Golf: Jack blows his stack

Golf: Jack blows his stack

Legendary Jack Nicklaus has lashed out at ball technology, which he says is making many courses obsolete.

The outburst came after big-hitting John Daly, for the second straight day, drove a ball over the green at the 331m 14th hole at Nicklaus' Muirfield Village Golf Club during last week's Memorial event.

Nicklaus threw a fit.

"Now is that absurd?" the course designer and tournament host said.

"It's not Daly, it's the golf ball. To have a golf ball that will do that is just ruining the game of golf.

"It's absolutely ridiculous.

"I know John can hit it and more power to John. You take advantage of what equipment you've got.

"If you don't, you're crazy.

"But how do you make a golf course defend that? You don't. It takes all the strategy out of play.

"It takes everything you've done to prepare out of play. I just don't think that's right for golf."

The par-4 14th has a vast landing area in front of a creek that bisects the hole about 210m from the tee.

The prevailing wisdom is to hit a safe shot off the tee, then hit a mid-to-short iron into the narrow green that is guarded on the left by bunkers and the right by the creek.

Daly birdied the hole in the first round after driving into the back bunker - near where reigning Masters champion Mike Weir was contemplating a shot.

In the second round he again hit a driver off the tee, and the ball landed, again in the back bunker 11m from the pin.

Nicklaus said he wasn't angry at Daly, just advanced ball technology.

"It's the biggest issue I've seen in golf," said Nicklaus, who has designed almost 300 courses.

"It's discouraging to do golf courses all over the world like I do and have them be obsolete."

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Steve Alker and Grant Waite will fly the New Zealand flag at the Capitol Open in Potomac, Maryland, this week's stop on the US PGA Tour.

Alker could do with a decent finish to lift himself from 146th on the money winners list up closer to the top 125, who keep their Tour cards next year.

If he's thinking money, the mark immediately in his sights is US$192,336 ($331,870), which is what American Tom Byrum, who sits in the 125th spot, has earned. Alker has won US$134,471.

Waite is way off the pace at 197th, but one big performance can jump a player significantly up the ladder.

American Bob Estes is the defending champion in the tournament, which has a US$4.5 million purse, $US810,000 of which goes to the winner.

The top four on the money winners list is unchanged this week - in order, Davis Love, Weir, Tiger Woods and Ernie Els - with back-to-back Tour event winner Kenny Perry jumping from ninth to fifth.

Perry won the Colonial Classic, followed by last Monday's win in the Memorial, becoming the fifth player on the Tour to achieve that feat since 2000.

Of the other New Zealanders on the money list, Phil Tataurangi, laid-up by injury, is 93rd, Craig Perks 104th and Michael Campbell, who has returned to Europe to find some form, is 195th.

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The mother of Australia's former world No 1 Greg Norman has scored an ace on the Pelican Waters golf course her son designed.

Toini Norman, 72, said she immediately sent an email to her 48-year-old son, who lives in Florida, to describe her effort on the 160m 14th hole on Queensland's Sunshine Coast.

Norman said she introduced the double British Open winner to golf when they lived in the Queensland mining town of Mount Isa.

"We thought we'd give it a go and it's eventually how Greg became interested in the game. I was still playing when I was seven months pregnant with him."