GOLF / MAL FLORENCE : Nicklaus Is Healthy, but His Game Isn’t

Jack Nicklaus said recently that last year was embarrassing for him. Embarrassing is not a word usually associated with Nicklaus, who is generally acknowledged as the game’s best ever.

Nonetheless, Nicklaus, now 53, has reached another crossroad in his distinguished career.

He didn’t win a tournament in 1992, not even on the senior tour. And his name now can usually be found in the small type of golf results--the missed-cut category.

Nicklaus was in the interview room before the recent AT&T; Pebble Beach National Pro-Am and seemed almost puzzled by the state of his game.

He had been bothered by a stressed-out hip, not a specific injury, merely the result of years of wear and tear caused by his swing.

Nicklaus said he was embarrassed by the way he played in the recent Senior Skins Game at the Mauna Lani course on the island of Hawaii.

He earned the least money, $55,000, in competition with Arnold Palmer, Chi Chi Rodriguez and Raymond Floyd.

“I couldn’t play much worse,” Nicklaus said. “Physically, I knew I wasn’t quite ready, but I had to start playing golf again.

“I was way too upright. My hips weren’t working right. I hadn’t played more than six or seven rounds of golf previously.”

Nicklaus then missed another cut in the Pebble Beach tournament. He even made fun of himself for his showing in the Skins Game.

“I couldn’t keep away from the lava,” he said. “I was lava right and lava left. They called me ‘Lava Jack.’ ”

What apparently puzzles Nicklaus is that there isn’t anything physically wrong with him. He says that he simply needs to play more golf.

“When I stopped being competitive last year on the regular tour, I couldn’t compete on the senior tour,” he said. “I couldn’t compete anywhere. I was just awful.”

Nicklaus may never again be a factor on the regular tour, considering his age and the competition.

But to write him off entirely might be a serious error.

That was done in 1986 and Nicklaus quieted his detractors by winning the the Masters at 46, his last victory on the regular tour.

When it was suggested that, perhaps, he shouldn’t put himself in a position to be humbled when his game is not what it should be, Nicklaus said:

“What do I have to lose? The only thing I have to lose is somebody thinking I was better than somebody else. My ego is not that big--but it’s not small.”

Nicklaus has played part-time on the regular and senior tours in recent years.

When asked if the senior tour represents a new world to conquer, he said: “I’ve already been through that. It’s somebody else’s to turn now.

“But the way I’ve been playing lately, I couldn’t win a club championship. The last year I played as badly was 1979.”

Older at 17, and perhaps wiser, Tiger Woods is back again to play in the Nissan Los Angeles Open that begins Feb. 25 at the Riviera Country Club.

Woods shot 72-75 and missed the cut by six strokes in last year’s tournament, when he played before the largest gallery of his young career.

He handled the pressure, though, and said that he wasn’t nervous after his first tee shot.

“This year, I’ll know what to expect, the crowd and the course,” he said. “I remember looking down the fairway from the first (elevated) tee. It was lined with people. I hit it in the rough, but I ended up with a birdie.”

Woods, now a junior at Western High in Anaheim, is literally having growing pains.

“He’s like a teen-age racehorse,” said his father, Earl. “He hasn’t matured yet physically. He’s 6-1 1/2 and weighs 140 pounds. He’s grown an inch and a half in a year.”

Earl added that in last year’s L.A. Open, Tiger outgrew his driver from Monday through Thursday.

“He was in a growth cycle,” Earl said. “His teen-age muscles just grew overnight.

Woods, who has won numerous junior tournaments, has an allergy problem. Of all things, he’s allergic to golf courses.

“I used to take allergy pills,” he said. “But then I couldn’t feel the club head in my fingers. It’s not as bad now.”

Woods takes shots to control his condition.

Earl says Tiger is a typical teen-ager.

“He has a driver’s license now and he has conned his father out of his car,” Earl said. “And he has a girlfriend. Her name is Dina and she’s 17.”

Asked if he tries to emulate any pros, Woods responded with a list:

Driving for distance and accuracy--Greg Norman; Long irons--Nicklaus and Tom Weiskopf; mid-irons--Johnny Miller in his prime; Chipping--Tom Kite, Seve Ballesteros and Rodriguez; Putting--Tom Watson and Nicklaus.

Golf Notes

Arnold Palmer and partner Joseph Gibbs say they will introduce the Golf Channel, a 24-hour channel devoted entirely to golf, on cable TV. Palmer said it should debut in early 1994. Included will be professional and amateur tournaments, instruction, quiz shows, and other golf-specific programming. Officials of the Golf Channel will try to raise $100 million in the next several months to launch the channel. Monthly subscription fees will be $4.95 to $5.95. Mike Haynes, the former Raider defensive back, will conduct a celebrity tournament at Brookside Golf Course Feb. 22 for the benefit of Arizona State University. Haynes is vice president of player relations in the Professional Athletes Golf Assn., which plans to feature pro athletes on a golf tour for prize money in 1994. . . . Maggie Hathaway, winner of the 1993 NAACP 25th Silver Image Award for 30 years of promoting integration for minorities, will be honored at a testimonial tournament Monday at the Jesse Owens Golf Course, 9835 S. Western Ave., Los Angeles.

Johnny Miller and Peter Jacobsen have been granted exemptions to play in the L.A. Open. Miller, a network television analyst, has won 23 tour events including the L.A. Open in 1981. . . . John Daly has also entered the tournament. . . . The Grammy Golf tournament will be held Feb. 22 at Mountain Gate Country Club. . . . The 14th annual charity benefit tournament will be held on Monday at Friendly Hills CC. . . . Ken Forsch’s fifth annual celebrity tournament is set April 12 at Big Canyon CC. . . . The Hospice golf tournament is scheduled March 5 at Brookside.