Jack Nicklaus

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Throughout his 40-year career in the Masters, Jack Nicklaus has been known for two things: keeping his emotions intact and his competition in the distance.When Nicklaus was given a day in his honor and a plaque in his name at Augusta National yesterday, he did something few, if any, had any seen him do before in public.He cried.During a touching ceremony to mark the achievements of the tournament's six-time champion, Nicklaus broke down a couple of times in talking about his family.

BETHESDA -- When he won the U.S. Open at Oakmont three years ago, Ernie Els seemed put off by the stir his victory caused. Being 24, there were the inevitable comparisons to a young Jack Nicklaus. Being South African, there was heightened talk about being his country's next Gary Player."He just wanted to be the first Ernie Els," said Liezl Wehmeyer, who had been dating Els for more than a year at the time and now shares homes with him in South Africa and Florida. "He didn't like the spotlight.

LYTHAM ST. ANNES, England -- An eerie sort of golf symmetry descended on the Lancashire coast yesterday and covered the British Open. Senior golfers acted their age, obscure major pretenders drifted out to the Irish Sea and the major players positioned themselves for either a Masters reprise or a Grand Slam blowout.Tom Lehman, who held the third-round lead in the 1994 Masters, shared it in the 1995 U.S. Open and held it just a month ago in the U.S. Open at Oakland Hills, is back there again.

BETHESDA -- For a couple of hours yesterday, it was vintage Jack Nicklaus.A hole-in-one and five birdies in the last 13 holes jumped him from back in the pack to second place in the U.S. Senior Open at Congressional Country Club. This was after bogeys at the first two holes had seemed to relegate him to a down-the-line finish.That is not, however, how Jack Nicklaus goes about his business -- and has gone about it for his entire golfing career."After that start, I said I'm not going to get anywhere near what I want to do unless I start doing something right."

PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. -- Here we are in Hollywood, our nation's capital of hair transplants, wrinkle removal, tummy tucks and other uplifting experiences for the body.But they can't grow grass. Like a lot of the natives, putting surfaces at Riviera Country Club, where they are holding this 77th PGA championship, are more style than substance. Greg Norman calls them "minefields." A few roots, mostly sand, easily spiked.Jack Nicklaus says he had a two-footer during yesterday's first round and thought about chipping the ball over trouble instead of putting through it.Why, even Chip Beck allowed that the greens for this tournament are scraggly.

TULSA, Okla. -- David Leadbetter was an obscure golf teacher who had set up shop just outside Orlando, Fla. Nick Price was an obscure European tour pro who was looking for help with his game. They had known each other from their days as junior players in Rhodesia."He wanted to play on the American tour," Leadbetter recalled Sunday night. "There were a lot of pieces missing, but the one thing Nick could always do was strike the ball."That was the fall of 1981. The following summer, Price nearly lost his obscurity forever when he almost won the British Open at Troon.

PINEHURST, N.C. -- When the 15th U.S. Senior Open begins this morning over the world-renowned No. 2 Course of Pinehurst Country Club, no one in the 156-player field will have local knowledge to compare with Jay Sigel.Sigel may be a rookie on the PGA Senior Tour, but he is a veteran of No. 2, having played it more than 100 times. Couple this with a record 66 appearances in U.S. Golf Association events and a slew of national and international titles, and it adds up to a position as one of the tournament favorites.

The stature of the Maryland Amateur Stroke Play championship continues to grow, as it will present its strongest field when the 26th annual program is held this weekend at Mount Pleasant Golf Course.Seven past champions are among the 192 entrants, including five of the past six -- Bob Kaestner, Greg Henry, Bill Stout, Justin Klein and defender Buddy Peoples. The other two are Bill Dornbusch (1970) and Bob Morrison (1985). Such is the popularity of the tournament that the limit on entries was reached 10 days ahead of the closing deadline.

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Compiling a list of contenders for The Masters every year is usually not too difficult. Figure in a couple of the PGA Tour's hottest players, come up with a few former champions and add some who've been close.And then there is this year.A litany of troubles -- from back problems to personal problems to more fundamental problems, such as putting -- have made the 57th Masters almost impossible to predict. Trying to find a favorite is near impossible.It's easier to pick those who probably won't win.Perhaps the most prominent is Tom Kite, the tour's leading money-winner this year and all time.

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. -- Before the 92nd U.S. Open began last week at Pebble Beach, someone asked Jack Nicklaus what score he thought would win."If the wind kicks up, even-par is going to win this tournament," Nicklaus said during a pre-tournament news conference.Nicklaus, the 1972 Open champion here, made that prediction again yesterday. He was sitting in the ABC booth as Colin Montgomerie was about to putt at 18 to stay even-par."If Montgomerie makes the putt, he's going to win the golf tournament," said Nicklaus, who was serving as a commentator after missing the cut.Later, when Nicklaus saw the 28-year-old Scot who now lives in England, he told him the same thing.

