Thursday, March 18, 2010
GOLFING legend Jack Nicklaus and former Ryder Cup-winning captain Tony Jacklin have expressed surprise that Tiger Woods will end his five-month self-imposed exile at the US Masters in Augusta.
However Nicklaus admits he expects Woods will overhaul his record of 18 Major Championship victories – though not beginning in Georgia next month.
Nicklaus was a surprise guest in Morocco yesterday ahead of today’s Hassan 11 Trophy in the capital Rabat. The golfing great was in Marrakech overseeing a design project and was invited by Moroccan ruler King Mohammed VI, who is also president of the Royal Moroccan Golf Federation, to visit this week’s host course, Dar Es Salam.
Following the normal pleasantries, Nicklaus was then joined by 1985 European Ryder Cup-winning captain Jacklin in hosting a clinic on the range.
The presence of the two golfing legends brought the range to a standstill with many competing players, including Irish players Damien McGrane, Darren Clarke and Gareth Maybin, breaking from their practice to pick up tips from the veterans.
The champion duo then expressed their own surprise Woods will not be competing ahead of competing at Augusta.
"I fully expected Tiger to come back to play the Masters and that will be good for Augusta," said Nicklaus.
"But I am surprised he is not playing some place before that, but then Tiger is Tiger and he’ll come back ready to play."
Jacklin added: "I’m surprised he’s not getting his feet wet somewhere else. I am going to be as fascinated as everyone else to see what happens. The Masters will have the biggest TV audience it’s ever had and like everyone else, I will be watching with anticipation."
However Nicklaus also wonders whether Woods, who’s last event was winning the Australian Masters in Melbourne on November 15, will be ‘competition sharp’ to handle the season’s first Major.
"Tiger’s a phenomenal athlete but if I went to Augusta cold, I would not have been at my best," said Nicklaus.
"If you remember the last time I won the Masters (1986) Seve went to that Masters not having played very much golf. That translated to me as that when he came down the stretch, Seve was not going to be as tough as he would be.
"So when he hit the ball into the water at 15 there was a type of swing you would expect from somebody who wasn’t sharp. When you’re sharp that doesn’t happen. When you’re not sharp those kind of things happen and being sharp is being tournament-tested on a recent basis.
"That would be the only negative for Tiger in that he would not be tournament-tested. But as a golfer he will be fine."
While Woods may not capture a 15th Major title next month, Nicklaus is adamant the world number one will eventually surpass the now 70-year-old’s record of 18 Major triumphs.
"Yes, I still expect Tiger to go pass my record," said Nicklaus. "I just look at Tiger as a golfer and his personal life is none of my business. I look at him as a terrific player. His focus is as a golfer and I doubt if his goals have changed.
"His goals are to win more Majors than I did, and that’s fine. His chances of doing that are quite good – he has five more Majors to win to break my record.
"So when you look at it, you think that five more is not very many.
"When you look at the other players playing today the most anybody has won is three, so he had almost two lifetime careers to break my record. He’s still the best out there so we’ll just have to wait and see."
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