Golf InterviewJohn O'Sullivan talks to the 'legend' Jack Nicklaus who would rather be remembered as a great father and grandfather than a great golfer
There's no entourage, no impenetrable buffer of flunkies to guarantee that celebrity vacuum or endorse his observations. Jack Nicklaus wouldn't countenance pretension of that ilk, never did as the best golfer in the world and at 66 years old, is not about to cultivate the trappings that appear de rigueur for today's "sporting icons".
It's not as if the golfing community don't defer to his thoughts on the current state of the game. In winning 18 majors he's earned the right to critique the sport. But it is others who solicit his views, rather than Nicklaus pedalling a panacea for modern golf as some sort of Solomon-like figure.
Golf's Golden Bear will be in Ireland next month to receive a Legends of Sport award at a dinner but on this flying visit to Dublin it's golf course design, golf equipment and the Ryder Cup that's on the menu.
Over breakfast, he's unfailingly courteous and amiable, making eye contact with the waiting staff, smiling and unflustered when a mistake is made with the food. (Note: breakfast of champions - porridge with semi-skimmed milk, poached eggs on toast and tea). His demeanour lends credence to his assertion that he rails against the tag "legend".
"I'm from the Midwest and my Mom and Dad taught me to stay pretty humble in realising golf was just a game. Now that may be oversimplifying things, but it's true. I think I would rather be remembered first as a great father or grandfather than a golfer.
"But being realistic, you're probably right, more people will remember me as a golfer. And to be called a "legend" is flattering. Like I said, I don't feel comfortable calling myself a "legend" as I think that sounds like too much of an ego. But if you're calling me a legend as it means my best days as a competitor are behind me, yeah, I would have to accept that.
"It's time for me to get out of the way and let the young guys have their day. And hopefully beat my record. If I am ever considered a "legend" as a mark of greatness or accomplishment, I hope it's in relation to my role as a father or grandfather more so than a golfer.
"At the end of the day, you can keep all the trophies. Nothing is more important to me than my family."
In a bid to decompress the oxygen of celebrity, Nicklaus offers a window to his domestic life.
"At home, I'm just your average guy, believe it or not. I've lived in the same house in the same town for 36 years. I wear shorts and no socks on most days when I'm at home, even going to the office.
"I attend my grandchildren's Little League games and go out to dinner with friends and family. I go to the movies with my wife, go to the grocery store, go bowling with the kids, go to the mall shopping for Christmas presents or to the tree stand to pick out a Christmas tree and bring it home.
"Most people don't make a fuss. Sure, I still get asked to sign autographs, but at home most of the time, I just one of the guys, or one of the parents, or one of the other grandparents."
He confesses to being slightly bemused by the current climate where the size of the retinue is directly proportionate to a sportsperson's view of his own standing in the stratosphere.
"They all worry about it. They've all got security, people keeping them away from this and that. I've eaten out all my life, go to movies all the time. If someone says 'hello', (I'll say) 'how you doing?' It is what you make it. People are people, they don't want to bother you. I've never had a problem."
In approaching the "legend" epithet from a different perspective would he pick out one achievement that defined his playing career?
"I don't think I could pick out just one moment. I guess it would have to be the 1986 Masters because of how special that was for me. Everyone had written me off as an old man who couldn't win any more. To win the Masters when I wasn't supposed to win, and to have my son caddying for me and my family there was perhaps the most special moment for me.
"In trying to define a 'legend', I'd have to say that probably couldn't be done with just one moment. I would say it was my longevity as a competitive golfer that perhaps defines something like that. That's probably what I look on as perhaps my ultimate accomplishment. Not just that I won 18 majors, but that I won my first in 1962 and my last in 1986. As an athlete, longevity is something I think is perhaps most defining."
To support this premise, Nicklaus, a huge fan of all American sports, singles out Muhammad Ali and Michael Jordan as "legends" before settling on Bobby Jones.
"I am sure there are many more. You almost have to ask that question by which era or sport. In golf, Bobby Jones is a legend. He is the one I grew up idolising, and therefore I would consider him a legend."
