LinksLifeGolf

This weekend gave us plenty of golf to watch and if you’re a football fan too, you needed to employ the “Multiple Television” strategy to catch The NFL Conference Championships and the golf.  This weekend illustrated the problem The PGA Tour has right now in getting fans to tune in.  The lack of big names in the field or compelling stories at The Bob Hope Classic has made the tournament a viewing afterthought.  Combine those factors with the fact that Sunday’s golf at The Hope wasn’t the final round and you have a perfect storm for low television ratings. The Hope will finish on Monday and if you’re still looking for some live golf because you were glued to the NFL yesterday you can catch it on The Golf Channel at 3:00pm. Bubba Watson and Alex Prugh share the lead after they both stumbled on the 18^th hole.  Watson double bogeyed it and Prugh bogeyed it.

Champions Tour…

If you were looking for an exciting finish, in a beautiful setting with a few popular, legendary names trading blows down the stretch The Champions Tour was the place to be.  At The Mitsubishi Championship in Hawaii, Fred Couples and Tom Watson went head to head the entire final round.  Watson was able to better Freddy, who was making his Champions Tour debut, by carding birdies on the final two holes.  Couples had taken the lead at 16 with a birdie but could only par the last two coming in. Watson’s approach to 18 from the rough settled four feet from the cup and he closed out Couples with the bird. Watch the video.

Watson and Couples played amazing golf the entire day.  Watson (65) scored a 30 on the back nine while Couples (64) shot 31.  Their combined back nine was eleven under par with an eagle and nine birdies.

This tournament was much more appealing than The PGA Tour this weekend.  Watson continued his good luck this week after sharing a win with Jack Nicklaus last week.  Is there anyone in golf that looks more relaxed than Fred Couples?  He sashays down those fairways like he is Fred Astaire not Fred Couples.  He was sporting a new dimpled golf shoe which looked more boat shoe than golf shoe.  Leave it to Freddy to start a new trend.  Give me a legend like Watson and a personality like Freddy strolling the links and I’ll take that over most PGA Tour leader boards any day of the week.

European Tour…

The European Tour had a star studded field at the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship and it lived up to its billing.  Martin Kaymer, Ian Poulter and Rory McIlroy provided the excitement as Kaymer was able to birdie the 18^th and secure his second Abu Dhabi Title and his fifth Euro Tour win.  The field had more star power than The Hope as a bunch of PGA Tour players opted to play for euros instead of dollars.  Anthony Kim, Poulter, Sergio Garcia, Paul Casey and Geoff Ogilvy are all stars on The PGA Tour that preferred the desert in Abu Dhabi over the desert in La Quinta, California.  The PGA Tour is hurting now and watching names like that bypass a legendary tour stop like The Hope has to eat at Tim Finchem. Watch the video.

In one of the most disturbing stories since Tiger Woods went off-roadin’ we now hear that Jim Thorpe has been sentenced to a year in jail.  The Champions Tour stalwart plead guilty to two counts of failure to pay income taxes.  Thorpe has three PGA Tour wins and thirteen wins on the Champions Tour and earned more than $13 million in PGA career winnings. He did not report over $5 million dollars in income over a three year period.  Thorpe, who is 60 years old, will start serving his sentence on April 1^st.  I imagine his fellow professionals may be checking with their accountants some time soon.

Meanwhile in Hawaii Tom Watson sizzled with a nine under 63 to lead Tom Lehman and Fred Couples by two strokes at The Mitsubishi Electric Championship.  Couples is making his Champions Tour debut this week.

Another Watson, Bubba Watson shot a 10 under 62 to lead The Bob Hope Classic after the second round.  The pros got a little extra bonus as the tour kept all the celebrities and amateurs off the course due to a rain delay at the start of play.

At the Abu Dhabi Championship Rick Kulacz of Australia holds a one stroke lead over three golfers one of which is Sergio Garcia.  Some big names are in the hunt as the third round starts this morning: Martin Kaymer is two back, Ian Poulter and Rory McIlroy sit three off the pace.

