DUBLIN, Ohio (AP) — Jack Nicklaus never said he wanted the Memorial Tournament to be the “Masters of the North” when it began 50 years ago. The best sales pitch was to let others do the talking.
It never really came to that over the years, anyway, except it was clear Nicklaus found inspiration from the Masters, the major he won a record six times. It wasn’t about Muirfield Village trying to replicate Augusta National. It was more about the tournament experience unlike any other in the non-major division.
Never mind the caddies in white coverall tops or sandwiches in a green wrapper and coffee in green cups. His emphasis outside the ropes was on players being treated in such a way the Memorial stood out from other PGA Tour events.
But it’s getting harder to stand out in this era of big money and players getting pampered more than Nicklaus or anyone else could have imagined 50 years ago.
The $20 million purse at the Memorial is the same size as nine other tournaments, and that doesn’t include The Players Championship ($25 million), the majors or the Tour Championship, where the $40 million bonus is now official money.
Nicklaus believes the tour is healthier than ever. He just doesn’t agree with a plan to have two tracks — the top one filled with some 16 such signature events blended in with the four majors, The Players and the postseason, crammed into about seven months of the calendar.
“I don’t want to comment on the tour’s schedule because I’m not exactly in favor of what they’re doing right now,” Nicklaus said, showing his unique ability to comment after not commenting.
He has yet to visit with Brian Rolapp, the PGA Tour’s new CEO who has been preaching simplicity and scarcity, which has simply scared those who believe the more tournaments the merrier. Without details, it’s a little early to start worrying.
Rolapp and Commissioner Jay Monahan, the golf whisperer for the former NFL executive replacing him, are to be at the Memorial on Wednesday. Nicklaus plans to meet with them to at least try to understand what’s going on and why.
“I hate to see tournaments bunched too much together with too many big tournaments too close together,” Nicklaus said. “That’s a problem, I think. And I think that’s going to be a problem for the tour in the future.”
It already has shown to be the case. The tour inserted a new signature event at Trump Doral between another signature event and a major championship. Scottie Scheffler didn’t play one of the signature events. Rory McIlroy and Xander Schauffele bailed from the other.
That’s been fixed for 2027 without really solving anything. Doral moves back to the Florida swing, but it’s still part of a five-week stretch that features three signature events and The Players Championship. The other is the Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches.
The Nicklaus Children’s Health Care Foundation is the charity recipient of Cognizant, so the Golden Bear knows all about its spot on the schedule.
“What chance does that tournament have?” he said.
And then his attention turned toward the players and how they can be expected to play so many big tournaments in such a short amount of time, all while trying to be at their best for the four majors that define careers.
“I look at it from the way I was as a player,” Nicklaus said. “I could play a couple weeks in a row, maybe three weeks in a row, but I needed some time off to be able to recharge the batteries. And I think everybody needs to recharge their batteries. So to jam it all in in one period of time, and then leave the rest of the year open, I think it’s tough.
“I don’t think it’s a problem yet,” he said. “But I think it will be if we don’t address it.”
Nicklaus is 86, still plugged into the game to give McIlroy sage advice going into the Masters (“No effing double bogeys”) and aware of Scheffler having a run of three straight runner-up finishes a few months ago.
For all he does in the game, he remains a player first.
That’s how he thought when he created the Memorial. A great tournament starts with a great golf course in pristine condition. The facilities should be superb, starting with the practice areas, convenience and a grill room that feels like a good place to hang instead of just eat.
Hale Irwin said in 1976, “For a first-time tournament, none can even come close to this one. If they didn’t change a thing it would have to be one the great tournaments we play in. But it is going to get better. I don’t know how, but it will.”
Scheduling is a big part, too. The Memorial in May in 1976 — and for the next four decades— filled the calendar between the Masters in April and the U.S. Open in June.
But now the PGA Championship is in May, moving away from its longtime August date to clear the way for the FedEx Cup postseason. The Memorial now starts 18 days after the PGA Championship, and it ends 11 days before the start of the U.S. Open.
There’s a lot going on. Memorial is still the tournament Jack built. It still means something. But it now feels like another stop on a long and lucrative road. It’s hard to see how a revamped schedule is going to change that.
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On The Fringe analyzes the biggest topics in golf during the season. AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