Nicklaus hasn't competed since his professional swansong in last year's British Open Championship at St Andrews, an apposite way to underscore the official end of his playing career. Since then he's dusted off the clubs no more than seven or eight times and hasn't practised.
"I love to play but I can't play any more. Why do you want to play something you can't do. I hope that I can get over being me. Eventually I'll be able to go out. It'll probably happen this summer. All my grandkids are playing, they're all growing like weeds so you have to get them refitted for golf clubs.
"Recently I went out and worked with them. I'll probably do a lot of that. Take out five or six of them. I'll probably get into it that way. They call me Peep Paw (and say) 'let's go play'. I will come out and start enjoying it.
"I hope that happens. We'll see."
It's not as if his schedule has diminished appreciably. If anything his golf course design business - nearly 300 around the world - guarantees even more travel. In one week alone he visited Croatia, the Czech Republic, Ireland and Scotland before heading for a dinner at Hoylake.
He then flew to check on a course in Washington, flew to a banquet in New York, ran his eye over the Sabonic course on Long Island, opened another in Virginia, checked on one in Ohio and then finally went home. His private plane facilitates the heavy mileage and offers a haven to boot.
It's a labour of love and one that shows no signs of abating, even if course design on a global scale is a physically demanding mistress. His philosophy is simple: "Every piece of land is different. (You have to) figure out the piece of ground: what you're trying to do, how much (land) you got, what the real feasibility is of what you're trying to do. Then you figure out what the owner wants, what he's trying to accomplish.
"I try and do it as inexpensively as possible and if the owner wants to put in the bells and whistles then that's his choice, not mine. We start out with what I call a bare bones golf course. Then you add meat to it as you go. I think that's the right way. We've got golf courses where more than $20 million was spent, but I just finished one in Nebraska where we spent less than $2 million on it."
It is not the lands that challenge his design expertise but a far more potent opponent: the advance of golf equipment.
"I haven't done a golf course yet that wasn't obsolete when I opened it, from the back tees (that is).
"If you take a golf course today and make it much less than 7,500 yards then you really end up with a course that can't compete with today's equipment.
"Yet we have found that the average golfer hasn't improved at all.
"I have tried to keep the average golfer at the 6,500-6,600 yards range. That's basically what they are used to and that's basically what they are able to play. The ladies move a little further forward.
"When you consider that only 1.8 per cent of the golfers on any given course will use the championship tees. That's what it is in the States. It's really odd.
"You do the golf course and less than two per cent of your golfers play from the back tees, yet 100 per cent of your advertising is devoted to the back tees: 'come see our 7,500 yard golf course'. They don't say 'come see my 6,500 yard championship golf course'."
Nicklaus is adamant that rather than try to counter the equipment revolution - he maintains there hasn't been any real progress there in the last seven years - the golf ball is the obvious target. "All that (development) can be controlled by the length of a golf ball.
"The biggest problem we have got is the R&A and the USGA want to see the average golfer and the professional play the same golf equipment. I couldn't agree more but they couldn't be further away from it. The average golfer can not make the golf ball go - they all want to play with the ball that Tiger plays or Ernie plays - can't compress it because they don't have the clubhead speed to do it.
"As a result they are out there playing with stuff that they can't do anything with. Every once in a while they catch the ball and it goes another 20 or 30 yards and shout 'isn't that great?'. The next 10 shots are way off.
"How do you learn to play when you hit one (ball) 280 (yards) and the next 230? How do you learn to judge what you're doing? Old equipment didn't do that. I was the longest hitter on tour for a long time, maybe 10 or 15 yards longer than the other guys. Now there are golfers who are 50, 60, 80 yards longer than other guys. That's a big difference.
"Just bring it back. I don't think there is anything wrong with the aerodynamics of the golf ball, the way they make it or anything else. Don't anyone tell me they can't do that. They certainly took it from one place to the next so they can take it back. That's by far the cheapest way to do it. You can't compare any records from any time with anyone else, realistically."
He contends that lessons can also be learnt from an old style interpretation of the bunker as a hazard and that the time has come to stop grooming them to near perfection. "We work so hard to get perfect sand, we work so hard to make sure they're raked perfectly and everything else so that (the golfer) can have a perfect lie. Hell, the bunker is supposed to be a hazard.
