Jack Nicklaus is one of the most successful golfers to have ever played the game, so it’s very interesting to hear what he had to say about the current state of professional golf.
Nicklaus won 73 PGA Tour tournaments during his time at the top, including a record-setting 18 major championships.
Now 85, the Golden Bear is still one of the most knowledgeable voices in the game.
Nicklaus has suggested that he would be just as dominant now as he was 50 years ago if he had the opportunity to use modern equipment.
The 18-time major champion has shared numerous gripes about the modern-day game recently.
Nicklaus berated the fact that the ‘legs are being taken out’ of the swing these days. By that, he means that way too much pressure is being loaded onto the upper body and the torso.
Aside from the technical side of the game though, there is something else that Nicklaus really doesn’t like.
In fact, way back in 2008 he noticed something really concerning about the way in which professional golf was evolving.
And the point he made 17 years ago is even more poignant today.
Jack Nicklaus once said what he really doesn’t like about modern-day golf
Jack Nicklaus opened up on his ‘greatest concern’ about the game of golf 17 years ago now.
When speaking to Golf Digest back in 2008, Nicklaus highlighted how the game he loved has changed beyond all recognition.
“I don’t think The Masters is diminished,“ Nicklaus explained. “But it’s another type of tournament than the one I won.
“Removed from the competition, my life is very full. My business has never been more brisk, but I pay attention to the issues in golf. From a greater distance, I look at the game a bit differently and probably more accurately than when I was a competitor.
“Even though I don’t enjoy playing as much, I love the game, and I care about it. I’ve been thinking on a variety of the topics and issues in today’s game.”
“The best golfers should be better today than the best golfers of yesterday. At the moment, I’m not sure that’s the case. I realize I’m an old fuddy-duddy, and that previous generations always say that their game was better. I guess I’d plead guilty — in part. But here’s the difference. The game in terms of equipment barely changed for 60 years. Then with the equipment revolution that began with metal clubheads in the 1980s and accelerated with dramatic ball technology in the late 1990s, the game changed radically.
“The best players suddenly found themselves able to hit shots more easily and consistently, as well as pull off shots they never would have tried in the past. It made the game for elite players simpler and easier.
“As a result, I don’t care as much for today’s game as I did for the one played for most of my career. I like the old game of moving the ball both ways and using strategy with angles, and hitting all the clubs in the bag. My greatest concern, because I believe it has the most effect on the most parts of the game, is the golf ball. I’d very much like to see the U.S. Golf Association and the R&A institute at least a 10-percent rollback in the distance the golf ball travels. I know the ruling bodies are looking at limits on equipment, including possibly reducing the size of driver clubheads and eliminating square grooves, but that’s treating an effect more than a cause. The desired results from such moves could be taken care of by a rollback in the ball. In fact, there would be much less need to limit equipment innovations that help amateurs play if the ball were rolled back.”
The sad thing about this is that the game of golf has changed even more so over the past 17 years.
It’s even harder to curve the ball both ways now with the emphasis on distance and raw power rather than control and creativity.
Perhaps an exception to that rule is Scottie Scheffler, and that’s maybe why Nicklaus is such a big fan of the current world number one golfer.
Jack Nicklaus said what impresses him most about Scottie Scheffler
Scheffler has been compared to Nicklaus by Butch Harmon due to his exceptional distance control with his irons and his patient approach and calm demeanour when competing in big golf tournaments.
Just like Nicklaus did all those years ago, Scheffler grinds his opponents down with consistently brilliant golf.
After Scheffler won the Memorial Tournament back in June, Nicklaus spoke extremely highly of the 29-year-old.
The Golden Bear said: “I always was a — I just asked Scottie if he watched the leaderboard. He says, Yeah, I do. Well, I did too. I always watched the leaderboard and found out what my competition was and always felt like what level I had to play to fight that competition off. Sometimes you would have to fight it off because you knew they would self-destruct.
“So, obviously, you just don’t make dumb mistakes, play solid golf, and you win. He is such a good player, and he drove the ball beautifully today. Like he said, he drove the ball, but he never put himself in jeopardy. He didn’t put himself in a position to lose the golf tournament. He was always in a position to win. And if he had to do something more spectacular, he was in a position to do so. But he didn’t have to.
“So you don’t take any chances to do that. I mean, the most risky shot that I saw him play, I thought today, was 16. 16, by hitting the ball pin high, he actually gave the opportunity to have the water in play. I thought he would hit it in the front right of the green there.“
Nicklaus then carried on, “That was the only place he could lose the tournament, and he hit it on the far right side of the green, which was all right. Even if he went in the bunker, it wouldn’t have been a big deal. But there’s places where you play when you’ve got to finish and finish properly that don’t put you in jeopardy. That’s what he did. That’s what good players do.“
Scheffler is a real throwback to the great players of days gone by thanks to his quirky, somewhat old-school technique.
It says a lot that he is the most successful golfer of his generation, though. And Scheffler’s continued success is proof that there is never a ‘right’ way to do things when it comes to the great game of golf.
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