If the scouts are right, top-ranked tight end recruit Nick O'Leary is well on his way to making his own name over the next three-to-five years at Florida State. In the meantime, the 6-foot-4, 235-pound titan is still introduced to people as "Jack Nicklaus' grandson," which obviously has its advantages — for example, a free trek through Augusta National during Masters week as his grandfather's caddie in this afternoon's Par 3 Contest, on the 50th anniversary of Nicklaus' first Masters in 1961, and 25th anniversary of his final Masters win in 1986.
Of course, like outings with your grandfather, playing a round with the great Golden Bear is largely an opportunity for him to wax nostalgic about the olden days and reference long-forgotten cultural artifacts*:
[Nicklaus, to an interviewer on Tuesday:] I've said many times, I drove down Magnolia Lane the first time in 1959 and I thought that was pretty neat. We drove down here again today and my grandson, Nick is over here, Nick O'Leary. He's my caddie tomorrow. We have Mutt and Jeff on the Par 3 tomorrow.
I told him I said, look at these trees. These trees look exactly the same, I don't know how many years ago is that, that's 52 years ago ?? that's not 62, is it? 52. (Laughter.) They look the same to me now.
I'm sure they have lost one or two trees. I don't think they have ever replaced any.
Wow, that is a really cool story, Pop Pop. (*For the whippersnappers, "Mutt and Jeff" is a syndicated comic strip featuring one very tall character and one very short one, created in 1907 and taken out of circulation in 1982, a decade before Nick O'Leary was born.) As long as Nick keeps his emotions in check and doesn't act like he knows everything about the 3-iron, though, I bet his tip at the end of the day is going to be awesome.
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Matt Hinton is on Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.
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