"I've got two courses right now that I have just finished that we're not going to put a rake on. Let the maintenance crew work them (the bunkers) once a week. Somebody used their foot the rest of the time and go back to what it used to be.
"When I used to first come over here there was never a rake. Just went in with your foot and smoothed it out and whatever the wind blew, the wind smoothed it out."
He also bemoans the predilection for growing the rough shin-high, thereby making trees on parkland courses largely redundant. The ball never runs anywhere in the rough and that denies the galleries the thrill of witnessing golfers using their imagination.
"I think one of the most beautiful shots in the game of golf is the recovery shot. If you put the rough so high that you can't play out of it, where's your recovery? (Arnold) Palmer was known for it. How he got himself in all kinds of trouble and still managed to hit it out over this tree, under that branch, over that hazard and on to the green. People love that. (You) can't do that any more. Rough is such that you just hack it out."
The Ryder Cup engenders less passion, Nicklaus preferring the President's Cup - he will once again be a non-playing captain in 2007 - a rivalry with less obvious bite.
"It's competitive but friendlier and not nearly a war. I don't like wars. A great deal of it stems from the press. If you leave it up to the players there wouldn't be a problem. The press rile up the gallery and then the gallery . . ."
As for the 2006 Ryder Cup at the K Club? "I have never been there so I don't know anything about it. I would have thought you would go to a Portmarnock. You have some wonderful links golf courses. That's where I thought you'd want to go to but it's not a part of where you want to go, it's economics."
Nicklaus won't set aside time to watch it. If he happens to be at home and has an hour or two to spare, then maybe. He's more likely to be fishing, shooting, playing tennis or snorkelling. Or preferably being a father or a grandfather.
Jack Nicklaus will be honoured at The Legends of Sport at the Burlington Hotel on July 19th. CSL Hospitality can be contacted for details on 01 6766650.
Jack in a box Career details
Born: January 21st, 1940, Columbus, Ohio
Residence: North Palm Beach, Florida
Playing career: (Professional Years: 1962 through 2003, inclusive)
Official tour victories: 73
Second place or ties: 58
Third place or ties: 36
Total victories around the world: 113
Number one in lowest scoring average: Eight times (1976-'75-'74-'73-'72-'71-'65-'64)
Runner-up: Six times
Top money winner: Eight times (1976-'75-'73-'72-'71-'67-'65-'64)
Runner-up: Four times
Official tour earnings: $5,723,192
Major Championship titles: 18 PGA Tour, eight Senior PGA Tour, two amateur
PGA Player of the year award: Five times (1976-'75-'73-'72-'67)
Golf course architect of the year: 1993 (Golf World)
Tour Play-off record: Won 12; lost 10
Holes in one: 20
US Masters (Six times): 1963, '65, '66, '72, '75, '86
British Open (Three times): 1966, '70, '78
US Open (Four times): 1962, '67, '72, '80
USPGA (Five times): 1963, '71, '73, '75, '80
US Amatuer (Two times): 1959, '61
Australian Open (six times): 1978-'76-'75-'71-'68-'64
World series of golf (five times): 1976-'70-'67-'63-'62
World Cup invitational (three times): 1963-'64-'71.
Piccadilly world cup matchplay: 1970
Dunlop International: 1971 Ryder Cup: Member of US teams that defeated Britain in 1981-'77-'75-'73-'71 and tied Britain 1969 (non-playing captain of winning 1983 US team and losing 1987 US team).
Champions Tour Victories (10): 1996: Tradition, GTE Suncoast Classic. 1995: Tradition. 1994: Mercedes Championship. 1993: US Senior Open. 1991: Tradition, PGA Seniors Championship, US Senior Open. 1990: Tradition, Senior TPC.
Ryder Cup: Member of US teams that defeated Britain in 1981-'77-'77-'73-'71 and tied with Britain in 1969 (non-playing captain of winning 1983 US team and losing 1987 US team).
Champions Tour Career Earnings: $3,264,598 (includes Nationwide Tour).
Combined Tour Earnings: $8,989,903
Total Victories: 113 (73 PGA Tour & 10 Champions Tour), 30 unofficial or international events.
