Jack Nicklaus is a 60-year-old realist. Even so, it comes as something of a shock to hear one of the greatest golfers ever say he no longer considers himself a contender at The Masters.

But that is the state of the Golden Bear's game.

Age, arthritis, injuries, and his well-publicized hip replacement surgery have combined to play havoc with his skills.

"Realistically, I don't think I should be a contender at Augusta," Nicklaus says, as he prepares to return to The Masters after missing last year while learning to walk with a ceramic hip. "I would just like to play well. If I can get somewhere near the leaders, then at my age, that's good."

The six-time champion at one of the world's most renowned courses says he has felt that way for the past five, six, seven years. Yet it was only two years ago that he made a late charge and had a chance to win the green jacket.

He finished sixth in the tournament won by Mark O'Meara and -- no surprise -- offered the most memorable, electrifying moments of the four-day event.

"When he makes his mind up that he's going to play well, as he did two years ago, it's a different story," Ben Crenshaw said. "If he says he doesn't think he's a contender, I would believe it. But we've seen him on different occasions. He's very capable."

And that's why he's going back to Augusta.

Maybe there are four great days of golf left in the Bear, and maybe they will come at one of his favorite venues, the sight of his last great triumph, the 1986 Masters.

But time is dwindling.

As recently as two weeks ago, his game was a self-described mess, wrecked, strangely enough, as he returned to full health after the hip surgery.

"I was compensating for the hip for so many years," Nicklaus said. "Then, I came back and the hip started functioning normally. I don't remember how to swing the way I used to swing. It seems like every day, some new problem crops up."

He tried to work that out during practice rounds at Augusta last week. To succeed at the storied course -- and nobody knows the secret better -- he'll have to find a right-to-left swing pattern, one he has often mustered at Augusta even though it goes against his natural game.

Although his expectations are diminished, that week of practice is for more than just show.

"I want to play well at Augusta," Nicklaus said. "Do I think I can play well at Augusta? I hope so."

After finishing tied for ninth in the Tradition, the first major on the Senior PGA Tour, it's on to The Masters to begin his tour of the four majors, the last time he'll commit to playing all four in the same year.

"I'll still go to one if it's a course, or a time when it makes sense," Nicklaus said.

But can he compete?

"He's hurting a little," Tom Watson said. "He's had some arthritis in his thumbs. He's 60 years old. After hitting a couple million golf balls, hitting the turf that much, you're going to find a couple of things that hurt. But he's kept himself in good shape. He's strong."

Even if he doesn't play another round, Nicklaus says he can walk away. His resume is among the most impressive in sports.

He has won 18 professional major championships and has 70 PGA Tour victories. Since 1970, he has designed more than 200 courses, an endeavor that occupies more and more of his time each year.

He has no need to stay in the competitive phase of the game, and says the hip injury was mainly to improve his overall quality of life.

"If I could still play competitive golf, that would just be a bonus," he said.

He'll get a chance to find out at Augusta, a place he has always found hard to resist.

He returns on the 25-year anniversary of his classic showdown with Johnny Miller and Tom Weiskopf. On a wonderful day of shotmaking, Nicklaus made a 40-foot birdie putt at No. 16 to win the tournament -- Miller made a late comeback to catch the other two -- in one of the best Masters ever.

"That was the most competitive Masters I can remember," Nicklaus said. "But 1986 wasn't too bad from my standpoint."

Nobody expected him to win that year, either. And although he's older, slower and has a little gray cropping up in that famous head of golden blond hair, he's not completely ready to resign himself to simply playing ceremonial golf.

Neither is the rest of the field.

"He may be struggling," Lanny Wadkins said, "but I don't think anyone is going to be getting the violins out yet for Jack."