Latest news with #Nicklaus
Daily Mirror
21-06-2025
- Sport
- Daily Mirror
Jack Nicklaus had to apologise for text he sent to PGA Tour star after mishap
Jack Nicklaus was left looking a bit sheepish after mistakenly congratulating Justin Thomas at a charity golf tournament before boarding a flight Jack Nicklaus landed in an awkward spot after he prematurely congratulated Justin Thomas during a high-stakes playoff at a charity golf event, prior to boarding his flight. Nicklaus made the mistake of sending a 'well done' text to the American golfer too early during a tense playoff match-up against Collin Morikawa. In 2020, Thomas and Morikawa were tied at the Workday Charity Open, which was held at Nicklaus' Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio. The Golden Bear was staying at his home in Florida but had planned to jet back to Ohio to meet the eventual champion. With the final day's tee times pushed forward due to weather predictions, Nicklaus found himself stepping onto his plane just as the pivotal moments of the tournament were unfolding. Upon witnessing Thomas drain a phenomenal 50-foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole, a thrilled Nicklaus quickly reached out to him with a celebratory text, as reported by Golf Digest. Nicklaus said at the time: "Barbara and I both texted Justin and said to him, 'Wow, what a fantastic putt, unbelievable fantastic super putt, can't believe that you made that putt. Now you've got the chance to win two in a row.'" Yet, the tables turned as Morikawa responded with a remarkable 24-foot putt of his own to equal Thomas and continue the playoff, ultimately triumphing on the third additional hole. Nicklaus added: "And then we got up in the air, and we picked up Wi-Fi after 10,000 feet, and we found out Morikawa won the tournament, and so I had to send him another text and say, 'Oops, a little premature.' "He was good about it. He texted back and he said, 'All's good, it's OK.'" Thomas' classy response highlighted his true colours, as he didn't take the celebratory blunder to heart. This display of sportsmanship came long before Rory McIlroy's decision not to contact Nicklaus after joining him and an elite group of golfers. Last month, Nicklaus disclosed that he hadn't heard from McIlroy since he joined him in the hall of fame as one of six golfers to win the career Grand Slam. Notably, McIlroy did not attend May's Memorial Tournament, run by Nicklaus, for the first time since 2017. In a conversation with AP, the 85-year-old expressed uncertainty about McIlroy's absence from the event and mentioned he hadn't spoken to the Northern Irishman since the Masters in April. Nicklaus said: "I really don't know why Rory didn't talk to me. I can't answer that question. There's nothing I can answer. I know he has to make a schedule that works for him and what he has to do. And I understand, because I had to do the same thing. We just weren't included this year." He went on to defend McIlroy, as he added: "I am not throwing Rory under the bus. I like Rory too much. He's a good kid. He's played some great golf. He's had a lot of things that have happened to him. He's got to make his own call on things. "Could he have done them differently? Probably. But that's all right. I could probably have done some of mine differently, too. I'm not complaining about Rory."
The National
15-06-2025
- Sport
- The National
Johnny Miller and Jack Nicklaus on US Opens at Oakmont
This storied expanse of golfing terrain, sprawling out in the suburbs of Pittsburgh, tends to lead to the kind of punishing shift that's the golfing equivalent of breaking rocks in a chain gang. As the third round of the US Open was getting underway yesterday, the leaderboard showed that only three players were under-par for 36-holes. The lead was held by Sam Burns at three-under. Funnily enough, when the aforementioned Nicklaus triumphed at Oakmont in the 1962 US Open, only three players were under-par at halfway. And the lead was three-under. 'One-under par won the tournament,' said Nicklaus of the eventual winning tally that gave him the first of his 18-major titles. 'One-under par doesn't win a lot of tournaments today, but it did then.' The way things are going this week, Jack, it might be good enough to win again come Sunday night. Time will tell. The chances, meanwhile, of someone replicating Miller's feat of 1973 and conjuring a dazzling 63 on the final day to win are probably as remote as the outer rings of Saturn. Miller probably thought the chances of doing it himself were pretty outlandish too. It was the lowest round in major history, a record low that stood for 44 years. Miller will never tire of talking about it. In fact, his iconic round has been talked about so much down the seasons, you half expect the passing years to have shaved another couple of shots off the card. In the Oakmont media centre yesterday, it was time to talk about it again. Miller had been six shots off the pace heading into the final round of that '73 showpiece after a 76 on day three. Ahead of him on the leaderboard sat giants like Nicklaus, Gary Player, Lee Trevino and Arnold Palmer. By the end of the day, they were all left wheezing behind as Miller came with a triumphant charge that could've been accompanied by a rousing bugle call and mounted cavalry. Miller hit all 18 greens in regulation. He took 29 putts. Ten of his approach shots landed within 15-feet while five were within six-feet. His only bogey came on the par-3 eighth, a three-putt blemish which still annoys him to this day. In this game, there's always something from a round that rankles, isn't there? Miller's 76 in round three, meanwhile, certainly gave him plenty to ponder. 'I was pretty down in the dumps after that,' reflected the 78-year-old. 'I thought, 'well, that's the end of that'. 