Jack Nicklaus tributes continue on Links Life Golf.  Check out a copy of Jack’s first invitation to The Masters in 1959 and his final scorecard at The Open Championship in 2005 with partner Tom Watson.

The number of awards that Jack Nicklaus has accumulated over his career is incalculable.  Jack has received just about every award and honor possible including the highest award given to a civilian by the United States, The Presidential Medal of Freedom.  One of the most treasured honors that Jack had during his career was bestowed upon him by his beloved alma mater Ohio State.  Jack cherished his days at Ohio State and he even has his own museum there.  The ultimate honor for an Ohio State alum is the ceremonial “doting of the I” during halftime of an Ohio State football game.  Jack and his dad loved Ohio State football and he certainly appreciated the honor.

by Jeff Skinner

The tributes to the Golden Bear dominate the golf websites today, as they should.  Jack Nicklaus is a once in a generation golfer, an extraordinary parent and a rare kind of man that doesn’t just talk the talk, he walks the walk. One of the more humorous Nicklaus anecdotes is his reaction to the births of his five children.  The Golf Channel’s list of “70 things you don’t know about Jack Nicklaus” includes the following:

62) When he went in to see his first-born child, Jackie, his knees got wobbly and he passed out.

63) When his second born, Steve, was first brought out to him, Nicklaus passed out again.

64) When his third born, Nancy, was brought out, Nicklaus blacked out yet again. The doctor joked that he required more time in the recovery room than his wife, Barbara.

65) When nurses brought out his fourth born, Gary, guess what happened? Nicklaus keeled over once more.

66) When his fifth and last child, Michael, was brought out, Nicklaus’ legs finally held up. He managed not to pass out.

Steve Elling at CBSSports.com profiles Jack the father and grandfather.  He still works his schedule around the grandkids activities and games.  He would rather be at one of his grandchildren’s games instead of walking the grounds of a new design.

“Nicklaus’ employees are under standing orders not to schedule any work-related outings, appearances or golf-course site visits during periods when the Grand Slam-winning grandfather has games to attend. For decades, Nicklaus has been such a regular sideline fixture; the other parents don’t blink anymore. He’s just another doting grandfather.”

by Jeff Skinner

Jack Nicklaus turns seventy today and he never hesitates when he tells you what made him such a success in professional golf.  Of course he had unparalleled skills and a mental toughness that was unmatched. Nicklaus will tell you that it wasn’t those attributes that allowed him to become the golfer he was.  It was his wife, Barbara that allowed him to evolve and grow into his greatness.  In his book “Jack Nicklaus, Memories and Mementos from Golf’s Golden Bear” Jack devotes a chapter to his wife and her strength and guidance through his career and their life together.  They will celebrate their fiftieth wedding anniversary in July and still are an amazing couple. Here are Jack’s own words on his beloved Barbara.

My life has never been the same since the first week of my freshman at Ohio State University in September 1957, and I thank God for that every day.  That was the week I met a tall, slim, beautiful and sweet girl named Barbara Bash.  It didn’t take me long to figure out that our chance meeting, on the steps of Menden Hall on the OSU campus, was a stroke of good fortune; I called her up later that evening and asked her out for a date.

We were both seventeen at the time, just kids, and I think we clicked because we shared similar values and priorities, like the importance of family.  All these years later, with all the good things that have happened to me, I still believe that Barbara has been the most precious gift in my life.  We were married in 1960, and we have grown up together, really.  She has been my foundation, my voice of reason, my sounding board, my biggest supporter, my best friend and the love of my life.

The impact she had on me, both personally and professionally, is truly too big to fully measure or adequately explain.  Barbara had never played golf or been around the game when we met, but it wasn’t long before she could hold her own with anyone on the subject of the game.  I imagine she has walked more golf courses than anyone on tour except the players, and she may have many of them beaten, too.  In fact, you could do worse than follow her around, because she has the shortest routes and best vantage points mapped out.

