Nicklaus: Can you tell me who won in the last Ryder Cup? No. But who won the last four majors?
In the wake of yet another defeat at Gleneagles in 2014, the PGA of America set up an 11-man task force to examine all aspects of the US Ryder Cup process.
Featuring the likes of Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, the panel examined the selection of Ryder Cup captains and vice-captains, the qualifying system, the dates by which the team is determined and the timing of wild card selections.
If only they had thought to simply ask what Jack Nicklaus thought instead.
Nicklaus, who enjoyed five wins and one draw - thanks to his famous concession to Tony Jacklin - as a player, and experienced one win and one defeat as captain, hosted a dinner for potential team members during last week's Honda Classic and urged them to put the biennial event into perspective.
"I said, there you are talking about the Ryder Cup, but you've got four majors in front of you," Nicklaus told reporters. "You've got far more important things to your life than the Ryder Cup coming up.
"It's a great honour to represent your country, and it's a great honour to be part of an international team, but it's supposed to be fun."
Nicklaus - and Woods for that matter - has always prized major championships above team glory, a point the 18-time major winner reiterated at his home in North Palm Beach.
"I said, can you tell me who won and lost in the last Ryder Cup? No, but can you tell me who won the last four majors? Absolutely you can tell me," Nicklaus said.
"So it's not that big of a deal. I know you want to play your best, but take it as a game that you prepare for and have fun and go play, but it's for bragging rights. Don't try to make it more than what it is.
"You want to talk about pressure. You're going to tell me that you've got more pressure playing the Ryder Cup than coming down the 18th hole at Augusta or the US Open, trying to win a major championship? Crap."
Nicklaus was similarly dismissive about how much influence the dinner might have on the result at Hazeltine in September, when Europe will be looking for a fourth win in succession and a ninth in the last 11 contests.
"I can't imagine how them coming over to have dinner at an old man's house is going to help any," the 76-year-old said.
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Woods has already agreed to be one of Davis Love's vice-captains at Hazeltine and attended the dinner despite currently being sidelined after his latest back operation.
The 14-time major winner said on social media last week that his recovery was "progressing nicely" and Nicklaus also reported positive news.
"He says he was feeling great and he was able to stand over a putt and chip now without having any leg pain or so forth," Nicklaus said. "He looked very good. He looked very healthy. And he really misses playing. So that's good."
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Europe's Ryder Cup talisman Ian Poulter has his work cut out to make Darren Clarke's team this year, a situation not helped by missing out on this week's WGC-Cadillac Championship.
Poulter is the only Englishman to have won two of the high-profile WGC events, but failed to qualify for Doral by moving into the world's top 50 at PGA National.
Instead, the 40-year-old's share of 43rd dropped him from 59th in the standings to 64th and means he misses his first WGC event since the 2004 Bridgestone Invitational.
Poulter, who needed a wild card in 2012 and 2014, is 30th in Ryder Cup qualifying with five rookies - Andy Sullivan, Danny Willett, Matt Fitzpatrick, Thorbjorn Olesen and Thomas Pieters - currently occupying automatic places.
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