Nicklaus Has Picked Great Spot

If this is to be Jack Nicklaus’ 44th, and last, U.S. Open, he will have not lofted a better fade into a better sunset.

“I’ve always said that if I had one round of golf to play, I’d like to go to Pebble Beach,” Nicklaus said Tuesday. “I love Pebble Beach. I love the golf course.”

It has been an affair to remember.

Nicklaus has won five tournaments at Pebble Beach, his first the 1961 U.S. Amateur Championship, when he downed Dudley Wyson Jr. in match play, 8 and 6.

Nicklaus won three Crosby Pro-Ams, the first in 1967.

In a remarkable, one-year stretch, he won the 1972 Crosby, the 1972 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach and the 1973 Crosby Pro-Am.

If you’re wondering why Nicklaus would make this his last stand at a U.S. Open, he says it’s not for sentimental reasons.

“I’m not a reflector,” he said. “I never have been.”

No stopping to smell the flowers?

“No,” Nicklaus quipped, “I’d probably sneeze too much.”

Truth is, Nicklaus thinks he may have played himself out of the championship.

He is 60 now, a man with an artificial hip. Since finishing tied for eighth in 1986, he has finished no better than 27th, in 1996, and missed the cut four times.

The U.S. Golf Assn. has granted Nicklaus eight exemptions, six in succession. In a tournament where starting slots are precious, some think it is time Nicklaus gave up his exemption and allowed a more qualified participant to play.

While it may be hard to believe any tournament with Nicklaus on the roster would become diminished, there is a faction that believes he may have over-extended his U.S. Open stay.

Frank Hannigan, a former USGA executive director who now writes for Golf Digest, wrote recently that, in granting Nicklaus exemptions, the USGA has “opted for nostalgia, weepy sentimentality and cheap popularity over fairness.”

Hannigan wrote that Nicklaus “has become what he used to say he would never become, with an eye cocked toward Arnold Palmer: a ‘ceremonial golfer.’ ”

Nicklaus is torn between his desire to play in the Open and the legacy he has forged--winner of 18 major championships, more than any other golfer.

“The only reason I say it probably will be my last Open is I think the USGA has been very kind to me,” Nicklaus said. “I think they’ve probably given me more exemptions than probably was necessary, but I think it’s been pretty nice that they have.”

And while there will no doubt be soft-focused tributes to Nicklaus this week, Golden Bear walking the last golden mile, the case is not entirely closed.

Who’s to say there will be no more exemptions?

“If they gave me another one, would I accept it? Of course,” Nicklaus said. “I love playing the Open.”

Nicklaus said he would not take up a spot if he didn’t think he could still compete.

“I still think I can play a little bit,” he said. “I’m hoping I can. My chances of coming back to the Open will revolve around my winning the Senior Open or something else.”

Nicklaus says his hip is fine but his game is not. Nagging injuries have prevented him from the practice time necessary to make a serious run for this week’s championship.

“I never thought that age made a difference, but I’m starting to think differently,” he said. “Just starting.”

Nicklaus said he is still capable of stringing together four quality rounds.

“I don’t think that’s an issue,” he said. “I think all that happens is that you have a harder time preparing yourself and being ready.”

In some respects, though, the torch is already being passed, from Nicklaus to Tiger Woods, the man most think has a reasonable chance of eclipsing Nicklaus’ record for major championships.

At 24, Nicklaus had four major titles.

At 24, Woods has two.

“Jack has obviously set the bar up pretty high for everybody to try and chase after,” Woods said.

Nicklaus says it’s difficult to make comparisons.

While he concedes there are more quality players today, Nicklaus says there are fewer superstars.

“When I won majors, there were guys who had won majors themselves,” Nicklaus said. “And that’s the reason I probably got beat several times by [Tom] Watson or [Lee] Trevino or somebody else, because they knew how to win majors, which made it harder to win.”

And today?

“Right now, we don’t have many guys that have won many majors that are playing. It’s been all spread out. If Tiger is coming down to the end of a tournament, it’s a lot easier for him to win that than somebody who hasn’t won, versus what I had in competition.”

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U.S. Open Facts

* What: 100th U.S. Open golf championship.

* Where: Pebble Beach Golf Links.

* When: Thursday-Sunday.

* Television (all times PDT): Thursday--NBC, noon-2 p.m.; ESPN, 2--7:30 p.m.; Friday--NBC, noon-2 p.m.; ESPN, 2-7:30 p.m.; Saturday--NBC, 10:30 a.m.-5 p.m.; Sunday--NBC, 10:30 a.m.-5 p.m.

* The Course: Designed by two amateur players, Jack Neville and Douglas Grant, Pebble Beach opened in 1919. The most notorious stretch of holes is No. 8 through No. 10, which hug the cliffs along the Pacific.

* Length: 6,846 yards.

* Par: 35-36--71.

* Cut: Top 60 and ties, and anyone within 10 strokes of the lead after 36 holes.

* Playoff, if necessary: 18 holes Monday.

* Field: 156 (148 pros, 8 amateurs).

* Purse: $4.5 million.

* Winner’s share: $800,000.

* Last year’s champion: Payne Stewart, who died Oct. 25 in a plane crash.