Nicklaus Pulls Out Of British Open

From Hogan and Palmer, through Watson and Miller and into the era of Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus had a golf game that endured for nearly a half century.

But 41 years after he played the 1957 U.S. Open as a chubby 17-year-old amateur, Nicklaus decided Wednesday that the next major championship will have to go on without him.

Nicklaus said he will not play in the British Open next week, ending a streak of 154 consecutive majors for which he was eligible, and 146 straight from his first year as a pro at the 1962 Masters.

"I wanted to end the streak on my own terms," Nicklaus said.

Reaction at the TPC of Michigan, where Nicklaus was preparing for the Senior Players Championship that starts Thursday, was stunned disbelief.

Nicklaus said he planned to end the streak in April at his 40th consecutive Masters, where he cried when Augusta National honored with a plaque as its most decorated champion.

But Nicklaus, as only he can do, left the gallery breathless once again with another Sunday charge, getting within two strokes of the lead before finishing tied for sixth.

He then accepted a special exemption to play in his 42nd consecutive U.S. Open, where he finished tied for 43rd. Only six players who made the cut at The Olympic Club were even born when Nicklaus played his first U.S. Open.

But nagged by an ailing hip, which flared up the day after the Open, Nicklaus felt it was time to walk away.

"After 42 years of playing major championship golf, I feel that my ability to compete at the highest level on a continuous basis is marginal at best," Nicklaus said. "I feel this is the time to end my streak of consecutive majors."

Nicklaus threatened before to end the streak. At the 1995 British Open at St. Andrews, he said he got emotional after the 72nd hole, realizing it was his last Open.

But the streak went on, starting with Eisenhower and ending with Clinton.

Nicklaus always seemed find more magic in his game. A year later at Royal Lytham and St. Annes, he opened the British Open with rounds of 69-66 and was one stroke off the lead before he faded on the weekend.

"On the one hand, it was a great streak, probably never to be duplicated," PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem said. "On the oher hand, I think there is a lot of years of quality competitive golf left in Jack Nicklaus for all of us to enjoy, and I wish him well as he chooses how he wants to construct that."

Nicklaus' performance in the four majors set a standard for years to come.

As a 20-year-old amateur at the U.S. Open in 1960, he went head-to-head with Arnold Palmer and Ben Hogan, finishing second. And at 58, having won 18 professional majors, he challenged Fred Couples, David Duval and winner Mark O'Meara at the Masters.

He endured the meteoric rise of Johnny Miller in the 1970s, staged unforgettable showdowns with Tom Watson and doled out heartache to Greg Norman by winning the 1986 Masters, his last PGA Tour victory, at age 46.

"When I got to the mountaintop, I kind of looked at the scenery and said, 'Now what?'" Miller once said of a career that brought him 24 victories and two majors.

"When Jack got there," he said, "Where's the next mountain?"

Nicklaus is one of only four players to win the career Grand Slam, but only he has won all four majors more than once:

• a record six Masters, 23 years behind the first and the last.
• four U.S. Opens, sharing the record with Ben Hogan, Bobby Jones and Willie Anderson.
• three British Opens, along with a record seven runner-up finishes.
• five PGA championships; only Walter Hagen, who played in the match-play era, won that many.

The longest streak of majors now belongs to 40-year-old Nick Faldo, who has played in 44 straight dating to the 1987 British Open. But Faldo injured his elbow and withdrew Wednesday from the Loch Lomond tournament in Scotland, and could miss the British Open next week.

Even if he plays, Faldo would have to make every major through the PGA Championship in 2023 - when he's 66 - to match Nicklaus' streak. Tiger Woods, may have the best chance at approaching the streak.

He would have to play every major for the next 35 years.