Jack Nicklaus / Mike Tirico Conference Call Transcript

Thursday, July 25, 2002

Welcome everyone to the Battle at Bighorn conference call with Jack Nicklaus and Mike Tirico. Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods will compete against Sergio Garcia and Lee Trevino in the $1.7 million "Lincoln Financial Group Battle at BIGHORN," in Palm Desert, California, Monday, July 29. The one-round, two-player team, best-ball event will be televised in prime time live on that date, 8 p.m., ET/ 5 p.m., PT, in ABC Sports' Monday Night tradition. Mike Tirico, Al Michaels, Curtis Strange and Melissa Stark will be the ABC Sports announcing team.

Jack, can you talk about your general physical condition coming into the event and how you feel about teaming up with Tiger Woods against Lee and Sergio?

Well, I'm doing all right. I'm perfect for me, how's that? I am looking forward to it. We should have a lot of fun.

Have you seen Tiger since the Open and have you two discussed any strategy?

Nicklaus: The last time I saw Tiger was on the practice range before the last round of the Memorial Tournament and I told him "How can you let an old cripple beat you two out of the first three rounds," and he said, "Yeah, but I'm going to put up a good number today," and he went out and shot a 65 or 66 and only beat me by 13 or 14 shots. I'm not even sure what format we're playing. Best ball? Then it will be his and I will occasionally contribute.

Mike, this will be the fourth golf match on primetime. Are you surprised at the success the event has had?

We're certainly happy. It's been different and unique. Nobody treats it as though it's a be-all, end-all which some people tried to build it as when the event first got started. We've seen whether it's been Garcia or Duval, Annika Sorenstam and Karrie Webb got involved last year, it's been exciting and different and unique. Just to see Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus on the same team is something professionally I'm looking forward to, but also personally. It's a dream for a sports fan to pine for the days of what it would like to see Hank Aaron and Babe Ruth in a home run derby or Jerry West and Michael Jordan, the greatest players of their era, together on the same team. The beauty of golf is that we can have that and in this setting, with Lee and Sergio as the opponents, it's going to be a professional and personal treat.

Jack, do you think a lot of people might have like to see you and Tiger on opposite teams? And because of his personality, might Lee Trevino be the best of the four in this format?

Nicklaus: No, I think people will enjoy seeing us play together as a team. As Lee will say to us off the first tee, we'll tell him we want to play golf; we don't want to talk today. He will tell us we don't have to talk, just listen.

With what happened at Muirfield and Bethpage, do you think the trend to lengthen courses is not such a good thing?

Nicklaus: I think that the game of golf and the strategy is a piece of it, but not all of it. I did not play Bethpage and have not seen it. Muirfield looked very similar to when I won in '66. It was probably a little slower because we had fairly dry conditions even though we had high rough. Even though I was a power player, I much more preferred precision golf. It gave more players in the field a chance to win. The person who plays the best golf wins. Tiger is the best player in the field. It really eliminated a lot of players who had a chance to win.

Does not winning the British Open (after winning the first two majors) take some of the luster off the PGA Championship? Did it for you when you lost to Lee by one stroke and will Tiger have the same problem?

Nicklaus: After you win the first two and then lose by a shot, the PGA was something I had a tough time getting up for, and Tiger will have the same problem. You know, you only play one a year and that's why, if you're going to win the Grand Slam or try to play major championship golf, you have to be able to program yourself to have you ups at the right time and your downs at the right time. And you can't do it on your cycle; you have to do it on the cycle that that tournaments are scheduled on.

Have you ever played under the lights?

Nicklaus: The last time was when I was a kid when I went out to a driving range. I can't see anyhow so it doesn't make any difference. It will be unique. I think everybody has trouble under lights.

Do you think nighttime golf can become a trend?

Nicklaus: I think if you look at courses in Asia, they play a lot of night golf because it gets so hot. It doesn't get hot enough here, but in hotter climates, in some places around the equator, you can have that kind of a situation. I think it's going to be a trend. You can have a special event and do whatever you want. I'm from Columbus and Ohio State and we never had a night football game until they started bringing in lights to the stadium. They never used to play any night games, but now they do. But I don't see this as an everyday thing. I might see this as an event thing, for television more than anything else.

Can you talk about Lee Trevino as a player and also talk about the history of golf exhibitions through the decades?

