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#Jack Nicklaus won’t let coronavirus ruin his big moment at Memorial

#Jack Nicklaus won’t let coronavirus ruin his big moment at Memorial

DUBLIN, Ohio — When you’re 80, you’re allowed a senior moment or two.

Jack Nicklaus had a doozy on Sunday.

Nicklaus unwittingly delivered a deliciously awkward faux pas near the end of Sunday’s final round of the Workday Charity Open, which was won by Collin Morikawa on the third playoff hole over Justin Thomas at Nicklaus’ Muirfield Village Golf Club, the same course on which this week’s Memorial will be played.

Nicklaus, the founder and designer of the golf course and the Memorial host, revealed on Tuesday he’d intended to be at the club on Sunday to shake the hand of the Workday winner, scheduling to fly to Ohio from his Florida home at 2 p.m.

But the PGA Tour moved the tee times to earlier in the day because of impending inclement weather and Nicklaus didn’t realize it until he and his wife, Barbara, boarded their private jet on Sunday.

“I had a little bit of an ‘oops’ [moment],’’ Nicklaus said. “We scheduled our flight to get up here because I wanted to congratulate the winner in the locker room at 6, and of course then they moved up the tee times, and that didn’t work out.

“So, we were getting on an airplane at 2 and just as we were getting ready to take off, the first hole of the playoff, Justin Thomas holes that big long putt [a 50-footer]. I saw the [Thomas] putt. We didn’t see Morikawa’s putt [a 25-footer to extend the playoff].

“Barbara and I both texted Justin and said to him, ‘Wow, what a fantastic putt, unbelievable fantastic super putt, can’t believe that you made that putt. Now you’ve got the chance to win two in a row.’ ’’

Justin Thomas misses a putt to extend a playoff at the Workday Charity Open.AP

Thomas, of course, will not have a chance to go back-to-back at Muirfield Village because Morikawa’s putt to extend the playoff that Nicklaus didn’t see allowed him to stay alive and win the tournament on the third playoff hole.

“Then we got up in the air, and we picked up WiFi after 10,000 feet, and we found out Morikawa won the tournament, so I had to send [Thomas] another text and say, ‘Oops, a little premature,’ ’’ Nicklaus said. “He was good about it. He texted back and he said, ‘All’s good, it’s OK.’ ’’

Nicklaus is close with Thomas, who lives near him in the Palm Beach area and plays out of Nicklaus’ Bear’s Club in Jupiter, and said he believes his 27-year-old friend will recover quickly from Sunday’s loss, which included leaking away a three-shot lead over Morikawa with three holes to play.

“He won’t have any problem getting over it,’’ Nicklaus said. “He’s got his head screwed on properly and his feet on the ground. He knows that you get beat sometimes even when you play well and do the right things or even when you make a mistake.

“He knew he had a chance on the second playoff hole — what did he have, about an 8-footer [to win]? Sometimes you give your best effort and you just get beat, and that’s about what looked like happened. I think J.T. will be right there again this week.’’

If he is, Nicklaus said he plans to be on 18 to congratulate Thomas.

Jack Nicklaus with Patrick Cantlay in 2019.Getty Images

One of the traditions at the Memorial is Nicklaus shaking the hand of the winner at the 18th green at the end of the tournament. In the COVID-19 age, though, shaking hands is prohibited on the PGA Tour’s protocol policy.

Asked what he plans to do with the winner on Sunday, Nicklaus didn’t hesitate with his answer.

“I’m going to shake their hand,’’ he said. “I’m going to walk right out there and shake [the winner’s] hand. If they don’t want to shake my hand, that’s fine, I’ll give them a fist bump or an elbow bump, but I’m not going to give them COVID-19. I wouldn’t put anybody in that position. And, if I was in any danger of doing that, I wouldn’t shake their hand.’’

Nicklaus, who’s considered in the PGA Tour’s “bubble,’’ has been tested and was negative for the virus.

“I like shaking their hand,” he said. “I think that’s a great tradition. It’s as much fun for me as I hope it is for them.’’

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