By GREG HARDWIG
Courtesy of Naples News

Jack Nicklaus has filled golf's record books with accomplishment after accomplishment. But he made some personal history at the Skins Game a couple of weeks ago in Hawaii.

The Golden Bear shot his age, sort of. He had a 32 in a morning pro-am, then a 32 in nine holes of the Skins Game later that day. Nicklaus, 64, initially thought he hadn't shot a 64, but he forgot he'd eagled the second hole.

"That was something I hadn't done before," he said on Wednesday at The Club at TwinEagles, where he'll play in The ACE Group Classic beginning on Friday.

Nicklaus set another record last year, playing in nine Champions Tour events, the most he ever has since joining the tour in 1990. He had two top-10 finishes, including a 10th in the JELD-WEN Tradition, a major, at the end of the season. Only Nicklaus wasn't so happy being 10th.

"I thought I had a pretty darn good tournament and finished 10th," Nicklaus said. "I said, 'Maybe it's time to hang up your spikes.' "

But here Nicklaus is in Naples, coming off playing in the MasterCard Championship, the Skins Game, and a week of fishing and designing a golf course in New Zealand.

"Maybe it's still time to hang up my spikes, but I'll just let them get a little rustier and see how effective they are," said Nicklaus, whose balky back always has a chance of flaring up. "I'll just kind of figure it out as I go."

For example, he always has played the TPC of Tampa, where next week's Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am will be played. Only Nicklaus will not be there. The event has switched to a pro-am, with celebrities paired up with the pros the first two tournament rounds. When a tournament official contacted Nicklaus, he said he would like to play with his son Steve, who is an amateur. The official checked with the tournament, then notified Nicklaus they would like for him to play with a celebrity.

"I said 'well, have a nice tournament,' " Nicklaus said.

Nicklaus said he'd rather play with one of his sons if that type of scenario was offered. "I'm beyond going to golf tournaments to play golf," he said.

Make no mistake, however, there is another reason Nicklaus is playing this week. He thinks he can win. No, make that he expects it.

"My expectation is to win, absolutely," he said. "Every time I play, my expectation is to win. I've had six years of disappointments . . . eight years of disappointments. I haven't won since '96."

Still, Nicklaus played well at the MasterCard. He was in contention going down the stretch, but Fuzzy Zoeller birdied the last three holes while Nicklaus was parring them. Nicklaus would like to get another opportunity.

"That's certainly what has kept me pumped up and playing the game for a lot of years," he said.

Enough to play at Augusta National Golf Club again? Maybe. Maybe not.

"I just want to feel like I can go there and play and not embarrass myself," he said. "I mean, I shot 85 one round last year. It certainly wasn't something I wanted to do at Augusta."

Of course, Nicklaus has found plenty to keep him busy for the past couple of decades other than playing golf. His design business continues to be brisk in the United States and all over the world.

"I've got a lot of golf course work that I enjoy, which I probably really do better than I play golf," he said.

One of the courses he's working on is in Russia. It's a project started by tennis player Yevgeny Kafelnikov.

"It's opened a new avenue for me," he said. "It's given me some new places to go fishing."