Nicklaus: I have always had great respect for Lee and his game. I think Ben Hogan and Lee Trevino are best ball strikers I have ever seen in the game. Trevino could do everything with the golf ball, the same as Hogan could. Trevino has had a great outlook, he was a hard worker. He enjoyed the game. It was always fun for Lee to be on the golf course. He didn't grow up playing tournament golf. The first time I had ever heard of him was in 1967 at Baltusrol and he was already 27. Then I remember seeing him the next week in Cleveland and I saw this guy on the driving range, and I said, "Is that Trevino? Boy, he's got an unusual looking swing." Then I started watching swing and thought while it was unusual, it was very effective. He always knew what he was doing. He's been great for the game.

As far as exhibitions, Arnold and Gary and I played a lot of these matches. I have always enjoyed those matches. I think they are great entertainment. Nobody takes them extremely serious, but everybody always wants to win. Anytime you put Arnold Palmer, Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus on the same golf course, the last thing any of us wanted was to not be the winner. Anytime you put top players on the course, the competitive juices and spirit is that they want to win. I don't care how badly I play anymore; I do not want to lose. And neither does Tiger. Lee and Sergio feel exactly the same way.

Mike, can you follow up on that?

It's exactly what Jack said has been borne out over the last three years. While there may be some relaxed attitudes down the first fairway and onto the second, as soon as one player or team falls behind, that pride that's so inherent in great players starts to show itself. It's not the same type of pressure that you see, at least from an observation standpoint as far as TV is concerned during a major championship, but it's the competitive nature that attracts us to these players. It's why they've been so good over the years. There's not doubt, no mater how much Lee's conversation is heard, it will be enjoyable, but when the chips start getting down to deciding which side of the table they're going to end up on, to watch these grind is really why we watch sports. We watch sports to see a result. If we wanted something else, we would watch some summer repeat. That's what drags us to this event and I think that's why this event in this time slot in August or July is effective. Everything else is a repeat or some goofy thing about somebody living in some other house with a bunch of cameras with big brother watching and all that stuff, this is actually enjoyable competition. Sports is still the best reality TV for well over 50 years and it's the best version of it I've ever found.

Jack, your view on non-conforming clubs.

Nicklaus: My view. I think each club has a right to make its own rules. What I think is immaterial. I went to Muirfield Village and one of the first things I did at Muirfield Village, which was my own club, was to have every nationality, every religion, men and women, and that was in the early 70s. That was what I believe in. What somebody else does and how they make their rules, it's not my position to criticize or not criticize.

Should there be conformity in equipment between the U.S. and European tours?

Nicklaus: Absolutely. There be conformity on that and they should reduce the length of golf club before we don't any golf courses we have left we can play. I think the golf ball has everything to do with it. You can let equipment go as crazy as you want as long as you control it with the golf ball. There's only so much trampoline effect you can have on a driver. There's only so long a shaft that you can control, but you can always bring a ball back to whatever level you want.

What is the biggest difference in players today?

Nicklaus: We were hungrier in our day. The only reason is, we didn't play for very much money. We didn't play golf for a living. We made out name on the golf course so we could make a living off the course with endorsements. Today the kids can make a living on the tour. The kids that finish 200th on the money list today actually make enough to make a living.

What did you think of Tiger's third round at the British Open?

Nicklaus: I think Tiger proved that he's human, just like everyone else. He just had a bad day in conditions that were difficult. I think he handled it very well. I saw his interview right after and I think he was over being mad at himself and that he had just lost chance to win Grand Slam, but he didn't cry. He handled it well. It's easy to be cordial and kind when you're winning.

Do you think it was good for another major name to win a major championship?

Nicklaus: I certainly think it will give Ernie Els more confidence. I don't think he was really playing his best, which he said himself, but he stayed with it, gutted it out and he won. Sometimes you do that and realize that you don't have to have your perfect game to win. The last time I heard his press conference and he said he played his best and Tiger still beat me. Sometimes that's the way it works. Sometimes you don't play your best and you win, sometimes you play your best and you get whipped. I think it will give Ernie and others confidence. They sill see that Tiger is infallible. He can have a bad day, too. I think they all still know, though, that Tiger is still the best player and will usually be the player to beat.

Closing comments:

Nicklaus: I am looking forward to Monday. I haven't played with Tiger since Valhalla and I'm looking forward to it. I don't know when I last played with Sergio. I know Lee and I just played about a month ago together. I'm anxious to see how far these guys are hitting it. Are we playing from up tees? No. Just kidding. I'm looking forward to it and I think it will be a good event.

Tirico: I just think anytime you get to work in prime time to bring golf to more people and more eyes and work an event with these four people which include the greatest golfer of all time in Jack, the person who's done more than anyone to challenge that "title" in Tiger, and Lee and Sergio, two of the best showmen in the game in addition to being great players, what an absolute treat.