Nicklaus: Pros Today Are Too Soft

SOUTHPORT, England, July 18 -- When Jack Nicklaus arrived at Royal Birkdale at midday Friday to do some promotional work for a bank, he couldn't help but notice 53-year-old Greg Norman high on the 36-hole British Open leader board and other veterans such as Tom Watson and Tom Lehman posting decent rounds.

It made him ask out loud whether the new generation of golfers know what it's like to work hard for the big money they're being paid in purses and endorsements, or are truly willing to tough it out in what is becoming one of the more demanding British Opens in recent years.

"If they don't win, they still walk away with a big check," Nicklaus said. "They don't have to do some of the things the Watsons had to do, the Normans, the Lehmans, and that's to gut it out. It doesn't mean the young guys are out of it. It just makes it appear as though the guys with that experience are going to the top. . . .

"These kids today play perfect conditions every week. If they don't like what's going on, they're finishing 10th or 15th and still making a check. I don't think it makes them as tough."

Nicklaus said that when he joined the PGA Tour in 1962, only one or two players made a living from their purse earnings.

"Then it got to five or 10," he said. "Now there are a couple of hundred guys who make a living playing golf. We really had to play well and scratch it out to be in a position to get endorsements. We worked to try to build the tour so they didn't have to do that. Is that producing better golfers? I don't know . . .

"When we played, it wasn't to make a living. It was to make a name for yourself so you could make a living. . . . I always took the attitude that the more I worked at the game and the better I played, the money would take care of itself."

Duval Aiming for Greatness

David Duval has made the cut in only one of 12 PGA Tour events this year. In the second round here, Duval doubled that total and found himself in contention after shooting 69 and 2-over 142, his best round in this tournament since he won at Royal Lytham in 2001.

Once the No. 1 player in the world, Duval, 36, said he has been working hard over the past 18 months. And while his results have been disappointing, he said he can sense that his game is finally coming around.

"There's nothing that made it click this week," he said. "What's made it click is what's been going on for the last year and a half and the work I've been putting in and the time I'm using to practice.

"Frankly I put it back together, my golf swing and my head and everything else I wanted to do, and I'm getting very comfortable. . . . I know what greatness is about and I know what it takes to have greatness. I won't settle for mediocrity."

Mickelson Needs Help

Phil Mickelson is eight off K.J. Choi's lead and hopes Saturday's forecast for 40-mph winds is accurate.

"I need it," Mickelson said. "I mean I need serious weather. I need those guys to struggle. It would be nice if it waited until about 2 in the afternoon [when the leaders go off] to do that. We're going to need some luck. I'm going to need some luck.

"But I'm still in it, I'm still fighting, I still have a chance, and that's all I could ask for heading into the day."