Five minutes with... Jack Nicklaus

You always had good nerves, but you’re still human. What was your most nervous moment as a pro?

“When you have a dangerous shot without any bailout or relief — water on one side of the fairway and out of bounds on the other, and there’s not enough room to play the shot — those situations I disliked. You’re forced to play a shot, without an option.

Where? The sixth at Carnoustie, a par 5 — if you played to the right [off the tee] you didn’t leave yourself with anything, and if you played left, out of bounds was staring you in the face.

I hit out of bounds there in the last round of ’75 [British Open]. It cost me the tournament.”

What’s the best swing you ever saw?

“Sam Snead. I don’t think there’s ever been a swing more rhythmic, fluid, or prettier than Sam’s.”

How about the best shot you’ve witnessed?

“The one Tiger hit at the [2012] Memorial was about the greatest shot I’ve ever seen.

You’re talking about the greenside flop shot Tiger holed on 16 on Sunday?

“You’re ranking that above, say, Watson’s chip-in on 17 at the 1982 US Open?

“If Watson’s shot at Pebble Beach doesn’t go in the hole, he still has a 12- to 15-foot putt to salvage par. He doesn’t put himself out of the tournament. Lee Trevino’s shot [chip-in for par] on the 71st hole at Muirfield in 1972, if it doesn’t go in he’s not out of the tournament. But Tiger’s shot? You couldn’t tell on TV how difficult it was. He didn’t have a good lie. If he’d hit it two feet shorter, he’s faced with a similar shot, just shorter. If he’d hit it two feet farther, it goes in the water.

“Given that he’s trying to recover from all the issues he’s had with his game, and with the game of life, he played it fantastically. The ball went in the hole, but that was immaterial. It’s how he hit the shot that was so good.”

You’re 72. If you could go back 50 years and give young Jack advice, what would you tell him?

“Obviously, it would be something a 22-year-old would never listen to [laughs]. I’d tell him to be more patient. I had pretty good patience in my twenties, and that’s probably why I won so much, but I made mistakes in my early years on Tour, and [had I corrected] those, I would have won several more Majors.

“But near misses in Majors are part of the learning process. Tom Watson went through that. Rory McIlroy went through that — you blow a couple of Majors, but you learn how to win. I wouldn’t want to trade it, because the learning process is so valuable. But still, I look back and say, ‘Boy! If I would have just done that’. Bam, what I could have won?”

Your old rival Johnny Miller speaks movingly about the role his father played in making him a champion. What’s the most important thing your dad, Charlie, taught you?

“That I’m not the only person on the golf course and I’m not the only person in life. I had to treat other people the way I wanted to be a treated.

“He taught me sportsmanship — how to smile and sincerely congratulate someone when they beat me. I remember him saying, ‘Go beat your head against the locker later. When you’re on the course, you genuinely say congratulations’.

“I felt that if a guy played better than me, he deserved to be congratulated. He also taught me family values: how to be part of your kids’ lives without intruding on their lives.”