In Denver on Thursday to receive the Will Nicholson Jr. Award for contributions to the game of golf, Jack Nicklaus told reporters he gets a kick out of the inevitable comparisons with Tiger Woods — comparisons by the media that become more frequent each time Woods, as he did this week, wins another major championship and moves closer to Nicklaus’ record of 18.
But Nicklaus, ever candid, did not shy away from giving his take on a dream challenge match — that is, if both were in their prime and played with similar equipment.
And the winner would be . . .
“If I didn’t say ‘me,’ I wouldn’t be very smart, would I?” Nicklaus said. “If Tiger didn’t say ‘Tiger,’ he wouldn’t be very smart. That’s the only way you can say it. I think we both have the greatest respect for each other.
“If you were to analyze our games, I think our length is pretty comparable. I think I was a straighter driver than Tiger. Fairway woods? Neither one of us played them very often. Tiger plays them occasionally; I played a 1-iron in those days.
“I think our iron games are pretty comparable, down to the short irons, where I think Tiger is a better short iron player and a better wedge player than I was. And we’re pretty comparable as it relates to putting.”
Bottom line?
“I would think we’re pretty equal,” Nicklaus said. “But we both think we would win. That’s the way we both walk into a tournament.”
Nicklaus predicted long ago that Tiger Woods would break his record of 18 major titles. Woods’ U.S. Open playoff victory Monday at Torrey Pines gives him 14 majors, at age 32. Nicklaus won his 14th major at age 35.
Woods must wait until the 2009 Masters to try and add to his total, having announced Wednesday he will soon undergo season-ending reconstructive surgery on his left knee. “Tiger is a pretty amazing guy; he just willed himself to play,” Nicklaus said.
Tiger and the Golden Bear were paired for two rounds during the 2000 PGA Championship at Valhalla in Louisville, Ky. Woods won the event. They got along, well, famously.
“Certainly, there isn’t anybody to compare Tiger to that is playing today, that is pretty evident,” Nicklaus said. “There are some very good players out there, but he is just light years above them.
“Until I won 10 majors (and somebody pointed it out), I never knew how many I’d won. That’s the honest truth. I never paid any attention to it.”
Nicklaus’ connection to Colorado is strong and spans his adult life. At age 19, he won the 1959 U.S. Amateur at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs and a year later finished as runner-up to Arnold Palmer in the U.S. Open at Cherry Hills.
Later, he would learn to ski at Snowmass in the mid-1970s, design Castle Pines Golf Club (1981) and win the 1993 U.S. Senior Open at Cherry Hills. Nicklaus has owned mountain property in Colorado for more than two decades.
“I remember not getting a whole lot of respect at the ’60 U.S. Open, and I shouldn’t have,” Nicklaus recalled with a grin. “I was 35 to 1 (to win). My dad came up and said, ‘Do you want a piece of that?’
“It’s the only bet on golf that I’ve made in my entire life. I think I was more excited down the stretch about the $20 bet and maybe winning $700 than about winning the U.S. Open.”
Littleton resident Kaye Kessler, then of the Columbus (Ohio) Journal newspaper, penned the first story ever written about Nicklaus — in 1950, when young “Jacky” was 10 years old and had shot 51 for nine holes in a junior event at Scioto Country Club, his home course. By age 13, Nicklaus already was competing against the top adult players in the area and reached the semifinals of a district event.
“He was off and running; he knocked the eyes out of everybody,” recalled Kessler, who attended Thursday night’s ceremony. “Jack was long and strong, and he knew it. But even at that age he respected the game so much. While other good players in Columbus were always looking for a skins game, Jack would be hitting balls on the practice range until his hands almost bled.”
Tom Kensler: 303-954-1280 or tkensler@denverpost.com
Colorado connections
Jack Nicklaus’ ties to Colorado:
1959: U.S. AMATEUR AT THE BROADMOOR, COLORADO SPRINGS
Wins title as a 19-year-old Ohio State University student.
1960: U.S. OPEN AT CHERRY HILLS
In what historians have called “the greatest championship,” Nicklaus, still an amateur, has the lead for a few minutes on the back nine of the final round. Arnold Palmer’s charging 65 forces Nicklaus to settle for second place, two strokes behind Palmer. Finishing 2-under-par, Nicklaus sets an amateur record and outplays his playing partner, Ben Hogan.
1993: U.S. SENIOR OPEN AT CHERRY HILLS
Finishing 6-under, Nicklaus edges his former Ohio State teammate, Tom Weiskopf, by one stroke for his second U.S. Senior Open title.
THE INTERNATIONAL
In 1981, Nicklaus designs Castle Pines Golf Club (his first in Colorado) and shares the vision of club founder Jack Vickers in constructing a course worthy of a PGA Tour event. Nicklaus plays in eight of the 21 Internationals, with a best finish of ninth in 1989.
OTHER COURSE DESIGNS
Nicklaus and the Nicklaus Design team, which includes sons Jack II, Gary, Steve and Michael, are responsible for several designs and renovations in the state.
PERSONAL ATTACHMENT
Nicklaus learned to ski in 1975 in Colorado. Also an avid fisherman, he has owned property in Vail, Beaver Creek and Basalt.
Tom Kensler, The Denver Post
