This Golf Matchup Is One for the Ages

Shortly after this year’s Masters, Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer sat down with Jim Nantz for a chat. With cameras rolling, they reminisced about their head-to-head battles and their relationship for 1 hour 40 minutes.

The plan was to turn the conversation into a half-hour show to air on CBS. Instead, “Jack and Arnie: Talkin’ Golf” will be two half-hour shows, the first airing Sunday at 10:30 a.m. before the final round of the Memorial tournament and the second airing July 2.

Barry Frank of IMG put the show together for the Royal Bank of Scotland, which employs Nicklaus as a spokesman, and the bank bought the airtime.

CBS is promoting the interview as a first.

“Arnold and I have been together lots of times, and obviously we’ve talked lots of times,” Nicklaus said Thursday. “But we’ve never put together any kind of show for posterity.

“I think it’s kind of neat that we did it. I don’t know why it hadn’t been done before. But, by gosh, it hadn’t been, so it was time to do it.”

The show displays a warm connection between these two golf legends, even though there have been reports over the years that they didn’t get along.

“I think that, frankly, comes from the press,” Nicklaus said. “I don’t think the press ever really worries about the facts. Never let the facts interfere with a good story.

“Arnold and I have been friends. Sure, we’ve had our differences. Absolutely. I mean two guys don’t walk around in euphoria all day long. I mean, we were obviously competing, and when you compete you have issues.

“But if I ever needed anything, I know Arnold would be there for me, and I think Arnold knows that if anything ever happened to him, I’m there for him.

“There were a lot of nice things that Arnold did for me when I first started on the [PGA] Tour that he certainly didn’t have any reason to do.”

Nicklaus equated the rumors about Palmer and him with those about a rift between Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson.

“I heard when I was Presidents Cup captain [last year] that there was bad blood between Phil and Tiger. The first day I get there, Tiger and Phil say, ‘Hey, come on, let’s play some pingpong.’ Two guys playing pingpong and having a good time, laughing, kidding each other. Is that bad blood?”

Sunday’s show begins with Nicklaus talking about the first time he saw Palmer, on a Tuesday before an Ohio Amateur. Nicklaus was 14 at the time, and after his round, despite a heavy rain, Nicklaus stood and watched Palmer on the driving range for half an hour.

Says Nantz: “You didn’t know he was stalking you back then, did you, Arnold?”

Nicklaus, 66, and Palmer, 76, continue in a similar vein, often poking fun at each other, as they talk about their many battles, beginning with the 1960 U.S. Open at Cherry Hills in Colorado.

Near the end of Sunday’s show, Nicklaus talks about the final round of the 1964 Masters.

“I’ll never forget that round,” Nicklaus says. “I played with Dave Marr. Dave and I ended up tying for second, and Arnold, you won by six shots, I think.”

Says Palmer: “You didn’t play with Dave Marr.”

Nicklaus: “I didn’t?”

Palmer: “Nope. I played with Dave Marr because I remember this very well.”

What Palmer remembers is a conversation he had with Marr on the 18th tee.

“I said, ‘David, is there anything I can do to help you?’ I knew you and he were going at it for second place.”

Palmer says he was surprised by Marr’s response.

“He said, ‘Yeah’ -- and he used a word that I won’t repeat -- ‘you can make 12 on this hole.’ ”

It appears as though Palmer and Nicklaus had fun getting together to do this show, and viewers should enjoy watching it.