While I was planning and building Muirfield Village Golf Club, I had a lot of help and support, but Barbara was unswerving in her belief in what I was trying to accomplish, and she threw herself into the project as enthusiastically as I did.  In effect, my dreams became her dreams.  The most selfless person I’ve ever known, Barbara assimilated her life to fit what I was trying to achieve in the game, even at the beginning when she didn’t understand golf and its nuances as well as she does now.  The daughter of a school teacher who arrived home after work at almost the same time every day, Barbara had to get used to the unpredictable hours that a golf professional keeps, in addition to all the other challenges that go with tour life.

Barbara’s support over the years allowed me to concentrate on the things I needed to do to be successful in a difficult line of work and I think you’ll find that many of the game’s best players enjoyed the same kind of support at home.  Without her I might have become just another golfer.  It’s not only her devotion to me and my career that has been important.  Her organizational skills and her sense of priorities always eased my mind when I was on the road; I never had to worry how the kids were doing or any other problem that might arise, because she handled everything so well.  Because of her patience, love and support, combined with her intelligence and strength of character, Barbara has been a bigger contributor to my golf career than the world will ever know.  We have some wonderful pictures of the two of us holding up trophies, and I think those are the most appropriate we have, because we’ve really achieved victories as a team.

As such, Barb also had a way of appealing to my better nature and smoothing some of my rough edges. I’ve never had much trouble saying no to people, only because if I didn’t learn to budget my time properly, I’d have never gotten anything else done. Barbara is just the opposite: she can’t say no to anyone, and she’s probably the best listener in the world, always willing to help friends or acquaintances with problems big or small.

Barbara’s immense capacity for caring and putting others ahead of herself is evidenced by the many charitable causes she supports.  For years, the Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, has been a passion of hers and more recently, she’s poured herself into the Nicklaus Children’s Health Care Foundation and The Nicklaus Children’s Hospital at St. Mary’s Medical Center in West Palm beach, Florida.

If your partner in life is also your best friend, it’s truly invaluable.  I shudder to think about where I would be today, what I might have missed, how less fulfilling my life would have been were Barbara not with me every step of the way.

For his entire life Jack lives by a simple principle: family first.  It is clear that Barbara and Jack shared that thought.

by Jeff Skinner

What once was one of the absolute gems of the PGA Tour gets under way today when The Bob Hope Classic tees off in La Quinta, California.  The Hope used to be frequented by all the top stars back in the day, heck, Arnie won it five times, Johnny Miller, Billy Casper and Phil Mickelson are two time winners and Nicklaus won there back in ’63.  Times have changed since Bob started this back in 1960 and The Hope doesn’t get the top flight golfers to play any longer.  It’s a shame because Bob Hope was truly an ambassador of golf.  Hope did more for the game than any one currently on tour today.  It’s too bad the golfing landscape has changed so dramatically that a treasure like the Hope can’t attract more big names.

Bob Hope was a gift to golf and servicemen everywhere.  In 1941 Hope started entertaining troops and continued to do so for over fifty years.  Each Christmas he flew all over the world bringing his “Christmas Show” to servicemen in all corners of the globe.  This man has had a Navy ship and an Air Force plane named after him.  He was even declared an Honorary Veteran by an act of Congress in 1997, the only man ever to receive such an honor.

It may sound corny and dull but the highlight of the week for me will be when they show those old video clips of Bob Hope and his friends.

by Jeff Skinner

Here’s a tribute to Jack Nicklaus.  If you can’t handle my “Man Crush” move on and read something else.

I can’t remember when I first realized that I was a Jack Nicklaus fan.  It seems like I always was.  I do remember trying to watch him at the old “Westchester Classic” in the late seventies.  I hadn’t even started played golf yet, but I was already a Nicklaus fan.  Later on in my mid-twenties I bought my first set of clubs.  They were MacGregor’s Jack Nicklaus “Golden Bear” model and the heads were as small as a matchbook.  I still have them, saving them as if there is some kind of connection to Jack. My brother and I got to see Jack play at the 2001 US Seniors Open at Salem Country Club and he didn’t disappoint with a charge on Saturday that had everyone in the place feeling like it was 1986 all over again.