'But I birdied the first four holes and thought, 'dang, I was six back and I'm four-under now and the leaders might be nervous. I might only be one or two behind'. 'I got ahead of myself like a lot of golfers do when they think they're going to play the best round of their life. I got a surge of adrenaline and started to be very tentative. But after the fourth hole, I thought, 'I've got a shot here if I can keep it up'.' And he did. Winning at Oakmont requires a bit of everything. 'Patience, basically that's what you have to have,' said Nicklaus of the importance of keeping the head while others can be losing theirs. 'Obviously you have to play good golf. But just be patient with it. The key to Oakmont to me was not three-putting.' Keeping it on the straight and narrow, especially at a place like this, helps too. 'You see the guys that don't hit the fairway, like Bryson DeChambeau,' said Miller, with a subtle dig at the reigning US Open champion who missed the cut the other night. 'He was living in the rough there these last couple days. Of course, he gets to watch it on TV today.' Whoever emerges victorious at Oakmont tonight will have displayed all these things and more. Nobody ever said winning was easy. 'You've got to be able to handle the US Open pressure,' said Miller. 'With a a lot of guys, winning a US Open is a little out of their comfort zone. So, there's only a certain kind of player that can win a US, especially on Sunday. 'That's the greatness of golf. Jack liked to hang around the first three days and then on the last day he had a huge advantage. He believed in himself, and not only believed in himself, he could produce on that last round and handle the putt or the shot.' The character and resolve of the current crop of US Open challengers will be revealed tonight.
The Herald Scotland
15-06-2025
- Sport
- The Herald Scotland
Johnny Miller and Jack Nicklaus on US Opens at Oakmont
As the third round of the US Open was getting underway yesterday, the leaderboard showed that only three players were under-par for 36-holes. The lead was held by Sam Burns at three-under. Funnily enough, when the aforementioned Nicklaus triumphed at Oakmont in the 1962 US Open, only three players were under-par at halfway. And the lead was three-under. 'One-under par won the tournament,' said Nicklaus of the eventual winning tally that gave him the first of his 18-major titles. 'One-under par doesn't win a lot of tournaments today, but it did then.' The way things are going this week, Jack, it might be good enough to win again come Sunday night. Time will tell. The chances, meanwhile, of someone replicating Miller's feat of 1973 and conjuring a dazzling 63 on the final day to win are probably as remote as the outer rings of Saturn. Miller probably thought the chances of doing it himself were pretty outlandish too. It was the lowest round in major history, a record low that stood for 44 years. Miller will never tire of talking about it. In fact, his iconic round has been talked about so much down the seasons, you half expect the passing years to have shaved another couple of shots off the card. In the Oakmont media centre yesterday, it was time to talk about it again. Miller had been six shots off the pace heading into the final round of that '73 showpiece after a 76 on day three. Ahead of him on the leaderboard sat giants like Nicklaus, Gary Player, Lee Trevino and Arnold Palmer. By the end of the day, they were all left wheezing behind as Miller came with a triumphant charge that could've been accompanied by a rousing bugle call and mounted cavalry. Miller hit all 18 greens in regulation. He took 29 putts. Ten of his approach shots landed within 15-feet while five were within six-feet. His only bogey came on the par-3 eighth, a three-putt blemish which still annoys him to this day. In this game, there's always something from a round that rankles, isn't there? Miller's 76 in round three, meanwhile, certainly gave him plenty to ponder. 'I was pretty down in the dumps after that,' reflected the 78-year-old. 'I thought, 'well, that's the end of that'. 'But I birdied the first four holes and thought, 'dang, I was six back and I'm four-under now and the leaders might be nervous. I might only be one or two behind'. 'I got ahead of myself like a lot of golfers do when they think they're going to play the best round of their life. I got a surge of adrenaline and started to be very tentative. But after the fourth hole, I thought, 'I've got a shot here if I can keep it up'.' And he did. Winning at Oakmont requires a bit of everything. 'Patience, basically that's what you have to have,' said Nicklaus of the importance of keeping the head while others can be losing theirs. 'Obviously you have to play good golf. But just be patient with it. The key to Oakmont to me was not three-putting.' Keeping it on the straight and narrow, especially at a place like this, helps too. 'You see the guys that don't hit the fairway, like Bryson DeChambeau,' said Miller, with a subtle dig at the reigning US Open champion who missed the cut the other night. 'He was living in the rough there these last couple days. Of course, he gets to watch it on TV today.' Whoever emerges victorious at Oakmont tonight will have displayed all these things and more. Nobody ever said winning was easy. 'You've got to be able to handle the US Open pressure,' said Miller. 'With a a lot of guys, winning a US Open is a little out of their comfort zone. So, there's only a certain kind of player that can win a US, especially on Sunday. 'That's the greatness of golf. Jack liked to hang around the first three days and then on the last day he had a huge advantage. He believed in himself, and not only believed in himself, he could produce on that last round and handle the putt or the shot.' The character and resolve of the current crop of US Open challengers will be revealed tonight.
