Nicklaus talks about playing The Masters
Updated: April 5, 2005, 4:24 PM ET
Special to ESPN.com
Six-time champion Jack Nicklaus has played in the Masters Tournament 44 times over the course of his career. In this spotlight, Nicklaus discusses how Augusta National has changed, how he has changed as a player and what's next for the Golden Bear.
Q: A lot of the younger players who are playing [Augusta National] now seem to think with all of the changes that maybe the character of the course, the way it was designed originally, has been taken away with all of the lengthening. When you think back on the equipment and the balls that were once used, is it the same today as it was back then?
AP PhotoPhil SandlinNicklaus last won The Masters in 1986.
A: JACK NICKLAUS: No. The golf course has a totally different character today than it did when I did most of my winning, or all of my winning. The golf course I played or won on was a golf course that you could drive the ball, have generous driving areas. You had some bunkers that you could carry, and if you took advantage of those bunkers, you had a short iron into the green. Obviously, if you played good shots and putted well, you would do well.
Hitting good shots and putting well has not changed, but the golf course now does not have as much room off the tee. You must drive the ball straight. You have a little bit of rough. It's not long rough and it's not that you can't hit out of it, but it is rough that keeps you from spinning the ball and playing shots. And just the golf course itself is considerably longer. But, it doesn't play that much longer today because of the equipment, which answers the second part of your question.
I mean, the golf course, right now, is playing about like it did most of the time when I won, distance wise, for me. That means it obviously plays relatively short for most of the other guys on Tour, even though the golf course is extremely long.
Q: Based on what you said about the changing of the course, do you think it's less likely that we'll see a Sunday charge like you had?
A: NICKLAUS: I don't think it makes much difference. I felt like the golf course two years ago [in 2002] probably eliminated the pro with average length. In two years, the golf ball has gotten that much more length to it that it probably doesn't eliminate the mid-length pro as much as it used to. Obviously Mike Weir and Jeff Maggert right there to the end [in 2003] were certainly not long hitters. I played with Mike [last year] ... and he doesn't hit the ball any farther than I do. If he can win the golf tournament from that length, then somebody who hits it my length, can win it. But not many guys hit it my length; they all hit it past me [in practice rounds in 2004]. Of course, what Mike did [in 2003] was phenomenal. He hit 50 percent of the greens ... and this tournament, historically, has been won by the person probably in the top two or three in greens in regulation during the week. Mike was not ... but his chipping and putting were fantastic.
What has changed for the golf course is it's probably done what Hootie wanted to have happen here, and that's have the golf course play relatively the same based on equipment. I think it's gotten close. The only difference is that you have to drive the ball straight, and they really put a premium on driving the ball in play and in position to be able to play. If you put the ball on the edge of this rough with hard greens, it's pretty difficult to stop it on those greens. I think that's the only issue, which I think is probably fair enough.
Q: Before you won so many of them, did you ever take special preparations? How would you start working on shots you might use here?
A: NICKLAUS: You mean preparations for [the Masters] Tournament?
Q: Yes.
A: NICKLAUS: I've said several times that I always started the year, or I looked at the start of the golfing year as the Masters. And everything that I did prior to that was to prepare myself for the Masters and the U.S. Open, the British Open, and the PGA Championship. That, essentially, was my year. That's what I always prepared for.
I always started in January picking the tournaments that I wanted to play that would give me the competition that I needed and maybe give me similar conditions that I wanted. In turn, that would give me the opportunity to play shots that I wanted to play, or that I thought I might play here at Augusta. I avoided a lot of tournaments two or three weeks before the Masters simply because [playing in Florida] you knew you were going to hit a ton of wind and you were going to be playing a lot of knock-down shots and stuff like that.
Occasionally, I would play some of those, but most of the time, not. I like to play the courses where you needed to fly your ball in the air. After I finished here, I let myself go down and I started to prepare myself for the U.S. Open. I started thinking, "What kind of golf course are we playing in the U.S. Open?" Then I would start preparing my game and play shots and the kind of golf courses that would prepare me for the U.S. Open course.
Q: With all of the changes and with all of the emphasis on being straight here, is this course as fun to play as it was?
