Growling like a papa bear

RICHARD DUNN

As Jack Nicklaus got up from his chair on stage in the interview room

at the Toshiba Senior Classic media center at Newport Beach Country

Club, he acted his age.

It was slow and careful. There was a grimace on his face. He

reached down with his right hand to grab his hip and lower back. It

was painful to watch.

Then he gracefully stood up. Like a bear growling in the forest.

Nicklaus, however, is fine physically.

“I’m OK,” he quipped. “I’m not looking down.”

But the big question on everybody’s mind this week has been --

will Nicklaus come back next year if he wins?

“Sure,” he answered matter-of-factly. “I’ve never not defended a

tournament [title]. I would be happy to come back.”

The Nicklaus who showed up this week still has an attitude. Still

wants to win. Still has something to prove. Still believes he can win

a golf tournament.

“I think I might have a good shot at playing well,” said Nicklaus,

the winner of 18 major championships.

Nicklaus shot his age at the Skins Game less than four months ago

and has played well thus far on the PGA Champions Tour at the

MasterCard Championship in Hawaii and ACE Group Classic in Naples,

Fla., but the Golden Bear, making his first appearance in the Toshiba

Senior Classic today, realizes that “reality will set in” and his age

will get the best of him.

In a press conference Thursday, Nicklaus, among other things,

continued to ridicule the United States Golf Association and its

position on allowing modern-day equipment and golf balls to travel

where no player has gone before. But then surprised many, including

longtime followers, when he talked about almost quitting some 20

years ago, only to remain in the game because of his four boys, who

inspired him to persevere and play with them as they grew in the

game.

“If I hadn’t had four boys who loved golf, I would’ve stopped

playing in my early 40s,” Nicklaus said. “You don’t expect, when you

have little kids, that they will have that kind of influence.”

A few years after rethinking his retirement plans, Nicklaus won

the 1986 Masters at age 46, becoming the oldest player in history to

win at Augusta National.

“As great as it felt to win the Master in 1986 at my age, sharing

something with my son [Jack, who caddied] was really special,”

Nicklaus said. “To share those things are really nice. My boys kept

me playing.”

Today’s Newport Beach gallery for the aging-gracefully Nicklaus

for a 10:55 a.m. tee time should rival that only of his greatest

challenger -- Arnold Palmer, whose first and only Toshiba Senior

Classic appearance came in 2000, the rain-shortened 36-hole affair

won by Allen Doyle.

Nicklaus enjoys the good life fishing for trout and playing tennis

with his wife, Barbara, while living in North Palm Beach, Fla. But

when Nicklaus tees it up, he’s all business, though he realizes

father time catches up with you.

“You try to play golf as long as you can,” Nicklaus said. “Am I

really going to get better next year [no matter how often I

practice]? No, I’m not going to get any better. I enjoy catching big

fish and playing a lot of tennis. When I play golf, my expectations

are different. If I’m not walking down the 18th fairway with a chance

to win the golf tournament, then I’m not being realistic. Why am I

here? Nobody really wants to admit their time is over.”

For golf fans and Toshiba Senior Classic organizers, the time for

Nicklaus is just beginning. Welcome to the first tee, Jack.