Tuesday, July 30,
2002
Woods,
Nicklaus team up at Bighorn
By DOUG FERGUSON
AP Golf Writer (Photo)
PALM DESERT, Calif.
(AP) — The team format for the Battle at Bighorn has changed
this year from alternate shot to best ball, which should put a
little more life into the made-for-TV exhibition. Of course, having
Lee Trevino around doesn't hurt.
Trevino, one of the
most animated characters of his generation, teams with Sergio
Garcia on Monday night for the fourth version of the prime-time
golf exhibition, an 18-hole match against Tiger Woods and Jack
Nicklaus.
It didn't take long
for the Merry Mex to start running off at the mouth.
``If we have to play
under the lights, Jack and I are goners, because we're blind when
the sun is out,'' Trevino said. ``We can barely see. Do whiffs
count? We've got to make a rule before we start.''
Asked whether he
and Nicklaus, both 62, would be hitting from the same tees as
Woods and Garcia, Trevino said he wasn't sure.
``I hope not,'' he
added quickly. ``What would be embarrassing is if they gave us
50 yards and those boys are still bombing it by us.''
Even when the golf
was meaningful, Trevino never took himself too seriously. This
is the guy who pulled a rubber snake from his golf bag on the
first tee of his 1971 U.S. Open playoff against Nicklaus at Merion,
which Trevino won.
Indeed, Nicklaus
knows what to expect.
``We'll tell him
we don't want to talk today,'' Nicklaus said. ``He'll tell us
we don't have to talk — just listen.''
Trevino has a kindred
spirit in Garcia, whose antics are familiar. He sprinted and skipped
down the fairway at Medinah in the 1999 PGA Championship after
gouging a 6-iron out of a tree. He pointed 200 yards away toward
Phil Mickelson at the U.S. Open this year after matching his birdie.
He raised his 3-wood to the heavens to celebrate a great shot
in a raging wind at the British Open.
Then again, not everything
about the 22-year-old Spaniard makes everyone laugh.
He blamed his playoff
loss in Australia last year on a rules official. He complained
that Woods got preferential treatment during a rain-soaked second
round at Bethpage Black. And he annoyed Woods two years ago at
Bighorn by treating his 1-up victory over Woods as though he had
just won the Masters.
``It was fun,'' Garcia
said of his first Battle at Bighorn. ``I can't wait to play with
my partner. Hopefully, we'll kick some butt.''
There is no denying
similarities on that other team, too.
Nicklaus has long
been considered the greatest golfer of all time. Woods is closing
in on him faster than anyone could have imagined when he turned
pro six years ago.
Woods already is
halfway to Nicklaus' record of six green jackets. Two years ago,
Woods replaced Nicklaus as the youngest player to win the career
Grand Slam when he picked up the fourth trophy at 24 in the British
Open. He already has won eight majors, one ahead of the pace Nicklaus
set.
They have played
together only once in competition, the first two rounds of the
PGA Championship at Valhalla two years ago.
``I think he's a
better player than I was,'' Nicklaus conceded after the second
day. Woods went on to win the PGA in a playoff for his third straight
major. He then won the Masters to become the only player to sweep
the professional majors.
Then again, Nicklaus
saw it coming.
He and Arnold Palmer
invited a 20-year-old Woods to play a practice round with them
on the eve of the 1996 Masters.
``You can probably
take Arnold's (four) Masters and my (six) Masters, add them together,
and this kid should win more than that,'' Nicklaus said that afternoon,
drawing a mixture of gasps and giggles.
``This kid is absolutely
the most fundamentally sound golf that I've seen at almost any
age,'' Nicklaus said. ``I don't know whether he's ready to win
yet or not, but he will probably be the favorite over the next
20 years. If he isn't, there's something wrong.''
It will be a rare
appearance from Nicklaus, who has been battling lower back injuries
the past 18 months. Nicklaus had to skip the Masters and has played
in only three official tournaments this year.
``I think it's going
to be cool, just to be his partner,'' Woods said. ``How many sports
can you have that big of a generational gap and still compete
together?''
One of the few times
Nicklaus has played this year, he did OK — almost better
than his Bighorn partner. Nicklaus opened with rounds of 71-74-71
at the Memorial and was tied with Woods (74-70-72) after three
rounds.
On the practice green
before the final round, Nicklaus said to him, ``How can you let
an old cripple beat you two out of the first three rounds?''
``He said, 'Yeah,
but I'm going to put up a good number today,''' Nicklaus recalled.
``And he went out and shot a 66 and only beat me by 13 shots.''
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