Listed in roughly chronological order...

1. "It's disgusting what he's just done there. You look at his work ethic, and he's a credit to the game and an inspiration to all of us who are trying to be professional golfers, but some parts of him are arrogant and petulant. Somebody has to come on the green and maybe putt over his spit — it doesn't get much lower than that.” --Sky Sports commentator Ewen Murray after Tiger Woods was shown spitting on the green at the Dubai Desert Classic. Woods was later fined by the European Tour and apologized for the incident.

2. "I'm glad he's out playing golf. I happen to be a golfer. I think presidents deserve down time. And believe me, he is in constant communication with what's going on." --Former Vice President Dan Quayle, on criticism of President Obama for playing golf

3. “Tiger was the dominant player. He won 14 majors. Think about it, 14 majors, in such a short period of time. Who is ever going to do that again? Who knows? That is pretty dominating. So for us, myself, Phil, Vijay, Davis, Fred Couples, guys like that to have played under a guy who was that good, we took a beating, not only from him, but from you guys, too. It's been a tough -- it was a tough 10, 12 years for us.” --Ernie Els at the WGC-Cadillac Championship

4. “As my social status in Japan is getting higher, I believe that is one of the responsibilities, to provide for those people who are in need." --Ryo Ishikawa, on his decision to donate all of his 2011 earnings to earthquake relief in Japan

5. "I’ve gone back and putted that putt a hundred times since. … [and] it’s never broken left again." --Jack Nicklaus at the 2011 Masters on his birdie putt on 17 at the 1986 Masters 

6. “I hate that word. It's just a terrible word. It's not something you want to be associated with -- worst thing you can be called in golf, apart from ‘cheat.’” --Rory McIlroy, on the c-word –- “choke” -- after his final-round meltdown at the 2011 Masters 

7. “I still can’t believe, with just 45 minutes left in that broadcast, how many people could have conceivably won it. It was so exhilarating because that’s what you want—to have the chance to keep people on the edges of their seats. I can’t tell you how many e-mails I got from people saying, ‘I couldn’t even go to the bathroom. I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t want to miss anything.’ ” --Jim Nantz, on Sunday at the 2011 Masters

8. "You could see it a couple of weeks ago at The Masters. Tiger was playing fantastic the first nine on Sunday but there wasn't really somebody who was scared of him any more.” --Martin Kaymer after the 2011 Masters

9. “How are we going to count all the shots? I can’t keep track.” --Kevin Na, on his way to a 16 at the Valero Texas Open

10. "Our hat policy is the same as Augusta’s. Turn your hat around.’” --Quail Hollow member to Rickie Fowler

11. "His swing is definitely better than mine was at the same age. But in '99 my swing came together, and I had a pretty good next two years." --Tiger Woods, on Rory McIlroy’s U.S. Open win

12. “I can't f***ing hit it. I'm f***ing useless.” --Darren Clarke, on the putting green the week before winning the British Open

13. "I've caddied for 33 years, won 145 times and this is the most satisfying win of my career." --Caddie Steve Williams after Adam Scott won the Bridgestone invitational

14. “I don’t have any.” --Phil Mickelson’s caddie Bones Mackay after being asked how many wins he has

15. "I would rather eat a golf ball than see this movie again." --Roger Ebert, on the golf movie Seven Days in Utopia

16. "I don't recall ever saying the Tiger era is over." --Luke Donald after The Daily Express published a story with the headline, "Luke Donald: The Tiger Woods Era is 'Over' "

17. "If it were going to be banned, it should have happened 20-plus years ago. But now that it's been legal, I don't think you can make it retroactive." --Phil Mickelson, on belly putters

18. "Almost every guy who finished at the top of the leaderboard was in the top five in greens hit and ball-striking. To me, that's the ultimate.That's pure golf, not a bunch of scrambling crap." --Johnny Miller’s defense of the Cog Hill redesign after criticism from Phil Mickelson and others