A: NICKLAUS: Well, fun, it's all relative to who you are and how you play. If I were 35 years old, I would think the golf course would be a tremendous amount of fun. As a matter of fact, I would have preferred to have had it this way when I was in my prime. I always preferred a tougher golf course. It eliminates more players. And if I played poorly, I never wanted to win, anyway. I should say I never wanted to win, but I wouldn't expect to. I think this golf course is much to Tiger's advantage, if he plays well. He's arguably the best player, and if he plays well there will be enough guys that won't play well that this golf course will eat up.
Q: In '98 when you made that charge on the front nine and finished sixth, how good did that feel doing that at age 58, and do you think without ...
A: NICKLAUS: It didn't feel good. I didn't win. I'm very serious. I sat in the exact same position walking down the 15th fairway that I did in '86. Now, granted in '86, I made a pretty fantastic finish, but I was still sitting in the middle of the fairway at 15 with an iron shot to the green with an opportunity to try to finish the same way. Now, it turned out Mark O'Meara birdied the last hole, so I would not have won, but I would have been right there. Who knows, but if I had been in the clubhouse and done that, O'Meara might not have birdied the last hole. I had two other guys sitting behind me with (Tom) Kite and (Greg) Norman in '86. They had an opportunity to birdie the last hole, and neither did. One of them bogeyed it.
Q: You said you don't get much of a charge out of playing if you're not competitive, and in this tournament ... a top-10 [finish] would be a great showing?
A: NICKLAUS: All I look at that as is if I could finish in the top 10, at least I didn't embarrass myself. That's sort of the way I look at it.
Q: You mentioned not playing much golf since the Skins and I certainly think people probably want to know, you know, how much golf you played since then and then what your thoughts are on golf going forward from here?
A: NICKLAUS: Well, I played, when I got to the Skins I still hadn't played 18 holes where I walked at the Skins Game. I had a hamstring problem. I got back I let it rest for 10 days and then I started going back to playing golf, with my goal being the Masters. I was actually out at The Bear's Club (Nicklaus' home club in Jupiter, Fla.) hitting some balls. I had played a couple holes the day before and hit some balls, and one of my founding members and his 13-year-old boy were out there. They were getting ready to go play and I said, "Can you guys use a third?" He said, "Absolutely, come on. We'll play." I went out and played. I walked, I played -- I was only going to play nine holes -- and I was fine, so I went and played 18 holes. I have done that -- played 18 holes -- a few times since then.
Q: Spring, summer any plans?
A: NICKLAUS: I have absolutely no plans. I would love to play at St. Andrews. But I think that with what's happened to us in our family that my time is going to be spent in a much different way. I think that's the most important thing right now. And I think it will be the most important thing for a long time.
Q: You mentioned your mindset on Augusta, is it the same for the British Open, you're going to wait and ...
A: NICKLAUS: I would think I'll play the British Open, no matter what. Steve is caddying for me in the British Open. That's one thing that's been there, so I share that with him either way. And this is my last year of eligibility at the British Open. I think if I'm going to play one event this year that will be the event I'll play. Would I like to play the Masters? Yeah, I would love to play the Masters. And would I like to go play the Memorial Tournament? Possibly. Would I find anything else to play? Probably something like the Father/Son, probably a Skins Game or something like that. That would be what I would do. I'm not going to go back and play competitive golf, if that's what you're asking.
Q: As time has passed and you've played less tournament golf and done other things, family, business, what have you, have you found that you haven't missed it like you thought you would or have you found that you need to spend the time at home that has been great?
A: NICKLAUS: No, I love tournament golf. Would I like to be out there playing? Absolutely. But I want to be out there playing with a game. It's not a lot of fun to play without a game. I cannot see going out and shooting 75 and over. ... I shot a pair of 75s last year at Augusta and everybody said, "Gee, you had a great Masters; nice playing; that's great." I mean, it's not too exciting to shoot a pair of 75s. If you're going to play tournaments, I would like to play in tournaments in the sense that you're playing the tournament. You're not just out there taking up space. So if I felt like I could compete and be there, I would love to be there. Absolutely. And do I miss that? Absolutely. I loved it. I get charged up every day to go do that. And would I love to do it again? Absolutely. But if you can't, you can't. If my body allowed me to be able to do that, I would try. But my body won't allow me to do that. Otherwise, I would have been playing golf this year. And my body's pretty good. I'm not having any problem.
Jack Nicklaus is an ambassador for The Royal Bank of Scotland Group, which assisted in the preparation of this interview.