TURNBERRY, Scotland - -In a stunning development at the British Open, a 59-year-old man on the verge of 60 has revealed that he actually read a text message and then successfully completed a reply. This improbable scenario has helped illustrate the awesome span of the career of one Tom Watson, who has shot a glowing 65 at Turnberry while dredging mysticism from floating dirt in the prehistoric era of 1977, and has shot a glowing 65 at Turnberry while gaining "serenity" from a sitting message on a sleek gadget in the digital era of 2009.

AUGUSTA, Ga. -On the eve of the 2007 Masters, Zach Johnson walked off the 18th green with one prevailing thought: "I haven't got a prayer." "It was playing so hard," Johnson recalled of that practice round. "It was so cold and windy. My preparation was good, but I just didn't feel like I had an opportunity to play well because it was so long." Trevor Immelman had a similar woe-is-my-game mind-set one year ago. He entered the tournament ranked 129th and less than four months removed from surgery to remove a benign, Titleist-size lesion on his diaphragm.

AUGUSTA, Ga.-- --The murmurs erupted into a chorus of cheers when each man took his place at the first tee box. What year was this? 1968? 2008? If it weren't for the digital cameras held high along the short fairway, like flickering torches lighting the path to the green, you'd never know. And you wouldn't care. The first round of golf I'd ever witness at Augusta National wasn't a threesome as much as a Mount Rushmore ripoff: Jack Nicklaus, 68, who first played here in 1959 and has won six green jackets in 45 Masters appearances; Arnold Palmer, 78, who first played here in 1955 and has four wins in 50 tries, and Gary Player, 72, who has won three times and tees off for the 51st time today.

Finding the perfect partner for Tiger Woods is often a predicament for those making the pairings in international team competitions. Jack Nicklaus is only the latest U.S captain to be left second-guessing himself. Or, perhaps, being second-guessed. Paired with Fred Couples, who has compiled one of the best records in the short history of the Presidents Cup, Woods' struggles as a team player continued during yesterday's opening foursome matches at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club. A resounding, 4-and-3 defeat for Woods and Couples by two-time U.S. Open champion Retief Goosen of South Africa and Adam Scott of Australia in the opening match led to an overall, 3 1/2 -2 1/2 deficit after the first day of the four-day event.

DIRECTOR Quentin Tarantino is no Johnny Miller, but in the DVD version of the movie Pulp Fiction, there's a scene that wasn't shown in theaters involving Uma Thurman's character that I've always felt beautifully explains the universe, and in turn, the PGA Tour. "My theory is that when it comes to important subjects, there's only two ways a person can answer," Thurman tells John Travolta. "For example, there's two kinds of people in this world, Elvis people and Beatles people. Now Beatles people can like Elvis.

Nobody could quite believe what they were seeing that day. Perhaps because almost nobody saw it. Jack Nicklaus swung at a golf ball, and it seemed to obey him. Not a bad trick for a 10-year-old. Jackie, as he was known back then, shot 51 on the first nine holes he ever played. Fifty-five years, 73 professional wins, 18 majors, one wife, five children, three body types, one hip replacement and millions of spectators later, Nicklaus' career is about to end in the perfect spot. St. Andrews, Scotland.

AUGUSTA, Ga. - The first controversy of the 69th Masters festered yesterday during the rain delay - and ultimate postponement of the second round - between two of the tournament's headliners. After rumors surfaced earlier in the day that Vijay Singh had complained to tournament officials about Phil Mickelson chewing up the 12th green with his size-12 spikes during Thursday's opening round, a high-ranking member of the club admitted that a complaint had been lodged by an unspecified player.

AUGUSTA, Ga. - For many years, Jack Nicklaus came here for the Masters with one purpose: to win. Between 1959, when he missed the cut as a 19-year-old amateur, and 1986, when he became the oldest champion ever at age 46, Nicklaus won a record six times. This year, Nicklaus is playing here with one purpose: finding solace among family and friends after the death of his 18-month old grandson, Jake, who drowned in a hot tub after being left unattended by a nanny at the family's home in Florida.

Outwardly, he is the picture of confidence. From the smooth swing that should seemingly come from a man 20 years younger to the easy smile that turns strangers into instant friends, Bruce Fleisher looks the part of the Senior PGA Tour's Big Man On Campus. Fleisher is certainly a big shot these days, given the 14 tournaments he has won and the more than $8 million in prize money he has earned in a little more than three years on the Senior PGA Tour. But it is often a facade for the defending U.S. Senior Open champion.

The 2002 U.S. Senior Open at Caves Valley lost its biggest draw yesterday when Jack Nicklaus was forced to withdraw with a back injury. The news that Nicklaus had pulled out of the $2.5 million major championship, scheduled to begin Thursday at Caves Valley Golf Club in Owings Mills, didn't come as a surprise to those familiar with the 62-year-old legend's ongoing physical problems. It marks the second time this year that Nicklaus couldn't play in a major because of his recurring back troubles.