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Jack Nicklaus starts farewell with 75
Jack Nicklaus made an inauspicious start to his final British Open with a patchy round of 75 at St Andrews on Thursday.
The 65-year-old American, winner of a record 18 major championships, delighted the packed galleries with a birdie at the first hole and another at the seventh but five bogeys left him nine shots adrift of early leader Tiger Woods.
"I'm disappointed to shoot a 75 but I probably got what I deserved," Nicklaus said. "I started off nicely with a birdie, three-putted the second and then didn't play very well for a while.
"I saved myself with some nice par putts and when I birdied the seventh I thought I was going to do something, but I just kept three-putting."
Nicklaus was in the eighth group out on the Old Course, the venue for two of his British Open victories, and he admitted to a few nerves.
"I have butterflies every time I play a round of golf," he said. "I think that's perfectly normal. I didn't feel any different this morning than I did 150 other times."
He certainly could not have wished for a better start.
A delightful pitch to eight feet was followed by a smooth putt on the first green, which was greeted by rapturous applause from the packed crowds gathered to watch Nicklaus playing the Open for the last time.
He bogeyed the second fourth holes but another birdie at the seventh courtesy of a clever bump and run shot from off the green partially repaired the damage.
Three successive bogeys from the 11th took Nicklaus to three over par, however, and hampered by his lack of length off the tee he could not manage another birdie over the closing holes.
Nicklaus was playing with fellow American Tom Watson, one of his greatest rivals in the late 1970s, and young Englishman Luke Donald who finished seven shots ahead of his illustrious partners with a solid round of 68.
"It was a wonderful experience playing with Jack today although neither of us played very well," Watson said. "The warmth and love the crowds over here in Scotland gave him was a wonderful example of how much they respect the man."
Nicklaus received a tremendous ovation as he walked up the 18th fairway but he will need to play much better in the second round if he wants to make the cut and delay his final farewell by a couple of days.
"People were terrific," he said. "They were great on every hole and that was very, very nice.
"I'm going to have to shoot four under tomorrow because I don't think par will be good enough to make the cut. I'd like to walk across the bridge on Sunday, not on Friday, that's really my goal."
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