19. “I feel like even if I went to HSBC and won, they’d find another event to add.” --Luke Donald, on learning that the PGA Tour decided to include the HSBC Champions event in Shanghai in the Player of the Year vote after Donald won the money title

20. “No. I make sure I remain totally illiterate in that state." --Jack Nicklaus after being asked if he tweets

All photos from the Associated Press, except for Johnny Miller (Getty Images)

The European host of the 2014 Ryder Cup is taking preparations seriously, to say the least. Need proof? With the event more than three years away, none other than Jack Nicklaus has provided suggestions on course changes at the PGA Centenary Course at Gleneagles Resort in Perthshire, Scotland, to make the event more difficult for the players and more entertaining for fans. Nicklaus wants work done on the ninth, 10th, and 18th holes, and the specific alterations are: an increase in the size of a water hazard on the par-5 ninth hole, which would increase the risk-reward quotient; new tee boxes on the par-3 10th, which will change the approach angle to the green; and a more level landing area on the par-5 18th. Organizers said they are also working to reduce the amount of water that might collect on the greens.

In light of the foul weather that plagued the last Ryder Cup, which was held at Celtic Manor in Wales, the 2014 event will be held Sept. 26-28 instead of October.  

Stevie appears on 'Least Influential' list

Adam Scott's current caddie Steve Williams has made plenty of news as of late, including some less-than-positive press after making a seemingly racist remark about Tiger Woods, his former employer. Now the New Zealand native is reaching a new audience, as he has landed on GQ's famed, "25 Least Influential People Alive" list. Yup, the guy who "won," all those majors comes in eighth on the impressive list, edging out the likes of Paul Reiser, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Bobby Bonilla. Here's a bit from GQ's funnymen: 

"Obviously it's well documented I've won 145 golf tournaments." YOU WON NOTHING, YOU BAG APE. No one has documented anything about you, other than what a prick you can be when pushing photographers out of the way. There's nothing worse than a profoundly inessential person who's deluded himself into thinking he's the opposite.  

Knowing a bit about Stevie, we're guessing he won't be too bothered by the piece, but it would be interesting to know how he feels about being ranked below Tia and Tamera Mowry. 

Woodland heading for Ryder Cup?

After finishing 17th on the money list in 2011 with close to $3.5 million in earnings and snagging his first career win at the Transitions Championship, you'd think young Gary Woodland would be satisfied. Nope. To cap off the year, the former Kansas State standout traveled to China and won the World Cup with Matt Kuchar, marking the first time the U.S. has taken home the trophy since Tiger Woods and David Duval teamed up to win the event in 2000. 

Now that Woodland has finished off his dream season he's eyeing another goal he says he's always dreamed of -- playing in The Ryder Cup. 

Ever since I turned professional I have dreamt about being in a US Ryder Cup team and it now seems a big step closer. I had the goal at the start of the year to make the Presidents Cup. That didn't pan out but then Matt chose me to partner him in the World Cup and I could not have been happier. Europe has kind of had the States's number in most of the recent Ryder Cups but it would be nice to be in the team that win back the trophy on home turf. It's been a long while since the States had the Ryder Cup, World Cup and Presidents Cup in the same trophy cabinet but for me winning the World Cup is going to be a big inspiration to make the Ryder Cup team.

Woodland was also highly complimentary of Kuchar, whom he credits for helping him adapt to the team format. 

I've learned so much from playing alongside Matt and that's going to be a great springboard for me to take into 2012. He was always very positive, very encouraging and always very helpful in putting me at ease. It helps my confidence and it further boosts Matt's confidence given that he was also on the winning Presidents Cup side the week before. Hopefully both he and I can play well enough in 2012 to make Davis's side. I grew up watching the Ryder Cup and it would be an honor for me to play.

