Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 29, 1990 TAG: 9003290088
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. LENGTH: Medium
"Every time I started something new, it's been there," Nicklaus said Wednesday on the eve of his first official start as a senior golfer.
"It was there in junior golf, in the amateurs. It was there my first year on the tour; the first time I went to the British Open; the first time I went to Australia; the first time I went to Japan or France or wherever.
"For 20 years it was there in every major I played."
Nicklaus said that anticipating the pressure doesn't mean he will be ready to deal with it.
"Some of the times I've performed. Sometimes I didn't," he said. "It's the same here. Maybe I'll perform, maybe not."
He will know soon enough this morning in the opening round of the Tradition at Desert Mountain when he makes his first appearance in a full-field event on the Senior PGA Tour.
"I'm looking forward to it," said the man voted the Player of the Century and the holder of a record 18 major professional titles.
But his debut is not without problems.
"My golf game is semi-lousy," Nicklaus said before a final practice round for the 72-hole event that offers $800,000 in total prize money.
"I've had the chance to work on it. Goodness gracious, I spent 20-some straight days playing golf. I haven't done that since I was 13 years old."
"But instead of getting better, things got worse. I can't put things together to make a golf game."
Still, Nicklaus remains convinced things will get better.
"The work I've been putting in will produce results. It's just a matter of when. It could be soon," he said.
It will have to be soon if he is to handle such old friends and golfing foes as Arnold Palmer, Gary Player and Lee Trevino, who has won three of his four Senior Tour starts this year.
"It's not really a renewal of old rivalries," Nicklaus said. "They'll all be at Augusta [the Masters] next week, but nobody will be writing about old rivalries there because we aren't the guys expected to win."
Those expectations of victory, missing from Nicklaus' golfing life since his 1986 Masters triumph, have returned.
"I'm expecting to get in a pretty good week of golf," he said. "Whether I win or not is another question.
"I'd love to win, particularly my first start. If I play well, have a chance to win, if I do win, fine. I'll go to Augusta with confidence."
He was not looking at his first seniors appearance as a challenge to Trevino, or as a confrontation with Lee.
"I don't really play against anybody. I never have. I'm not playing against Lee here. I'm playing against the golf course and Jack Nicklaus," he said.
His opponents, however, may have a different view.
"Any time Jack Nicklaus plays, he's the man to beat," Trevino said.
by CNB