Over the last thirty years I watched Jack like most golf fans have, from afar on television.  But the distance and remoteness never prevented millions of us from believing we knew Jack.  Each week I’d make sure to try and follow Jack if he was playing, relishing each shot he would make.  Watching Jack play in the majors was always special.  No one played the majors better, ever.  Although Jack’s skill with a club was what drew us all to watch him play, for me it was Jack the man that I soon idolized, not Jack the golfer.

Jack’s skill on the course is only surpassed by his strength of character.  Early in his career he vowed to put his family first and rarely was away from home for more than two or three weeks at a time. Raising a family while being the golfer he was had to be a chore.  He was known to fly home during a tournament to see one of his children games.  He tells the story of celebrating his 1980 US Open win with a dinner at McDonalds with his kids because it was his son’s Michael’s choice.  His favorite photograph is a shot of him carrying a young Gary Nicklaus off the green during the 1973 PGA Championship.  My favorite is Jack hugging his caddy, Jackie Jr. as they walk off the 18^th at the 1986 Masters.

Jack isn’t only the greatest golfer, he’s the greatest sportsman.  From the time he was a youngster he played as hard as he could but always with a respect for the game and an amazing appreciation of his opponents.  Jack and Tom Watson’s “Duel in the Sun” formed a lifelong respect and friendship between the two.  Gary Player calls him the “greatest loser” ever, meaning he always acted like the ultimate sportsman when he fell short of victory.  He always gave it all he had on the course and when done he would treat his opponents with respect and fellowship.  Jack displayed one of the most significant acts of sportsmanship ever during the 1969 Ryder Cup when he conceded Tony Jacklin’s two foot putt which left the matched tied but the US still retained the Cup.  Nicklaus the sportsman thought it was the right thing to do.  In 2003 at The President’s Cup with darkness preventing play, Nicklaus and Gary Player agreed to call it a tie and share the cup.  Who else would have done that?

Jack has been interviewed more times than anyone can count and he never failed to give generously of his time.  He answered every question honestly and sincerely and never failed to help all the journalists do their job.  You’ll not find a writer with a bad thing to say about Jack and the way he treated them.

Most of my adult life I’ve watched Nicklaus and always knew what to expect: integrity, dignity and class. He could always be counted on to do the right thing. This is the Nicklaus I chose to revere: Jack the father, Jack the sportsman, Jack the man.

by Jeff Skinner

Jack Nicklaus turns 70 on Thursday and recently there have been quite a few articles paying tribute to the Golden Bear.  Few golfers have had an effect on the game like Jack has.  He took the game to a new level during his prime and became the standard that all other professionals are measured against.  Yes, Jack has won more majors than any other golfer but even more impressive is the manner in which he won them.  There is no athlete in history that has dominated his sport like Nicklaus and at the same time displayed the highest level of integrity, class and sportsmanship which Jack has.  He is without a doubt the greatest, true sportsman ever.

Here are some links to a few excellent pieces on Jack Nicklaus.

Tim Rosaforte in Golf Digest talks with Jack about his career and his work ethic and a little Tiger too.

Jason Sobel at ESPN has Nicklaus explain his remark, “Golf was never all that important to me.”

Jack talks to Guy Yocum and proclaims,” I’m finding now, more than ever, that the game of a lifetime can give you the time of your life without ever striking a shot.”

Jack’s 1986 Masters win is recounted by Jay Busbee at Devil Ball Golf.  In my opinion, Jack’s final major is the greatest win of all time.

Brian Hewitt and his writers at Global Golf Post share their memories of Jack.

Here’s the video from Jack’s birdie on the 17th at the 1986 Masters.  I still get chills.