They’re like toothaches, scenes such as this.
No amount of preparation and no degree of predictability can alter the result, which is raging discomfort.
On a steamy afternoon last June at Oakmont, outside Pittsburgh, Arnold Palmer buried his head in a towel to absorb the tears. Then he waved goodbye to the U.S. Open forever, and you wanted to borrow his towel.
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What happened Friday at Shinnecock Hills wasn’t quite as sad, but it will do. Jack Nicklaus, the greatest golfer ever, played what probably was his worst round ever in this, his 39th consecutive national championship.
The Golden Bear shot an unsightly 81, or 11 over par. Nicklaus has not posted a poorer score in relation to par since his U.S. Open debut in 1957, when he was a portly amateur out of Ohio State.
On Friday, the 55-year-old legend seemed out of his element.
“Very frustrating,” said Nicklaus. “Yesterday, I played a decent first round . Then today, I come out here and it’s like I’m a completely different person. I used to be able to correct myself as I went along. But I can’t do that now. The mechanics. My mechanics just won’t allow it.”
The Golden Bear missed the cut, of course, from here to Manhattan. As he trudged up the last fairway toward that 18th green, baked in sun below the crowded bleachers, a murmur grew faster than the Shinnecock rough. He hoisted his baseball cap, then glared at an uphill putt.
“Make it, Jack!” a deep throat yelled, as though it mattered. But it didn’t, and Nicklaus missed. The ball, running out of gas, stopped short of the cup.
Likewise, the Golden Bear pulled up just shy of closing his Open book on the spot.
“I would like not to end with an 81,” Nicklaus said. “But that’s not all up to me.”
Nicklaus, who has won four U.S. Opens, came to Shinnecock on a special exemption from the United States Golf Association. A past Masters champion is eligible for Augusta National forever, and the British Open keeps updating its “Palmer Rules” as needed. Former winners there can compete through age 65, which means Arnie will be at St. Andrews, Scotland, come July. So will Jack.
“There’s some pressure on the USGA to do that with this Open,” said Nicklaus. “I don’t know if that’s the way to go or not. I do know that if I were extended an invitation to next year’s Open, I’d gladly accept. That would make a nice, round number, 40.”
David Fay, executive director of the USGA, admits to no such movement, subtle or otherwise, toward a change in policy. But he knows about Jack and the Open and what would happen if they didn’t meet again next June at Oakland Hills, Mich.
“Jack can still compete,” Fay said. “In two weeks, we have the Senior Open. It would be just like him to go there and find his game again.”
Victory in the Senior Open would mean Nicklaus needs no favors. All he seeks now is a swing that repeats.
“Very frustrating,” he said. “I think I’ve got it working . . . and then it doesn’t work at all. It changes from round to round, day to day . . .”
Raymond Floyd, 52, won the Open at Shinnecock in 1986. That was two months after Nicklaus won his golden Masters. Now, Floyd is clearly a greater force.
“Raymond still has the desire,” Nicklaus said. “Also, his strength was always his short game, which is still there. My strength always was my strength, which frankly isn’t what it used to be. Now I have to rely on my short game like never before, and it makes it more difficult.”
Jack Nicklaus will not tolerate 81s for much longer. He will either get better or get out.
“This is a year of decision,” he said. “If I can’t play well enough to compete, I’m not going to just keep showing up. There’s no point in that.”
The Golden Bear has too much pride. Keep some Kleenex nearby.