Player Diary: Jack Nicklaus

Two-time Senior Open winner Jack Nicklaus shot 2-over 73 Friday to stand 8-over 150 for the championship. He shared his thoughts with www.ussenioropen.com: 

There wasn't much of a turnaround from my 77 of Thursday, but [Thursday] was a very difficult afternoon to play golf and I played lousy. And I played similarly today, but a little bit better and it was just a little easier time to play in the morning. I still didn't make much. And this is a golf course that you are going to miss greens and you have to be able to chip the ball well. It's very difficult to chip here and you are going to have to make some putts. I hung in there though.

I started out and was 2-over par after six holes. I bogeyed both of the par-3s, and then I birdied nine and 11; that's pretty good. And then I had lies at 12, 13, 14 get away from me to the right, and three shots just short of the green on 15 putting it up there. So I basically wasted three shots in a row after really getting myself in position.

Then I played the last holes alright. I missed a short 6-foot putt at the last hole. I had to play a foot out of the hole and I still missed it a foot right. If I hit it harder it was going to run down to the front of the green.

That's the frustrating part when you are just about to get going, then you let it go back again. That's what I have been doing. My continual problem all this year has been scoring. I feel I hit the ball reasonably well. And I play reasonable shots; I don't feel like my putting is that terrible; I just don't put it all together. I just don't score. And there is a knack for scoring, and scoring comes from being able to preserve what you've got and to play your smart shots when you need to play them and not do stupid things. And to take advantage of things when you have them. That's what I haven't been doing and that's just the lack of scoring.

I haven't been able to play as much as I like to. I haven’t been able to practice a lot either, and I haven't been getting anything out of it when I do. One thing I can't practice is chipping a lot because I can't bend over and stay there because that's where I really get hurt in my back.

I know on a golf course like this you’ve got to chip and you’ve got to be right with that and I can't do it. I can't be ready for it. That's frustrating. I suppose the most frustrating thing to me is that I know I'm not prepared.

Even though I'm better, I'm not prepared. And you know, if you

are going to play, there shouldn't be any excuse for not being prepared. And I suppose I don't want to make an excuse. I have no desire to make an excuse, except that I'm just not ready. When you are not ready you don't have a lot of confidence. It just makes it very difficult to score.

Looking at Saturday, I am not out of it, depending on what Tom Watson does in the afternoon. But if I shoot a couple of round in the 60's, you never know.