Jack Nicklaus played in the PNC Father/Son Challenge in Orlando, Florida, with his grandson G.T. over the weekend. The duo finished in sixth, seven shots back of Davis Love III and Dru Love. They shot 61-64 over the two days, and the elder Nicklaus (who was able to tee off from well ahead of some of the younger players) made all kinds of putts.
But that’s not the real story because you’re not here to read about a father-son (or grandfather-son) event in Orlando. You’re here for what Nicklaus said about Tiger Woods because what the best or second best player says about the other man in his class is always pertinent.
“I think his swing is much better now than it ever was,” Nicklaus told Golfweek at the event. “The reason for that is Tiger was very much up and down with his head and I think that put a lot of pressure on his back. The fusion that he had, obviously was something he didn’t want but it was something he needed. … I didn’t think he would ever play golf as well as he’s playing.
“I never dreamed that he would play quite as well as he has and that the operation actually leveled out his head and leveled out his swing.”
We are somewhere around swing No. 5 for Woods, and Nicklaus is clearly impressed. I’m not sure it’s touching that 2000 swing (and I think “much better now than it ever was” is a pretty big exaggeration), but Nicklaus does have a point about his head and his back. It’s a swing that at least seems sustainable into the future, which is more than you could have said about Woods in the last five-plus years.
Probably not the most lethal swing Woods has ever produced, but worlds away from his move at the start of 2018 and one that will have him (hopefully) contending on the PGA Tour in 2019 and very much beyond.
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