When you consider the would-be Ryder Cupper's PGA Tour stats from '11 (Driving Distance: 5th, Greens in Regulation: 12th, Birdie Average: 13th, Scoring Average: 14th), it's a good bet Woodland will be at Medinah next year: 

Tweet of the Day

One of the things we golf fans should be thankful for is that Jack Nicklaus is still willing to answer questions about whether Tiger Woods will break his record of 18 majors. Nicklaus’s stock answer is usually something like, “I think he will, but he’s got to do it.” In a visit last week to the Pasadera Country Club on the Monterey Peninsula, Nicklaus added a new wrinkle to his reply, according to Jerry Stewart of the Monterey County Herald.

"Will Tiger go back to the way he was, winning all the time? Probably not. But will he go back and play very well? Yes," Nicklaus said. "People said, 'Look who Jack played against in his prime.' I played against Palmer, Trevino, Watson, Miller — all guys who won a lot of tournaments and majors. Well, now Tiger is playing against some kids like the Rory McIlroys, Jason Days and Keegan Bradleys of the golf world, who've been successful and are 12-13 years younger than Tiger. So he's got his run of guys to play against. So we'll see. These young kids have learned how to win. Not at the level of the Trevinos or Watsons, but they will because they're such great players at a young age. And that's competition that Tiger will have the rest of his career. I've always said Tiger will pass my record but he's still got to do it. If you look out there, there is no one else other than Tiger who's won five majors. For some guys, that's a whole career."

Nicklaus also talked about his efforts to grow the game among junior and female golfers, who've been leaving golf in droves.

"Most other sports start small. With football, you may throw around a Nerf ball. In baseball, you've got T-ball. But in golf, you start with a hard club and a small, hard ball," Nicklaus said. "The idea is to let people have success so instead of running them off, it encourages them to come back. Too often, people might play once and say the game is too tough. You can start them with bigger holes, shorter distances, golf clubs and balls that are easier to hit and no one will get hurt. ... The kind of things where you can bring them in a park and they're compatible."

In making things easier for new players, this past Labor Day weekend Nicklaus hosted a 12-hole tournament on a Tee it Forward-like, 6,000-yard Muirfield Village Golf Club course with 8-inch holes instead of the normal 4.25 inches. Players also had 2.5 hours to play, with a one-stroke penalty for every five minutes over the 2.5 hour timeline.

"The longest round we had was two hours, 20 minutes," Nicklaus said. "The women really enjoyed it; the beginning kids enjoyed it, and the seniors enjoyed it. The idea was to have fun."

Monty to visit British troops in Afghanistan

Sorry, guys, no Keira Knightley this year, but British troops in Afghanistan will get to see Colin Montgomerie and the Ryder Cup trophy this week when the victorious European team captain visits the region, according to Reuters.

The 48-year-old Scot is to spend four days with army personnel and British Embassy staff. Montgomerie will take the Ryder Cup trophy his team won at Celtic Manor in Wales last year with him and is also expected to hand out golf equipment to the troops.

“I am looking forward to it very much,” he told reporters. “I’m not taking my own golf clubs but I have gathered together a lot of equipment for the troops.”

Adam Scott says he’s playing better than ever

American golf is quiet this week (for once) during the Thanksgiving weekend, but the Australian PGA has attracted some big names, including Jason Day, Geoff Ogilvy, Aaron Baddeley, Greg Norman, Darren Clarke, Bubba Watson, Y.E. Yang, K.T. Kim., and Adam Scott, who is in career form, according to the Courier Mail (Australia).

"My game is, on a whole, better than it's ever been in my career,'' Scott said. "I feel like every week for a while now, I've been walking out there and putting myself in a position where I can win.

"Mentally I think I'm all right, physically I'm just a little tired. I picked up a bit of a cold from Saturday's weather in Melbourne...it was a big week with everything that goes on but I've been doing nothing for a couple of days so I should be right to go.''

Stray Shots

* Here’s a tip for Rory and all you young guys out there. Don’t let your girlfriends hang out with professional tennis players from France. (Via Guyism)

* The City of New Orleans is reopening the restored Joseph M. Batholomew Sr. Municipal Golf Course this week. Batholomew, who designed the course in 1956, was one of the first African-American course architects. (Via The Times Picayune) The Batholomew course was also the subject of an interview with actor Wendell Pierce from The Wire on Golf.com.  

