Nicklaus Misses His Cut Slam

MAMARONECK, N.Y. —  Even though there aren’t many milestones left for Jack Nicklaus, he missed a small one at the PGA Championship on Friday when he shot 76 and missed the cut.

Nicklaus, who finished at 10-over-par 150, could have made the cut in all four majors for the first time in six years.

“I’m not even thinking about that,” said Nicklaus, 57. “I’m just out here playing golf.”

Nicklaus, in his 36th year as a pro, tied for 39th at the Masters, tied for 52nd at the U.S. Open and tied for 60th at the British Open.

As it turned out, the 6,987-yard par-70 Winged Food layout was too long for one of golf’s legendary long hitters.

“I felt like it was going to be a tough golf course for me,” he said. “It’s very long for me, and I just felt like I was playing too many long irons to really do great.

“I’m disappointed that I’m going to miss the cut simply because I felt like I was playing better than that.”

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Phil Blackmar shot a two-under 68 and is at 138 after two rounds, which might be a bit surprising considering how he prepared for the PGA.

He said he didn’t really work hard on his golf game.

“The last two weeks I worked pretty hard on my fishing and riding a jet ski,” Blackmar said.

Instead of golf, Blackmar and a friend went to Corpus Christi, Texas, to fish, and when they didn’t have fishing poles in their hands, they were riding jet skis in the Gulf of Mexico.

Blackmar, who won at Houston in early May, isn’t worried about his swing, maybe because he shot a 68 despite hitting only four fairways.

“It kind of comes and it goes,” he said.

Maybe it will stay around long enough for Blackmar to finish better than in a tie for 40th--his best result in the PGA.

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The Nausea Award, television division, goes to TBS for its introduction of Friday’s telecast.

The script, read to slow-motion videotape of John Daly holding up the Wanamaker Trophy in 1991 while music played, referred to ‘the magical legend of John Daly.”

Magical legend? That’s way overdone, after the places through which Daly has dragged his checkered career.

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For what it’s worth, 45 of the 150 players in the field are not wearing metal spikes--including first-round co-leaders Daly and Davis Love III.

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Want Tiger Woods to play in your tournament? It’s sort of expensive. Sun Microsystems, which sponsored last month’s Dutch Open, offered Woods a reported $600,000 to play, but was turned down, according to Golf World.

Organizers of the Dubai Desert Classic are believed to be preparing a $1-million offer to get Woods to play in their event in February.

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It wasn’t an especially good two days for Jerry Kelly. He shot 81-76 and finished 17 over par.

“I was only two touchdowns, two extra points and a field goal away from making the cut,” said Kelly, from Madison, Wis. “That’s too much, even for the Packers.

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In 1974, the Angels gave a minor league first baseman his release, and Bob Makoski decided he would spend much more time playing golf.

Makoski, one of 25 PGA club pros, stood in at Winged Foot Golf Club, where he swung at and missed the cut at 79-75. The 45-year-old from Novi, Mich., said he had a great time, though.

Makoski and Frank Tanana were signed by Angel scout Jim Terrell as high schoolers.

“They kept the right one,” Makoski said.