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Sunday, February 24, 2002

By Gerry Dulac, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

Jack Nicklaus can joke that it wasn't his golf game that was causing high blood pressure.

But golf's all-time greatest champion knew something was wrong in the fall of 2000 when he was becoming increasingly more irritable -- "More than I am normally," he said -- and not feeling very well. So he went to see a friend, Dr. Wayne Isom at Cornell University, to determine what was wrong.

When he was diagnosed with the disease, Nicklaus began taking Altace, a drug used to lower blood pressure.

He's feeling so well now he can blame his golfing problems on something less health threatening but equally performance hindering -- chronic back ailments.

"My blood pressure is back to normal and I feel great," Nicklaus said the other day on a conference call to help promote awareness to high blood pressure and other risk factors that cause heart attacks.

Nicklaus has become a spokesman for Mended Hearts, a nonprofit group that educates the public on heart attacks and strokes. He became involved after he visited Isom nearly 16 months ago and his blood pressure was higher than normal.

Nicklaus became alarmed about his condition because he thought he was having a heart attack one night.

"It was indigestion, but it got me thinking," Nicklaus said. "I hadn't been feeling good and that's when I went to New York."

Nicklaus said he is not experiencing any side effects from the medication and has moved on to another problem -- his back, which he said has arthritis and a couple of herniated disks.

He went to San Diego last week to work with his longtime physical therapist, Pete Egoscue, whose exercise program Nicklaus does every day. Nicklaus wants to get his back healthy so he can play in a few tournaments before the Masters, which is April 11-14.

But he also understands he might have to have surgery to correct his problems.

"It would be a very minor surgery and it wouldn't take very long [to recover]," Nicklaus said. "But I want to try exercise first."

New course

The latest public course to debut in Western Pennsylvania -- Birdsfoot -- is scheduled to open nine of its 18 holes this summer. The other nine could open in the fall.

The 18-hole course, which was designed by architect Brian Ault, is located in Freeport. The owners -- Lindsay Golf Group LTD -- have retained one of the area's top course superintendents, Tom Bettle, formerly of Quicksilver and Deer Run.

Ault designed Wyncote Golf Club in Oxford, Pa., which was ranked among the nation's best new public courses when it opened in 1993.

From way downtown

Nicklaus was one of the leading critics last year when it was announced Augusta National would lengthen its golf course for the 2002 Masters. The Golden Bear, who has always been concerned about the distance the ball is traveling, wondered out loud where it would all end.

"Pretty soon," Nicklaus said at the time, "we'll be teeing off downtown somewhere."

When Nicklaus was invited to join Augusta National and played the renovated course in a members tournament in November, he found he was partly correct.

Augusta National chairman Hootie Johnson, remembering Nicklaus' comment, had a plaque imbedded on the renovated 18th tee that said "Downtown."

Answer man

Wayne Levi turned 50 two days ago and will make his Senior PGA Tour debut this week at the SBC Senior Classic near Los Angeles. But the 1990 PGA Tour player of the year doesn't exactly sound like a guy eager to get going.

Levi, who won 12 PGA Tour titles, has been spending the winter in New Hartford, N.Y., instead of a warm-weather climate, getting ready for his return. He also was reluctant, when questioned, to say he would enjoy seeing some of his old playing friends again.

"I'll probably go out a few days early and just hit some balls, but probably not a whole lot before," Levi said.

When asked what is the hardest part of playing competitively again, Levi said, "It will probably be the same as it always has been for me. I've played a few events here and there the last few years and played reasonably well and shot around even par."

There was more.

Q: Any immediate goals?

A: "No, I don't have any immediate goals to speak of. I'm just going to go play as well as I can and feel my way around."

Q: Talked with players on the Senior Tour?

A: "No, not really. I haven't run into very many guys and, like I mentioned, I don't play very often."

Q: Looking forward to anything?

A: "Probably just playing competitive golf again, going out and playing in a tournament. It's been a while and, like I say, I've only played a few events the last few years. It will be nice to get competitive again."

Don't expect too much.

Display case

David Duval has the scorecard from his final-round 59 at the 1999 Bob Hope Classic locked away in a safe place. But the silver Claret Jug from winning the British Open last year at Royal Lytham & St. Annes?

It's sitting on the counter in the golf shop at Pablo Creek, Duval's home course in Jacksonville, Fla.

"I just wanted to let everybody see it," Duval said. "I guess they've taken about a thousand pictures of people with it. I certainly wasn't going to carry it with me, so I felt I would leave it at home so people can enjoy the trophy."

Dissa and data

Kenny Perry's consecutive rounds of par or better ended at 33 with a second-round 72 at the Nissan Open a week ago. The new leader: Fred Funk, who has 30 consecutive rounds of par or better, including all 21 this season.

John Daly's current driving average of 316.7 yards, which leads the PGA Tour, is nearly 40 yards longer than the tour average (277.0).

Hale Irwin, the Senior Tour's all-time victory leader (33), finished second last week at the Verizon Classic. It was the 28th time he finished second.