hopefully a lot less fist pumps !

Arnold Palmer’s Famous Loss

photo credit: cliff1066™   It was the 1961 Masters and Arnold Palmer held the lead over Gary Player by one stroke.  Palmer drove into the fairway on the 72nd hole and met his close friend George Low.  Palmer walked up to Low, who congratulated him on having the tournament won.  Palmer’s next shot went into a bunker.  The shot he took from the bunker went over the green and into another bunker and Palmer ended up with a double bogey.

“I let my mind wonder when I still had golf to play,” Palmer said.  “But trying to win, that was my style.  What the hell.  So it was nothing new.  I won lots of times doing that.” 

Not this time.  Palmer’s gaffe made Gary Player the first international golfer to win the Masters Tournament.

Byron Nelson

photo credit: missycaulk   In 1945 Byron Nelson dominated the game of golf with nineteen victories, including eleven in a row.  Because of the second World War, there was only one major championship that year which he won (PGA).  For the year his stroke average was 68.4 and his average margin of victory was 6.67 strokes.  His earnings of $63,335 was unprecedented for that period.  What makes his record more significant is that he was playing against some of the greatest players in history, Sam Snead, Ben Hogan, Gene Sarazan, Jimmy Demaret, Craig Wood and the list goes on. 

Unfortunately, most think of the greats as being Jack, Arnie, Tiger and Gary but rarely mentioned is the name Bryon Nelson.  Since 1945, Nelson’s astonishing record still stands.  It may never be broken.

Opposing Views

photo credit: foxypar4   Is there a right way or a wrong way to swing a golf club?  The following quotes will keep you guessing: 

BOBBY JONES = “The keynote of the address position should be ease, comfort  and relaxation.”  BEN HOGAN = “Right off the reel, it will help (the golfer) if he realizes that pure relaxation is something he can’t attain and shouldn’t want to.” 

TOM WATSON = “You should never feel you’re reaching for the ball.”  JOHNNY MILLER = “Reach for the ball but not so much that your weight is back on your heels.”  

JACK NICKLAUS = “All kinds of golfing evils stem from head movements.”  JIMMY BALLARD = “The head must move with the spine during the swing if you are to generate any real power.”

Go Figure . . .

Titanic Thompson

photo credit: Artshooter   Titanic Thompson was the greatest golf hustler of all time who started his career in the 1920s.  He was given the nickname “Titanic” by his friends while observing him playing pool “he was ’sinking’ everything in sight.” 

As a youngster, Thompson spent hours throwing coins in a box at the foot of his bed.  He became a crack shot with a rifle or pistol and became a great poker player.  He knew all the ways that cards could be marked, spotted, or dealt from the middle.

Thompson’s famous technique for heightening the pressure on an opponent was to purposely lose the first round by a relatively large margin.  During the second and final round, he would get a huge handicap and the stakes would be much larger.  He rarely lost a high stakes, golf match.

Sergio Garcia

photo credit: MCHart   After the 2009 Masters tournament, Sergio Garcia had some critical remarks about the Augusta National Golf Course.  Garcia, known for his outspoken opinions, said “the course was unfair.”

The unanimous opinion among every PGA Tour player was that Augusta National has never been in better condition.  Garcia takes it upon himself to be the tour’s spokesman on negativities.

In 2009, for the first time in history, Augusta National was rated the number one golf course on GOLF DIGEST’S 100 Greatest List.  If that is the case then how can Garcia be critical of one of our nations greatest sporting arenas?  The fact is that Sergio Garcia is a chronic complainer, especially when he’s not winning.  With Garcia it comes with the territory.  Maybe next year he shouldn’t be invited back to Augusta !

Jimmy Demaret

photo credit: klavr   Jimmy Demaret was chatting with his friends outside the clubhouse at Augusta National during the 1964 Masters.  Three jets flew over the course.  “There goes Jack, Arnie and Gary,” he joked.  Shortly afterwards a series of small propeller-driven planes flew over.  “And there goes their caddies,” he said.

Ben Hogan once said of Jimmy Demaret, “Jimmy Demaret is the most underrated golfer in history.  He played shots I’d never even dreamed of.  Eventually, I learned them, of course, but it was Jimmy who showed them to me for the first time.”

Demaret loved the Bing Crosby Pro-Am because it gave him a chance to hang around celebrities.  While talking with Phil Harris at the bar.  Harris mentioned the new kid, Dean Martin.  “I was in awe of how much Martin could drink,” Phil said.  “Hell Phil,” Jimmy said, “you could drink him under the table with one lip tied behind your back.”

Lee Trevino

photo credit: gary.hisanaga   Lee Trevino is a good friend to president George Bush (no.1).  One night Trevino and his wife Claudia, were invited to dinner at the White House.  Following dinner they were all out walking one of Bush’s dogs around the White House lawn.  They approached a group of tourists standing outside the tall iron fence that surrounds the White House and President Bush introduced Trevino to them.  “You don’t have to tell us who he is, Mr. President,” said one.  “In Australia, he’s more famous than you are!” 

On another occasion Lee Trevino hired Chuck Rubin, Tom Watson’s agent, to represent him.  When he told Trevino he’d like to visit him in Florida for some lessons Trevino said ” Chuck, I get $40,000 a day for an outing, how many days’ worth of lessons do you want?”

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