Nicklaus Throws Hook Into Adieu for Palmer

“This is it, folks,” Jim Nantz announced. “This is it. Even though a great many of us aren’t ready for it to end.”

He was talking about Arnold Palmer, who was about to hit his final tee shot Friday in his 50th and final Masters. Nantz and the rest of the CBS golf broadcasting team, completing a two-day stint on USA Network before shifting to the big network today, were well prepared for the moment.

They had come to Augusta, Ga., armed with superlatives, “Long Live the King” graphics, canned orchestral music and, as Nantz muttered in reverent tones while Palmer approached the 18th green, “a hint of sadness, a heavy dose of nostalgia and total appreciation.”

What they weren’t prepared for: Jack Nicklaus possibly making it two icons gone in the same round.

Nicklaus, frustrated by a two-day score of 150, six over par, surprised the CBS/USA crew by glaring into a camera and telling a reporter, “I don’t think I’m going to play again.”

What was that?

“I don’t think I’ll play golf from here on. I’m just about done.”

Onlookers listening in the background sent up a disbelieving, “Nooo!”

Nicklaus struggled to bend half a smile.

“Well, if you’re in my body,” he said, “you’d feel like that....

“I’ve had enough. I’ve enjoyed it. I played decently this year. I know by the way I played today, if I’d had, the last two days, any kind of short game or touch at all, I would be in contention. And I’m not.”

Nantz and analyst Lanny Wadkins echoed the onlookers’ sentiment.

They didn’t want to believe it.

“Some discouragement in there,” Nantz said. “Forty-four Masters for Jack Nicklaus. Arnold Palmer’s 50th. I hope it’s not the last time we see Jack here in competition.”

Wadkins: “I do too. Jack has meant so much to the game.... I cannot imagine Augusta National without Arnold Palmer charging up the hills and Jack Nicklaus plodding down these fairways.”

Nantz: “I’d hate to lose them both, here at the Masters, the same year. Jack deserves his own farewell coming up 18.”

Or maybe Nicklaus would just as soon avoid the fuss. Friday’s broadcast should have been titled, “Requiem for the King,” with Palmer’s final round overwhelming everything else on the course, including Nantz, who readied for Palmer’s final trip to the 18th green by telling Wadkins, “And Lanny, at this point, I think all we can do is take the headsets off and enlist in the ‘Army.’ ”

Wadkins: “I’ve been a member of his army for a long time, Jim.”

Nantz: “Me too. We all have.”

If Nicklaus preferred a lower-profile fade-out, it was understandable.

Wadkins suspected that Nicklaus would reconsider, once the sting of the moment began to ebb.

“Jack is still competitive,” Wadkins said. “And you know he has a lot of pride. He wants to keep playing. But I think that Jack feels if he can’t come here and be competitive, he doesn’t want to be putting his game on display.

“But I know how hard Jack works, and I would expect that he will work hard, and it will not surprise me at all to see him play here for several years.”

The Masters continues today at 12:30 p.m. and Sunday at 11:30 a.m. on CBS. Also available for viewing this weekend:

TODAY

* John R. Wooden Award Show

(Channel 2, 10 a.m.)

One last time before he leaves Saint Joseph’s, Jameer Nelson goes coast to coast, picking up the Naismith Award in Atlanta Friday and flying overnight to Los Angeles, where he is favored to receive the Wooden Award.

Nelson, who has won the Associated Press, U.S. Basketball Writers Assn. and Chevrolet player of the year awards, should benefit from the March 29 deadline for Wooden Award voters. That was a full week before Emeka Okafor, another Wooden finalist, led Connecticut to the NCAA championship.

Other finalists: Josh Childress of Stanford, Chris Duhon of Duke and Lawrence Roberts of Mississippi State.

* D.C. United at Galaxy

(Fox Sports World, 7 p.m.)

The game is a sellout, and then some, with the Galaxy selling $20 tickets for a spot on the grass berm at the north end of the Home Depot Center. And for what? For a chance at a glimpse of Freddy Adu, the 14-year-old D.C. United forward who has been called everything from the LeBron James of soccer to the Pele of America to the savior of Major League Soccer to a human Faberge egg.

A glimpse might be all there is. United Coach Peter Nowak played Adu only the last 30 minutes of his team’s opener last week and was besieged by criticism from the U.S. mainstream media, who didn’t care that United got the result against San Jose -- they want 90 minutes of Freddy, and they want it now.

Adu tweaked his ankle in practice Wednesday, giving Nowak a handy excuse for easing the kid into the lineup again, maybe not until the second half.

* Colorado Rockies at Dodgers

(Channel 13, 7 p.m.)

According to Forbes magazine, the Dodgers are worth $399 million, even though the franchise recently sold for $430 million. Welcome to the McCourt era of Dodger baseball. Only four games in and already the team has been devalued by $31 million.

* Angels at Texas Rangers

(Channel 9, 5 p.m.)

Meanwhile, Forbes put the Angels’ worth at $241 million -- 20th among 30 major league teams, 16 places below the No. 4 Dodgers. But, as those first three games in Seattle reminded, money isn’t everything.

SUNDAY

* Lakers at Sacramento Kings

(Channel 7, 12:30 p.m.)

After watching his team lose at home by 11 points to Portland on Tuesday night, Laker Coach Phil Jackson said he wondered if his players cared as much about home-court advantage as his coaches did. If they do, this would seem an opportune time to prove it -- inside the rival’s hostile home arena. If they don’t, consider this a preview of life in the Western Conference playoffs.