Even after Jeff Sluman polished off his best round of the year, a 7-under-par 65 that gave him a one-shot lead in the Memorial in Dublin, Ohio, he was quick to ask the question on just about every player’s mind Thursday.
What did Jack shoot?
In what might be his final PGA Tour event on American soil, Jack Nicklaus sent a fan to the hospital after hitting him with a tee shot, sent the gallery to its feet with back-to-back birdie putts inside 6 inches and spent most of the gray, cool day at Muirfield Village, holding his own until three bogeys on the last four holes dropped him to a 75.
It was better than Vijay Singh (77), Davis Love III (78) and Mike Weir (76), but still 10 shots behind Sluman, and not nearly good enough to make him feel like celebrating.
“I had a chance to shoot a pretty darn good score,” Nicklaus said. “I shot 75. That’s about my game. I don’t see anybody being scared by it. It didn’t scare a soul except me.”
No one was scared, although that didn’t stop the admiration and appreciation of the tournament founder and host, now on the last leg of an incomparable competitive career.
Joe Ogilvie, invited by Nicklaus to take part in a junior clinic Wednesday, shot a 67 and between questions in his interview quietly asked what Nicklaus shot. So did 24-year-old Adam Scott after bogeying the last hole for a 67, and three-time Memorial champion Tiger Woods after his bogey-free 69.
Told it was a 75 and Nicklaus wasn’t pleased, Woods smiled.
“Shocking, huh?” Woods said. “It’s Jack, you know? If he shoots over par, he’s going to be mad. I’m sure he’s going to probably go out on the range and work a little bit so he’s ready (today). Hey, that’s what made him the greatest player that’s ever played the game. He’s never satisfied.”
No one is more appreciative than Sluman. Nicklaus’ assistant captain at the Presidents Cup two years ago, Sluman needed a sponsor’s exemption to play in the Memorial.
Equipped with a new putting grip, Sluman took only 24 putts and had three birdies on the par 3s for a one-shot lead over Rory Sabbatini.
“It’s been delightful to putt again, like you feel like you’re a kid, getting all the balls to the hole,” Sluman said.
Nicklaus showed some fight from the start, especially when he had to play three consecutive shots before either of his partners, defending champion Ernie Els and David Toms, played their next. But he saved par with a 15-foot putt, and overcame a sloppy double bogey with some good shots.
First came a wedge that grazed the cup on the par-5 seventh, then a 7-iron that stopped 4 inches from the cup on the par-3 eighth. The only unnerving part of his round came at the ninth, when his tee shot hit a fan in the jaw, and the man wound up going to the hospital to get stitches.
After chatting with the fan, Joe Broecker of Fishers, Ind., Nicklaus arranged to get his phone number and address so he could check on him. Then he hacked out to the fairway, stuffed his wedge to 5 feet and saved par.
Nicklaus said he was glad he got Broecker’s address and not the other way around.
“He’s not going to be real happy later,” Nicklaus said jokingly. “He was a big guy, too.”
European PGA: Miguel Angel Jimenez shot a 6-under 63 to share the first-round lead with David Lynn, Gary Emerson, James Heath, Benoit Teilleria and Peter Senior at the Wales Open in Newport.