* Keegan Bradley wants no part of the Tiger Woods-Greg Norman Presidents Cup feud. (Via The News-Press)

Tweet of the Day

Charlie Sifford, who became the PGA’s first African-American player in 1961, never played in the Masters, which didn’t have an African American compete until Lee Elder in 1975. At age 89, he wouldn’t accept a ceremonial invitation now, according to an interview with Bill Plaschke of The Los Angeles Times.

History heals. And then, suddenly, history bleeds.

You ask him about golf's most fabled course, it's most revered tournament, which happens to be the one hurdle he could not leap, the one line he never crossed, and suddenly Charlie Sifford is fighting again.

"[Bleep] Augusta," he says. "When I was good enough to play there, the Masters never invited me, so why would they invite me now?"

He shakes his head and from somewhere deep, the bitterness rises.

"I could have been invited, I should have been invited, but a long time ago they thought all golfers should be white and all caddies should be black," he says. "I've never been to Augusta and I'm never going."

Sifford also tells Plaschke that the "Jackie Robinson of Golf” title isn’t accurate because “Jackie Robinson had a team behind him, and I had to do it alone.”

Once, while pulling a pin, he realized that the cup had been filled with feces. Several times spectators kicked his ball through the rough. Other times he would find his ball buried under trash.

"Nothing bothered me, nothing stopped me," Sifford says. "I wasn't just trying to do this for me, I was trying to do it for the world."

Sifford was inducted into the Southern California Golf Association Hall of Fame on Tuesday. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2004.

PGA Tour says decision to add HSBC to Player of Year was oversight, not slight

Luke Donald called the PGA Tour’s decision to include next week’s HSBC Shanghai tournament in its Player of the Year deliberations "sketchy at best” in an interview with Golf Channel on Monday, but Joel Schuchmann, the PGA Tour’s director of communications, said that the move was an innocent oversight in a series of tweets on Thursday morning.

Schuchmann added:

The players vote on the award, but the decision to include HSBC was the PGA Tour’s, according to Schuchmann. Yes, the players involved have nothing to do with the decision to include HSBC, that was our oversight. HSBC was included last year as it was played the week prior to Disney event.

Jack Nicklaus says Tour players join Bear’s Club for course, not owner

PGA Tour players have been moving to West Palm Beach in droves -- even Rory McIlroy is house-shopping there -- and Jack Nicklaus says that many players in the area, like Luke Donald, join his Bear’s Club to practice, according to The Palm Beach Post.

"A lot of them play at our Bear's Club. It's easy for them to get a game together or just work on something they want to work on. They can go out pretty much whenever they want to. It's a great place to practice. With me? They mostly say, 'Who's that?'"

Tweet of the Day

Bubba Watson played his first-ever European Tour event in Paris Thursday. It might also be his last. While carding a three-over-par 74 at Le Golf National, the 2016 Ryder Cup site, Watson, who earned a reported $240,000 appearance fee, hardly endeared himself to the galleries or, for that matter, French historians. Graham Otway of The Express has the ugly details:

Followed closely by French TV during his round, he constantly snapped at local cameramen. And after finding a lake in front of the green, he was asked if he would play more European events in future.

“This might be the only one,” said Watson. “I miss my home.”

Watson has also been stunned by the criticism he has received for his total ignorance of French history and culture. After a trip around Paris, he could only refer to three big landmarks as “the big tower” (Eiffel Tower) “the arch way” (Arc de Triomphe) and “the L building” (The Louvre).

And he added to the anger locally when he referred to Versailles’ historic Louis XIV Palace as the castle next to his five-star hotel.

Watson then ordered a bottle of 1787 Chateau Lafite and poured it off his hotel balcony.