Straits Times
15-06-2025
- Sport
- Straits Times
Jack Nicklaus recounts US Open win in Arnold Palmer's backyard
Jack Nicklaus and Johnny Miller speak at a press conference during the third round of the US Open. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect OAKMONT – The way Jack Nicklaus describes the challenges of Oakmont Country Club in 1962 can just as easily apply to Oakmont in 2025. The character of this championship golf course has not changed. 'I knew that you had to drive the ball straight,' he said on June 14. 'I knew that putting was going to be a premium on this golf course.' Here is where Nicklaus' story differs. To secure his first Major championship – and, in fact, his first professional victory of any kind – he also had to go toe to toe with Arnold Palmer, the best and most popular golfer in the world. And for Palmer, from nearby Latrobe, this was a home game. 'I finished second (at the US Open) in '60 and fourth in '61 and I sort of felt like this was my Open,' Nicklaus said. 'I didn't realise that, as a 22-year-old might not, that I was in Arnold Palmer's backyard.' Palmer, 11 years Nicklaus' senior, already was established with five Majors, including the Masters that year. And Palmer's galleries were the stuff of legends. In Western Pennsylvania, the throngs were even deeper. When Palmer and the up-and-coming Nicklaus finished 72 holes in one under, they were sent to an 18-hole play-off the next day. Nicklaus stunned the fans by building a four-stroke lead through six holes, and he endured a mid-round charge by Palmer to win the play-off by three. 'It was really kind of funny because I never really heard the gallery,' Nicklaus said. 'I was a 22-year-old kid with blinders on and not smart enough to figure out that people rooted for people. I just went out and played golf. 'I never really considered Arnold as something different. Arnold took me under his wing when I turned pro, and he never treated me anything other than as an equal, and became one of the closest friends I've ever had in the game.' Also on hand to speak with reporters on June 14 was Johnny Miller, who wrote his own chapter of history the next time the US Open was held at Oakmont in 1973. Miller had shot a 76 in the third round and was outside the top 10, six strokes off the lead. He proceeded to author a US Open-record 63 on the Sunday, passing both Nicklaus and Palmer on the leaderboard to win in stunning fashion. 'I had played with Arnold Palmer the first two rounds, which was, back in those days, was a crazy experience with his gallery,' Miller said. 'His gallery was – they were crazy. Crazy good. 'But to get through the gauntlet of playing with Arnold on the first two rounds was pretty good. We both shot 140, and just handling the pressure that week was – that was the other part.' This year's US Open marks the first at Oakmont since Palmer's death in September 2016. Three months earlier, Dustin Johnson lifted the trophy at Oakmont, but Palmer was not healthy enough to attend. Nicklaus called Palmer's impact on the game 'enormous', while Miller opted for an analogy to John Wayne as a 'big-time man's man'. 'He came along basically when television came along, and maybe television was great for Arnold, but Arnold was great for television and great for the game,' Nicklaus said. 'He had a flair about him that nobody else had, and people loved him. And rightfully so.' The world of golf has changed in the decades since. Nicklaus received US$17,500 for winning the 1962 US Open; the champion in this latest edition will take home US$4.3 million. But at Oakmont, the affection for Palmer and his career has not died down, nor has the modern-day player's respect for their elders. 'I was talking to some of the guys in there, in the locker room a few minutes ago, and they're saying – they said, 'What do you think (of the course)?'' Nicklaus said. 'I said, 'Well, obviously putting is the key out here'. I said, 'I three-putted the 55th green. I had one three-putt that week and I'm still ticked off I three-putted that one. That was sort of my mindset'.' Miller, in the true tell-it-like-it-is vein of his broadcasting career, added a jab at the 2024 champion who missed the cut. 'It's still all about hitting that ball in the fairway,' Miller said. 'You see the guys that don't – like Bryson DeChambeau, he was living in the rough there these last couple days. Of course he gets to watch it on TV today.' REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
NBC Sports
14-06-2025
- Sport
- NBC Sports
Jack Nicklaus, Johnny Miller reminisce about U.S. Open wins at Oakmont
