Need help with your game? Try Jack Nicklaus

Justin Thomas could sense his expectations getting higher and his game going nowhere.

He was coming off a strong rookie year in 2015, contending a half- dozen times before breaking through for his first PGA Tour victory in Malaysia in October. But then he started the new year in a rut, and Thomas knew just what to do — no matter how awkward it might have seemed.

He asked Jack Nicklaus if he could come over to his house to talk.

“Very weird,” Thomas said about making a call to the 76- year- old owner of 18 major championships. “I was nervous to do it, but it was the coolest thing when I first met him. We had lunch before I got in The Bear’s Club, and for someone of his status and how comfortable I felt around him, I give him a lot of credit for that. He didn’t try to intimidate me or make me feel uncomfortable. As soon as you’re around him, you’re not nervous. It really speaks to his character.”

Nicklaus designs and builds golf courses. His business enterprise i ncludes everything from wine to ice cream. He is heavily involved in the Nicklaus Children’s Health Care Foundation. And in his latest role, he is a mentor to a burgeoning class of young golfers. And he loves it. “I don’t know why they do it. They seem to think it’s going to help them,” Nicklaus said with a wink and a smile. “I get a big kick out of it, sure. Why would you not get a big kick out of it? I’m 76 years old and I’ve got a 22-year-old kid coming here asking me for advice. How many 22- yearolds ask anybody for advice?”

Jordan Spieth spent time with him before his first Masters. Charl Schwartzel met with Nicklaus before he won the green jacket. So did Trevor Immelman. Rory McIlroy talks shop with the Golden Bear all the time.

He doesn’t teach anyone how to play golf. He just talks. And they listen.

Conversations can last a few minutes (Spieth) to a few hours (Thomas).

And sometimes, the education goes beyond golf.

“I walked in his house and I had my hat on,” Thomas said. “We sat down and he said, ‘I hate to be that guy, but is it raining in here?’ He laughed and said, ‘ Why do you have your hat on?’ I forgot to take it off. I felt like an idiot.”