Nicklaus Can’t Put It Together; Palmer Misses Cut

By Kevin McManemin, USGA

Toledo, Ohio -- Inconsistency.

That would be the one word to describe Jack Nicklaus’ problem at Inverness Friday.

However, Nicklaus offered his own one-word explanation.

"Scoring," he said after posting a 2-over 73 second round for a total of 8-over 150 for the championship.

"That may sound like a short, quick answer; it’s not," he went on. "It’s been giving me trouble all year. I feel I hit the ball reasonably well and I play reasonable shots. I don’t feel my putting is that terrible. I don’t put it all together. I just don’t score."

While the round was a marked improvement from Thursday’s 6-over performance and good enough to keep him in the field for the weekend, Nicklaus left the round disappointed by blown opportunities

There was no one aspect of his game that kept him above par for the round. Rather, it was a bad drive here, a missed putt there, an anthology of small mistakes that ended up costing him in the end.

Arnold Palmer hits out of a bunker on No. 18, a hole he would triple bogey. (John Mummert/USGA)

In the down, up, down-again round, Nicklaus played best on holes 7 through 12, which he played at 2 under. He found success (and negative numbers) on those holes mostly due to fantastic iron play that left him with short, easily-makeable putts.

On the par-4 ninth hole, Nicklaus’ second shot landed about 2 feet from the hole, rolling to a stop about 5 feet past. He holed it for his first birdie of the round.

The par-4 11^th proceeded the same way. Nicklaus followed a great drive by hitting his second shot within a foot or two of the hole, easily knocking it in for another birdie.

By the 12^th, Nicklaus seemed to be on a roll, having played the last six holes at 2 under. He was driving long and accurate, putting well and chipping magnificently.

Then inconsistency struck.

His drive on 13 found a fairway bunker with a huge, imposing lip. Nicklaus was forced to play it safe, going for a short landing area rather than the green, and managed to save par.

On the 14^th, Nicklaus found more trouble off the tee, hitting it 30 yards into the rough with a large pine tree standing between ball and green. He played it safe again, chipping it into the nearby fairway, but he would end up missing his par putt and end up with a bogey.

"That’s the frustrating part when you are just about to get going then you let it go back again," said Nicklaus. "That’s what I’ve been doing."

On the 15^th hole Nicklaus’ putter would fail him again. When his second shot on the 441-yard par 4 left him well short, he was able to bump and run within 4 feet of the flagstick. But he missed the putt to drop back to 2 over.

There was only one aspect of the round that was perfectly consistent – fan support. Outside the ropes, fans lined the course wherever Nicklaus went and offered constant cheers and words of encouragement. Nicklaus walked off the 18^th to a standing ovation.

Entering Saturday, he stands 15 shots behind leader Vicente Fernandez. While that may be a steep hill to climb, Nicklaus knows that the rest of the field is having "scoring problems" of their own on this tough golf course. He predicts that Inverness will continue to take its toll on the players this weekend.

"I think over par will win the tournament if Tom [Watson] doesn’t continue to play well," said Nicklaus.

They did the wave.

Yes, the gesture sports fans usually reserve for beer-soaked baseball stadiums and rowdy hockey rinks found its way onto the course Friday for the usually staid Senior Open. When Arnold Palmer walked up to the third green, fans broke into a spontaneous ‘wave’ that crested through the grandstands, rolled down along the gallery ropes and splashed good feeling throughout the crowd.

The Palmer carnival wasn’t limited to the third hole. Everywhere he went the fans were an anxious flurry of human noise and motion – clapping, pumping fists, flashing the ubiquitous thumbs up, yelling, whistling, bowing (yes, bowing) and constantly cheering their 73-year-old hero.

And though his round provided enough great drives and nice shots to keep the faithful cheering, there’s no sugarcoating the end result: he played bogey golf.

Palmer walked off the 18^th green 17 over for the day, with only four pars and one birdie for the round. He’d score twice as many triple bogeys as he would birdies, and his 88 will unfortunately go down in history as his worst single round in 23 years of starts at the U.S. Senior Open.

His main problem seemed to be Inverness’ bunkers. Palmer played uniformly lousy out of the sand, and his worst holes all involved bad shots out of the bunkers. Worse, he found them with regularity.

On the par-4 second hole, Palmer found a greenside bunker with his second shot. His shot out hit the rough on the top of the bunker and stayed put. The impenetrable Black Forest rough stymied his next shot, which dribbled a few feet and stayed buried in the deep grass. From there, he rolled it onto the green and two-putted to limp away with a triple-bogey seven.

Palmer’s other triple bogey of the round came on the final hole.

After the round Palmer indulged the swarm of fans by taking time for the daily autograph scrum, as uniformed police officers pushed through the crowd to keep them from crushing him. The intergeneration appeal of the golf legend was apparent, with kids in Tiger Woods T-shirts waving programs in Palmer’s face as elderly fans solemnly informed him "Arnie -- I’ve been following you for 50 years. You’re the best."

So, no, Palmer won’t make the cut at the year’s Senior Open. As a man for whom the thrill of competition courses through his bloodstream, he won’t take any joy out of his performance this afternoon.

But with all the smiles, thumbs-ups and winks to the crowd that one of the true gentlemen of golf managed today, the fans will never know it.

Kevin McManemin is a writer for the USGA. E-mail him at kmcmanemin@usga.org with questions and comments.