Nicklaus sees double at Wimbledon

Tennis nut Jack Nicklaus—he has three grass courts at his West Palm Beach home—dropped by Wimbledon en route to a business meeting in Moscow. On Wednesday, he took in the action with Greg Norman. On Thursday, he watched a doubles match featuring the powerhouse American twins Bob and Mike Bryan, reports Karen Crouse of The New York Times:

It was hard for the Bryans not to get distracted when Nicklaus showed up to watch them practice two hours before their match. Some fans did double takes as they walked past the court. It was as if they recognized the gentleman in the suit and tie, but couldn’t place his face.

“It was awesome,” Bob Bryan said. “He was out at Court 6 watching every ball we hit.”

When the Bryans were done, Nicklaus approached Mike, extended his hand, and said, “Hey, Bob.” Mike took no offense. As if to prove it, he slipped his wristband off after the victory and hit it with his racket into the stands in Nicklaus’s direction. Bob followed suit. Nicklaus gave them a thumbs-up, one champion acknowledging the greatness of two others.

Why Rory Sabbatini doesn't play pro tennis

Speaking of Wimbledon, tennis’s third major has brought to light a problem that plagues both tennis and golf: “slow play — intentionally, strategically, maddeningly slow play,” Christopher Clarey of The New York Times reports. 

… [It’s] not a new concern at tennis’s major events. In 1979, during a riotous match at the United States Open, Ilie Nastase protested the excessive time that the argumentative John McEnroe was taking before beginning the next point by stretching out on the baseline and pretending to fall asleep.

No one has gone as far as Nastase, a master of high jinks, to make that point against Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic or Mardy Fish, the most deliberate of today’s men’s stars. But frustration among their rivals — fueled by Djokovic’s bounces by the dozen or Fish’s overdependence on his towel — continues to percolate.

It has gone on long enough, in fact, that a perhaps once heretical notion has gained some momentum: the installation of a shot clock, an on-court countdown that would require a player to get the ball back in play by a set time: 30 seconds is one working figure.

The folks in Ponte Vedra ought to take note. Golf could use a shot clock of its own.

Romney criticizes Obama for excessive use of 5-iron

As the 2012 presidential campaign heats up, President Obama will have plenty to defend: the housing market, his foreign policy and, yes, the reported 72 rounds of golf he has played since taking office. Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, raised the issue while speaking at a metal works plant in Allentown, Pa., Thursday, reports Steve Holland of Reuters:

Romney, arguably the front-runner in the field of candidates competing for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination, said Obama is not sufficiently focusing his attention on the economy.

"The president's time is being focused on playing golf and campaigning, campaigning in Pennsylvania today, and blaming. He should be spending his time and his energy working on getting Americans back to work and fixing this economy."

This isn't the first time that an Obama opponent has chastised his love of golf—and it won't be the last. Look for it to be a frequent talking point in the coming months.

Tweet of the Day

From Tiger Woods' niece Cheyenne Woods, who is competing in the Women's U.S. Amateur Public Links this week.

Jack Nicklaus is being sued in federal court over a falied luxury golf course development in southern Utah, according to The Deseret News.

 E. Jeffrey Donner, a Fort Collins orthopedic surgeon, and his wife, Judee, claim the legendary golfer "solicited" them in 2007 to buy a $1.5 million membership and lot in the proposed Mount Holly Club, which was to include a Nicklaus-designed 18-hole golf course.

But when the $3.5 billion project near Beaver went belly up, the Donners claim Nicklaus and his company, Jack Nicklaus Golf Club, took no responsibility for the debts and obligations incurred by the primary developer, Mount Holly Partners LLC. The suit contends Nicklaus knew Mount Holly faced serious financial and legal problems but failed to disclose them.

The Donners seek to recoup their investment as well as punitive damages.

"We believe the case has no merit," said Jacque Ramos, one of Nicklaus' Salt Lake attorneys. "The only involvement that Jack had was in the design of the golf course itself."

