Nicklaus looks set to miss historic Open at St Andrews

FROM THE SCOTSMAN WEBSITE
By Martin Dempster
Jack Nicklaus, the three-time Open champion and winner at the Old Course in 1970 and 1978, is surprisingly poised to miss the 150th anniversary of the event at St Andrews this summer.
While Seve Ballesteros, who recorded a memorable victory at St Andrews in 1984, was the first to put his name down for the Champions Challenge event despite still recovering from four brain operations, Nicklaus has not yet contacted the R&A to confirm if he will be there on July 14.
At Augusta National during the Masters the 70-year-old was asked about the Champions Challenge at the Open and was reported as saying he would only attend if the Royal Bank of Scotland, one of his sponsors, wanted him to.
"It really revolves around the Royal Bank of Scotland," said Nicklaus. "If they want me to come and do work, yes. Am I going to go on my own to play four holes of golf at St Andrews? No. I have no real desire to go there. When I retired at 65 my desire to go to major championships was not really large."
Nicklaus played in a similar event at St Andrews in 2000 and Peter Dawson, chief executive of the R&A, is still hopeful the 18-time major winner will be in the field for the four-hole challenge in front of 30,000 fans this year.
"We have not yet had a reply from Jack about his invitation to the Champions Challenge," said Dawson yesterday at a press briefing for this year's Open Championship.
"I remember in 2000 we had some difficulty getting Jack's acceptance but we eventually did and he enjoyed himself, so I think we just have to wait and see on this one."
Nicklaus is expected to visit St Andrews at the end of next month for an RBS patrons day. If he does not return in July, it would be a big disappointment to the R&A, who made him an honorary member in 1990. He made an emotional farewell appearance in the Open Championship in 2005, the last time the event was in St Andrews.
He was deprived of an honorary freeman award by the town of St Andrews that year, but that was forgotten a few weeks later as the popular American made a tearful final walk up the 18th hole in front of an adoring crowd.
While RBS are one of the patrons of the Open Championship, Dawson admitted it was unlikely the R&A would lean on them to try and persuade Nicklaus to play in the Champions Challenge. "It up to them to decide what their ambassadors do," he said. "I don't think there is any disincentive to come, though, as those who are coming for the Champions Challenge but are not playing in the Open Championship itself will have transport and accommodation paid by R&A."
Nick Price (family reasons), Johnny Miller (other commitments) and 89-year-old Australian Kel Nagle, winner on the Old Course in 1960 and the oldest-living champion, have all declined their invitations, with Greg Norman, who has recently had shoulder injury, the only other player still to confirm.
+The full article above appears in The Scotsman newspaper today.