Nicklaus, Watson Conquer the Unknown

Tom Watson knew. He heard it from Bruce Fleisher, who undoubtedly also told partner David Graham.

Too bad nobody bothered to tell Jack Nicklaus that when paired with Watson, he had never played a team match that went past the 16th hole.

If somebody had, it may have saved the legendary duo from having to sweat out a 1-up victory over Bruce Fleisher and David Graham in the Senior PGA Tour final of the Diners Club matches.

A good time to mention the streak would have been right before Nicklaus attempted a 10-foot putt for par on the 16th hole at scenic Pelican Hill Golf Club in Newport Coast.

Nicklaus could have ended the match by making the putt, but he missed and Fleisher and Graham won the hole to push the legendary duo into uncharted territory.

“We never went past 16?” Nicklaus quipped after the match. “Well, why did we do that today? If I had known that I would have made that putt.”

Nicklaus and Watson, a tandem that has a combined 26 major championship victories, remain undefeated as a team in their match-play careers.

“They had opportunities about four times to make putts to win holes and they didn’t do it,” Watson said. “We had kind of the same opportunities, but we ended up making more putts than they did.”

In the LPGA final, Juli Inkster and Dottie Pepper won their third consecutive Diners Club title with a 4-and-3 victory over Karrie Webb and Kelly Robbins.

Fred Couples, dubbed king of the second season because of an impeccable record in November and December, had six birdies in leading partner Mark Calcavecchia to a 1-up victory over defending champions Jeff Maggert and Steve Elkington.