Michelle Wie’s Mickelson moment at LPGA Championship
Michelle Wie turned in an even-par round in the first round of the Wegman’s LPGA Championship in Rochester, N.Y., on Thursday, but not before playing 18 in a manner reminiscent of Phil Mickelson at the 2006 U.S. Open at Winged Foot, fortunately with a better result. Here are the details from The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle.

"I had a couple interesting shots the last couple (holes)," said the lanky 21-year-old who has four Top-10 finishes this year in eight tournaments and ranks 13th on the money list.

Wie pushed her tee shot so far right on the 18th hole that it bounced off a hospitality tent. She punched back out to the fairway and made an impressive up-and-down from beyond 125 yards to save par.

"Hopefully, I can hit more fairways tomorrow and get some shots close to the hole. Overall, it was a pretty scrambling round," she said.

Monty gets lederhosen as gift for 48th birthday
What do you get a guy who could afford to buy almost anything? Not lederhosen, apparently.

Colin Montgomerie celebrated his 48th birthday in Munich at the BMW International Open, but declined a gag gift from tournament organizers, according to The Scottish Daily Record.

After he posted a two-under 70 to trail Swede Henrik Stenson by six strokes Monty said: "I should be spending my birthdays on a beach in the Bahamas and not having to be drenched out here.

"It's nothing to do with Germany as it's a great place - it was just horrific out there."

Tournament director Marco Kaussler then handed Monty the lederhosen and insisted he should wear the leather shorts at tonight's Bavarian-themed players' party.

But the former Ryder Cup skipper said: "I think they might be a bit big for me."

He handed back the shorts and was presented with a super-size bottle of champagne to toast his birthday. 

Stray shots: Things we saw while trying to figure out where the action is on a Friday night in Hartford...

Happy 80th Birthday, Billy Casper! (Via PGA.com)

Sports Illustrated and Golf Magazine writer Joe Posnanski listed his 14 Most Dominant Performances in Sports and Tiger Woods got two spots: No. 5 for the 2000 Open at Pebble Beach and No. 2 for the 1997 Masters. The winner? Here's a hint, he leads this list by 31 lengths.

Tweet of the Day

From TOTD all-star Christina Kim:

While most professional golfers are preparing for the U.S. Open, 22-year old superstar Rory McIlroy is in Haiti to see the relief efforts first hand. McIlroy spent his first day at a school in Port au Prince that was devastated by last year's earthquake, but has since been reconstructed. He also visited a nutrition and health clinic, which left quite an impression on the young Ulsterman. 

“The chance that these children are getting to be kids and enjoy themselves is so important for their well-being. Being here at this child-friendly space gives them the chance to play with their friends and enjoy themselves – helping them escape for a little while every day from the difficult situations they are growing up in. Nothing could prepare me for meeting the children in Haiti and I am truly amazed by how happy they are. The everyday things that we take for granted at home in Ireland are so longed for in Haiti.”

Stricker Says Tiger and Phil are Still Top Draws in Golf
He's the No. 4-ranked player in the world, but Steve Stricker still doesn't feel he's ready to take the spotlight from the game's biggest stars. Having just won his 10th PGA Tour event at the Memorial, Stricker has a better perspective than most on the state of the game and what the fans want to see. 

“I think where Tiger and Phil are at, they’re still the biggest draws in golf. We can’t take that away from them,” he said. “I think we all still tune in to golf – I know I do – just to see how Tiger and Phil are going to play. To see whether Tiger’s going to get his game back, see what he’s doing. I still think that provides a lot of interest, and it also opens up the door, like you said, for a lot of other people. I think it was good when Tiger was winning because people wanted to see that, but I think also, on this end of it too, they’re still tuning in to see what those two guys are going to do.”

Stricker also showed he has at least a bit of a sense of humor when asked about Tiger's slip to 15th in the latest world rankings. 

“I really want to text Tiger and say, where are you? What happened? I haven’t got the courage to do that yet.”

