Capelle On Golf

Jack Nicklaus has repeatedly said that he seldom watches golf on TV. But, like those part time fans who flock to their sets, Nicklaus makes it a point to watch Tiger when he’s in contention for a major.

And Nicklaus doesn’t just watch – he observes it all with those steely eyes that used to stare putts into the hole. In a short, but power packed six minutes with Golf’s World’s Tim Rosaforte, Nicklaus fired some shots of his own regarding the great chase, Tiger’s game, and his performance at the PGA. Let’s look at some highlights.

Yang Hangs Tough
“Coming down the stretch everybody usually falls apart. Tiger plays it very smart.
And I thought he played it very smart at the PGA.”

“He played very solid conservative golf but Yang didn’t fold.”

Unlike the others of his era.

Course Management
Tiger Woods’ went for the pin and flew the green on the 17th hole, leading to a bogey.

“I think Tiger made a strategic error on 17. He ended up making the mistakes that everyone else has made against him.”

Interesting observation. Perhaps Woods should have played short like Yang. If he hit the green, four good things could have happened; 1) he makes a birdie putt from whatever the distance; 2) Yang 3-putts (which he did) and they are even going into 18; 3) Both par 17 and Woods takes his chances on 18, a hole he birdied in 2002 to pull within a shot of Rich Beem; 4) The gust that blew his ball over the green might have blown it close to the cup!

Maybe it is a stretch, but it seems that Nicklaus , the master of course management, was inferring that he would not have a similar mistake.

Luck’s Role
Nicklaus’ comment on luck was particularly pertinent to this situation.

“Golf is not a fair game. You get wind conditions that you can’t control the ball. The ball’s in the air and a gust of wind comes up. You can’t control that. It’s just not going to be perfect every time.”

Sure enough, a gust of wind took Tiger’s well struck iron over the green into deep rough, leading to a crushing bogey.

Nicklaus has been victimized by some amazingly lucky shots down the stretch, and he mentioned a few. On Yang’s 60 foot chip in at the 14th:

“It reminds me of a lot of things that happened to me in my career. I got down to the stretch and somebody else did something that beat me. Yang did something that beat Tiger. And it hasn’t happened very much to Tiger. But it did this time.”

But if this kind of thing did happen as often to Tiger as it did to Jack, his major’s count would have been reduced by at least two or three.

The Major’s Record
As far as his majors winning record goes, Nicklaus believes Woods will do it.

“I think he probably will, but he’s still got to do it.”

“You can only control yourself. You can’t control what the other guys going to do and you’re going to lose sometimes. I had 19 seconds in majors.

On the matter of second place finishes, more and more observers are starting to value them, as they should. In this department, Nicklaus subtlety reminded the viewers of his huge advantage in this department.

“Tiger’s has what now, 5 or 6 (seconds). It’s not very many.”

Ouch. At the same point in his career, Nicklaus had 12, four at the hands of Lee Trevino.

Tiger’s Driving
Nicklaus opened this segment with words of praise – build’em up before you tear’em down.

“I’ve got great respect for Tiger and I’ve got great respect for his ability.”

Followed by:
“Here’s a guy who doesn’t drive the ball particularly straight most of the time yet he still wins. But you never know if he’s going to hit it down the fairway or off a fairway over.”

Yikes! Nicklaus throughout his career was much straighter and just as long for his time, a part of his game that needs to be fully appreciated when comparing the two.

Nicklaus’ Closing Words of Praise
“Up until this last tournament Tiger was perfect every time. That pretty darn good.”

Well, Woods had won every time he had the lead or shared it going into the final round. But he was far from perfect. Three times he lost solo leads and had to win playoffs. At the 1999 PGA, he blew four shots of a five shot lead, but hung on to win by a shot. And, on several occasions,  he depended at least in part on collapses by his opponents, such as at the 2005 British Open when Colin Montgomerie and Jose Maria Olazabal faded on the back nine.

So, Nicklaus is fascinated enough by Tiger’s Quest to watch golf on TV. He also agreed to be interviewed about the experience, during which he made comments that show he still cares about his stature in the game. But then again, he’s a fierce competitor and always has been, so it’s only natural that he care. When asked if the PGA humanized Tiger he said, “Sure.” Turns out Nicklaus is human too.