Legends of golf celebrate at St. Andrews

S

T. ANDREWS, Scotland— They stood on the 18th tee at St. Andrews, a foursome that collectively has won 43 major championships spanning nearly six decades.

Tiger Woods isn’t big on ceremonial golf. There are exceptions, and a British Open at the home of golf that celebrates the R&A’S champions would be one of them.

He played with four-time major champion Rory Mcilroy and six-time major champion Lee Trevino, who won his two claret jugs a few years before Woods was born. Along for the ride was Jack Nicklaus, the gold standard when it comes to majors with his 18 titles.

Nicklaus didn’t bring his clubs to St. Andrews. He returned to become an honorary citizen.

Nicklaus was there to greet most of the champions on the first tee of the four-hole exhibition around the loop on the Old Course (holes 1, 2 17 and 18), and he couldn’t help but join up with the last group at the end— Woods, Trevino, Mcilroy and Georgia Hall, an R&A ambassador and winner of the Women’s British Amateur and Women’s British Open.

Trevino was holding court because that’s what Trevino does.

“Let me show you Jack putting,” he said, and then he went through the motions, staring intently at the imaginary line, crouching over the ball and giving it a whack.

“Greatest putter ever,” Trevino said.

“You left something out,” Nicklaus said, and then he raised his left arm, his signature move when he holed the most important putts. He did that on the 17th green when he won the 1986 Masters at age 46 and on the 18th in St. Andrews in 2005 when his final putt in the last of his 166 majors was a birdie.

Trevino then moved on to the wedge, never a strength of Nicklaus because the Golden Bear rarely missed the green. Trevino purposely chunked the wedge into the turf, which made him nervous when he realized he took a fat divot out of the 18th tee. He forgot where they were. Woods turned around howling with laughter.

“This was Jack on the ninth at Merion,” Trevino said, referring to their playoff for the US Open in 1971 that Trevino won. Nicklaus playfully protested, only for Trevino to say, “You laid the sod over the ball!”

“These guys weren’t even born then,” Nicklaus said.

“I know. That’s why I’m telling them,” Trevino said, and there were smiles all round.

Only at St. Andrews.

AP LEE TREVINO chips the ball as (from left) Rory Mcilroy, Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus watch during a “Champions Round’ ahead of the British Open at the Old Course at St. Andrews, Scotland, on Monday.