To Play or Not to Play ...
In a recent phone conversation before the Memorial Tournament, Tiger Woods told Jack Nicklaus he might not be able to play in this year's U.S. Open at Congressional after all. According to the Golden Bear, this is how it went: 

“Tiger called me” on May 27th, Nicklaus said. “He said, ‘I’m still hobbling, and I don’t know whether I’m going to make the U.S. Open or not.’ ”

Obviously golf fans around the world, and the multitude of sponsors who are involved with the event and the TV broadcast, want to see the world's former No. 1 player sweating it out with the rest of the field. But is it really worth it for Woods to risk further injury in an attempt to rush back to competition? Think about it this way - he's got an injured Achilles tendon, a bad knee, a bad calf, a balky putter, and a golf swing that's in the midst of a major change. All things considered, it seems Tiger's best bet is to skip the Open and hope to maybe be back in time for the PGA Championship in August, at the earliest. 

Tell us what you think: Should Tiger Woods make getting his health back to 100% his priority, or should he do everything he can to compete in the U.S. Open? Please leave comments below.

Tweet of the Day: 

DUBLIN, Ohio -- It's often said that today's players don't know how to work the ball, playing instead with a "bomb and gouge" mentality. On Tuesday afternoon at the Memorial Tournament, Rory McIlroy, Rickie Fowler, Charl Schwartzel and Justin Rose disproved that theory with a spectacular display of shotmaking during Jack Nicklaus's annual clinic in front of a packed grandstand at Muirfield Village.

Nicklaus, in a shirt and tie, served as master of ceremonies. He invited each pro to hit a different club and shared his thoughts and tips for the fans. Not only did the players have to do what Nicklaus ordered -- high draw, low punch, sweeping hook -- they also had to trade barbs with the 18-time major champion.

First up was McIlroy. Before the 22-year-old Northern Irishman pounded drivers to the delight of the crowd, Nicklaus set him up by saying, "Imagine you're coming down 18 at Augusta ..." The crowd erupted in laughter, remembering that McIlroy lost a four-shot lead at the Masters earlier this year.

Nicklaus didn't get all of the laughs, however. As Schwartzel, the reigning Masters champion, was about to hit a pitching wedge, he looked up at Nicklaus and said, "I don't know why I am doing this. I've only won one Masters. I need you to show me how to win another five."

"If you're having trouble once you get your third or fourth Masters, let me know and I'll show you how to do it," Nicklaus joked back.

The most impressive display was put on by 22-year-old Rickie Fowler, who strutted onto the driving range with a 4-iron. Before Nicklaus could tell him what type of shot to hit, Fowler turned around to the audience and said, "What do you guys want to see?"

"Big hook!" someone shouted.

"Big hook? That's Bubba [Watson]," Fowler said. "He can hit a hook."

Of course, Fowler still obliged the fan.

"Now that's what you want," Nicklaus said as Fowler's ball hooked across the driving range.

After the defending champion, Justin Rose, pured several 7-iron shots, many fans were getting ready to leave, thinking the clinic was over, but Nicklaus wasn't through.

"Does anyone have any questions they'd like answered?" Nicklaus asked the crowd. "We can talk about anything you want to talk about."

Despite his shirt and tie, and the 92-degree heat, Nicklaus took questions from the audience for 25 more minutes.

"Jack did you ever go to the gym when you were young?" one fan asked.

"Do I look like it?" Nicklaus said to roaring laughter.

The 18-time major champion continued to take questions and share his tips for the amateur golfers in the crowd before he had to return to his hosting duties and attend a meeting.

On this day, Nicklaus was able to wow the crowd without hitting a shot.

DUBLIN, Ohio -- Tiger Woods should be here at the Memorial Tournament preparing to try to win his fifth title at Muirfield Village. Instead he's back home nursing his injured left knee and Achilles’ tendon, and trying to get healthy for the U.S. Open in two weeks.