World Golf Hall of Famer Johnny Miller emotionally reminisces on his historic 63 during the final round of the 1973 U.S. Open at Oakmont, explaining why the moment still means so much to him. OAKMONT, Pa. — Jack Nicklaus and Johnny Miller can look across the vast landscape of Oakmont where each won momentous U.S. Open titles and see in some respects how little has changed. The course is longer than when Nicklaus defeated Arnold Palmer in a playoff in 1962, than when Miller set a U.S. Open record that still stands 52 years later as the only man with a 63 in the final round to win. But it's still about putting. It's still those greens that feel like putting on a basketball court. 'I was talking to some of the guys in the locker room a few minutes ago,' Nicklaus said Saturday. 'And they're saying, 'What do you think?' I said, 'Well, obviously putting is the key out here.' I three-putted the 55th green. I had one three-putt that week, and I'm still ticked off I three-putted that one. That was sort of my mindset.' 'Basically you had to figure these greens out and not let them get to you,' he said. 'And be patient. One under par won the tournament, and 1 under par doesn't win a lot of tournaments today. But it did then.' And it might now. Only three players were under par at the halfway point for the 125th edition of the U.S. Open, and the record 10th one at Oakmont. Only 27 players have finished a major championship at Oakmont under par, and the next 36 holes determine how much — or if — that list will grow. Miller's win was epic, mainly because he thought he was out of it with a 76 in the third round of the 1973 U.S. Open, leaving him six shots behind. On a soft course, Miller delivered what he considers 'literally a perfect round of golf.' Almost. His only bogey in that round was a three-putt on the long par-3 eighth hole. Miller was a premier striker of the ball whose putting was streaky, and what he marvels about even today was missing only one fairway and hitting every green, every shot except one left below the cup on the lightning-fast greens. 'That's hard to do at Oakmont, to hit 18 greens and have no downhill putts,' Miller said. Both also had to deal with Arnold Palmer, the King, particularly in his home country of western Pennsylvania. Palmer had won the Masters for the third time in 1962. Nicklaus was a powerful 22-year-old with a crew cut — 'Fat Jack,' he was called — who didn't care about anything but winning and didn't realize the crowd was against him. 'He was the guy you had to beat if you wanted to win, and particularly here,' Nicklaus said. 'It was really kind of funny because I never really heard the gallery. I was a 22-year-old kid with blinders on and not smart enough to figure out that people rooted for people. I just went out and played golf. That's what I did.' If he could have donated one club to the USGA from his Open title — as players are asked to do now — Nicklaus didn't hesitate on the key to winning. 'I three-putted one time in 90 holes,' he said. Miller never got around to answering what club he would have donated — driving was key to miss only one fairway, his iron play was sublime in hitting every green. He did what few others even consider at a U.S. Open. He attacked, because he had to. 'I was more of a guy that didn't like it to be close,' he said. 'If that ball is going in the hole, I'm going to fill it up until the round is over if I can. None of this fancy stuff about hitting away from the target. I wanted to have the thrill of going for knocking down pins out of the green. That was my fun. I liked to drive fast and hit hard with the driver and that kind of stuff. 'I don't know, everybody does it differently,' he said. 'But that's just the way I thought.' Miller spoke how he thought, endearing him to U.S. viewers with his 29 years in the booth at NBC covering the U.S. Open, never afraid to use 'choke' when talking about pressure. Among the many changes that have occurred since their glory days at Oakmont: money. Golf Channel Staff, The prize fund is $21.5 million this week, with $4.3 million going to winner. Nicklaus won $17,500 for his 1962 U.S. Open title. Eleven years later, Miller won $30,000. That's true in all sports and particularly now in golf as the PGA Tour is in a money race with the Saudi backing of LIV Golf. 'Would I have loved to have had what's going on here when we played? Yeah. Obviously all of us would,' Nicklaus said. 'But I also was really pleased that ... Johnny and myself both trail blazed the way for what's happening today. I think if you look back at (Ben) Hogan and (Sam) Snead and those guys, they trail blazed it for us. 'I don't think that would have made any difference, whether we were playing for what we played for or what they're playing here today,' he said. 'If we would have had the ability to do this, I think we would have tried to do the same thing.'
