Pancreatic cancer. said his greatest triumph was beating alcoholism (alcohol abuse is a significant risk factor for cancer)
lots of misses in his career, including 4 runner-ups at Augusta. Played in Jack's era. A perfectionist personality and golf arent a good mix. Candid guy, spoke freely of his struggles
some quotes. The bold is sad
Jack had the same impact mentally during his era as Tiger did. They just beat the field before a shot was taken (see below last paragraph)
Jack;
“Tom was a good friend and one heck of a player, one of the four or five most talented players I’ve ever seen, one of the top five ball-strikers I’ve ever known,” Nicklaus said by phone on Sunday. “That tall straight posture that he had, just so natural over the ball.”
Tom Weiskopf
“Golf, to me, was always such a great challenge of the mind, and there were times I wish I had handled that challenge a little better,” Weiskopf said . “But I love the game. I love talking about it and thinking about it and to me it is endlessly fascinating.”
'The perfectionist who tries to play golf for a living usually ends up saying to hell with it. I'm a perfectionist, and I had some success, but only because I was persistent and had some talent. In the end the game ate me up inside, and I retired earlier than a lot of guys do. Perfectionists are determined to master things, and you can never master golf.'
The most persistent feelings I have about my career are guilt and remorse. Sometimes they almost overwhelm me. I'm proud I won 15 times on tour and the 1973 British Open. I should have won twice that many, easy. I wasted my potential. I didn't utilize the talent God gave me.
(on drinking) It was a serious problem for many years. It ruined my career. Every big mistake I've made can be traced back to drinking.
My dad worked for the Newburgh South Shore Railroad in Ohio. It was his job to hire and fire people; the stress it put on him was enormous. My dad was a sensitive man to begin with, and when he had to lay someone off he'd get depressed and go on a two-day drunk. The most terrible time of all came when he had to fire his best friend. There had been an accident in which a couple of people were killed, and my dad's friend was to blame. The guy was one year away from retirement and a full pension, and my dad fired him and the guy lost it all. This time my dad didn't get drunk for two days—he stayed drunk for three years. I suppose it was a harder, black-and-white world back then. Me, I couldn't fire my best friend. I'd find a way to get the guy to retirement so he could get his pension. But for my dad it was a matter of doing the correct thing, which also was the hard thing.
Going head-to-head against Jack Nicklaus in a major was like trying to drain the Pacific Ocean with a teacup. You stand on the first tee knowing that your very best golf might not be good enough. You experience a sagging sort of pressure that just gets worse as the day wears on. The last four holes are always murder — the crowds, the difficulty of the golf course, the fatigue, the realization that Jack is not going to make a mistake — all of it hits you at once. Jack would get this look on his face that expressed deep suspicion in your ability to handle this, and in the end I rarely could.
lots of misses in his career, including 4 runner-ups at Augusta. Played in Jack's era. A perfectionist personality and golf arent a good mix. Candid guy, spoke freely of his struggles
some quotes. The bold is sad
Jack had the same impact mentally during his era as Tiger did. They just beat the field before a shot was taken (see below last paragraph)
Jack;
“Tom was a good friend and one heck of a player, one of the four or five most talented players I’ve ever seen, one of the top five ball-strikers I’ve ever known,” Nicklaus said by phone on Sunday. “That tall straight posture that he had, just so natural over the ball.”
Tom Weiskopf
“Golf, to me, was always such a great challenge of the mind, and there were times I wish I had handled that challenge a little better,” Weiskopf said . “But I love the game. I love talking about it and thinking about it and to me it is endlessly fascinating.”
'The perfectionist who tries to play golf for a living usually ends up saying to hell with it. I'm a perfectionist, and I had some success, but only because I was persistent and had some talent. In the end the game ate me up inside, and I retired earlier than a lot of guys do. Perfectionists are determined to master things, and you can never master golf.'
The most persistent feelings I have about my career are guilt and remorse. Sometimes they almost overwhelm me. I'm proud I won 15 times on tour and the 1973 British Open. I should have won twice that many, easy. I wasted my potential. I didn't utilize the talent God gave me.
(on drinking) It was a serious problem for many years. It ruined my career. Every big mistake I've made can be traced back to drinking.
My dad worked for the Newburgh South Shore Railroad in Ohio. It was his job to hire and fire people; the stress it put on him was enormous. My dad was a sensitive man to begin with, and when he had to lay someone off he'd get depressed and go on a two-day drunk. The most terrible time of all came when he had to fire his best friend. There had been an accident in which a couple of people were killed, and my dad's friend was to blame. The guy was one year away from retirement and a full pension, and my dad fired him and the guy lost it all. This time my dad didn't get drunk for two days—he stayed drunk for three years. I suppose it was a harder, black-and-white world back then. Me, I couldn't fire my best friend. I'd find a way to get the guy to retirement so he could get his pension. But for my dad it was a matter of doing the correct thing, which also was the hard thing.
Going head-to-head against Jack Nicklaus in a major was like trying to drain the Pacific Ocean with a teacup. You stand on the first tee knowing that your very best golf might not be good enough. You experience a sagging sort of pressure that just gets worse as the day wears on. The last four holes are always murder — the crowds, the difficulty of the golf course, the fatigue, the realization that Jack is not going to make a mistake — all of it hits you at once. Jack would get this look on his face that expressed deep suspicion in your ability to handle this, and in the end I rarely could.