Woods's injured knee is now seen as the major obstacle standing between him and Jack Nicklaus's record of 18 majors. But what kind of injuries did Nicklaus encounter on his way to the record books? Well, very few, according to the Golden Bear, who spoke to the media Tuesday morning at the Memorial, the event he hosts every year just outside his hometown, Columbus.

"I had one operation when I was playing," Nicklaus said. "I had it in 1984 when I had hurt my left knee, but I hurt my left knee playing tennis, but I was 44 years old when I did it. I went and had it operated on, and I won the Skins Game 17 days later, so it obviously wasn't a very major operation."

Nicklaus would win his final major two years later at the 1986 Masters.

Nicklaus said his swing never caused an injury. Nicklaus credited his rhythmic swing and the equipment of the day with keeping him off the DL. With better fitness and lighter clubs, today's players swing faster and harder than those from Jack’s generation.

"I think Tiger's swing, and I think a lot of the swings of today, are far more violent at the ball than some of the old swings," Nicklaus said. "Some of the old swings were far more rhythmic. I don't think a lot of the swings today are as rhythmic as the old swings. I don't think the game is the same game from that standpoint. The game today is far more an upper body game, and we used to play more from the ground up."

For the third time in six years, Woods won't be teeing it up at Muirfield Village. Woods, who won the Memorial in 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2009, called Nicklaus on Friday to tell him his injured knee was still not ready for competition.

"I told Tiger when I was on the phone with him, which is the same thing I've said to him a thousand times, ‘Tiger, nobody ever wants records to be broken,’" Nicklaus said. "That's obvious. I mean, I don't care who it is. But I certainly don't want you not to be healthy and not have the opportunity to play to break records. I want you to get yourself healthy, do what you have to do to go play, get your golf game back in shape, and I wish you well, wish you good luck, which I would say that to any athlete and anybody, because I think that's the way it should be."

(Photo: Scott Halleran/Getty Images)

DUBLIN, Ohio -- It didn't take long for the talk to turn from golf to college football during Jack Nicklaus's press conference Tuesday morning at the Memorial Tournament.

After Nicklaus made some opening remarks on changes to the golf course, he was asked for his thoughts on Jim Tressel, who resigned as Ohio State's football coach on Monday amid a firestorm of accusations and NCAA violations.

"Well, my take on it is that it was no different than a father trying to protect his son, and if I had one of my kids that did what I thought was a fairly insignificant thing, I'd probably say, you know, ‘Hey, we're not going to worry too much about that. We're going to try to just forget that,'" Nicklaus said.

"Well, obviously the cover up was far worse than the act. And once you got the cover up, it became a situation where Jim had to say some things that turned out to be that weren't exactly truthful. And so that's where he got himself in trouble."

Tressel resigned Monday after 10 years as Ohio State's football coach. The NCAA is investigating the extent of a scandal in which players traded memorabilia for tattoos. SI reported Monday night that as many as 28 players had traded Ohio State memorabilia under Tressel's watch dating back to 2002.

Nicklaus grew up in the Columbus suburb of Upper Arlington, attended Ohio State football games with his father as a kid and won the 1961 NCAA individual title while playing golf for the Buckeyes.

Legendary football coach Woody Hayes was a family friend and frequent patron in Nicklaus's gallery at Ohio State. At the time, golf was just one of many sports Nicklaus played. But Hayes told Nicklaus's father, Charlie, that young Jack should focus on golf.

"Charlie, forget about Jack playing football," Hayes was quoted as saying in Nicklaus's book My Story. "I think he'd make a fine quarterback if he stayed with the game, but he could also get hurt, and with the talent he has for golf he'd be crazy to take a chance like that. Just encourage him with his golf, because I think he could have a great career at it."

Nicklaus was asked Tuesday what Hayes might have done if he were in Tressel's shoes.

"I think Woody would have protected his kids," Nicklaus said. "He probably did protect his kids. Woody was a good man. I think Tressel is a good man."

(Photo: Matt Sullivan/Reuters)