DUBLIN, Ohio (AP) -- Jack Nicklaus wasn't just taking up space Thursday at the Memorial Tournament. He didn't make a fool of himself, either.
Far from it.
In his first PGA Tour event since last year's Memorial, Nicklaus had the fans cheering with birdies on four of the last five holes for a 1-under 71, the first time he has broken par at his tournament in five years.
``Years ago if I shot 71, I wouldn't have been happy. But I'm tickled pink today,'' Nicklaus said. ``Half the guys would be chewing their clubs up. A 71 is not a great round, but it's a good round for me. And it's good in relation to the field.''
It was better than Phil Mickelson and Paul Azinger, who each had 73, and it was just short of amazing to everyone else.
Billy Andrade walked off Muirfield Village Golf Club at even-par 72 and cracked, ``I just got beat by a 62-year-old man.''
Rocco Mediate had a 70 and was in awe of Nicklaus' round.
``That's ridiculous. How old is he?'' Mediate said. ``He's got a bad back, he hasn't been playing, and he's dealing with everything at his own tournament. And he shoots 71? That's unbelievable''
Nicklaus was five shots behind early leader Stewart Cink.
By the time Nicklaus walked down the 18th fairway, he was feeling enough like his old self to play golf the way it's meant to be played. From 164 yards in the fairway, Nicklaus didn't want to just hit the green, he wanted to hit a proper shot.
``I said, 'I'm going to hold a cut into the wind and play a shot the way I used to play shots,'' he said.
His 6-iron came off just the way he wanted, landing softly 15 feet from the hole. The gallery packed in around the green let out an enormous cheer when the ball disappeared for his final birdie and a 71, his first round under par on the PGA Tour since a 2-under 70 in the first round at Doral last year.
Someone suggested that he looked like the old Jack.
``Let's say the Jack of old,'' he replied.
Nicklaus had to skip the Masters for only the second time in his professional career because of nagging back injuries that made it feel like a knife was going through his buttocks as he shifted his weight to swing through the ball.
He didn't decide to play in the Memorial until Wednesday afternoon, not wanting to take away a spot in the 105-man field from a younger player.
It proved to be a good decision, although it looked questionable by the time Nicklaus trudged up a hill to the fourth tee, already 3 over on his round.
He took double bogey on No. 2 by hitting into a hazard and missing a 3-foot putt, and bogey on the next hole when he drove into the rough and had to lay up short of a pond.
Nicklaus resurrected his round with a 5-iron into 3 feet on No. 9, and a par save from the back bunker on No. 12.
``I don't remember the last time I got up-and-down from that bunker,'' he said. ``It was probably in the '70s.''
The rest of the day was vintage Nicklaus, a brilliant back-nine charge, even though it was only Thursday. He holed 15-foot birdie putts on the 14th and 15th, stuffed a 5-iron into 5 feet on the par-3 16th and finished with his birdie on the last hole.
He had a reasonable chance of making the cut for the first time since the Memorial two years ago, when he tied for 63rd.
``Obviously, I'm glad I played,'' Nicklaus said. ``I don't know what will happen tomorrow. It doesn't matter. If I play this way again, I'll play a good round. If I don't, then I won't. That's the way it goes.''
Nicklaus doesn't have any false illusions. Two of his best shots of the day were a driver and a 3-wood on the 563-yard seventh hole, and he still had a full 9-iron into the green. Jonathan Byrd routinely hit his 3-wood some 50 yards past Nicklaus' driver.
Still, Nicklaus has never lost his competitive edge. He takes the first round of the Memorial as seriously as he did his playoff victory over Arnold Palmer in the 1962 U.S. Open.
The ovation was deafening when he walked up to the 18th green, although that was of little concern to the Golden Bear. He was more concerned about making the putt than doffing his cap to the gallery.
``I do not want to go around and shoot 85, and wave to everybody and put a false smile on my face,'' Nicklaus said. ``That's not me. I'm a golfer.''
The only drawback to his round?
``I shot three to four shots under my handicap,'' Nicklaus said. ``I've been carrying a 2 to 3 handicap all year. I'm going to have to turn this score in, and it will ruin my handicap. I'll be back to scratch.''
On Thursday, he was back to being Jack.
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