Canterbury holds a special place in golf history for another reason; it's the course where Jack Nicklaus broke Ben Hogan's major championship record. The 1973 PGA was Nicklaus's 14th major, and the story goes that Jack and his pals were slated to go hunting in Montana that November. But one of his pals was concerned about Jack's chances for sole possession of the most important mark in professional golf. He asked Nicklaus if he shouldn't postpone the trip, because if Jack didn’t win at Canterbury, he’d want to practice in preparation for the 1974 Masters, the next chance to break the mark.
After a moment's deliberation, Nicklaus simply remarked, "Book the hunt," sending an unmistakable message that he was singularly focused on winning. Nicklaus didn't just win. He shattered the record for largest margin of victory in a PGA Championship, winning by a whopping 7 shots, eclipsed only recently, in 2012, by Rory McIlroy at Kiawah Island. Ever since then, "Book the hunt" entered into golf lore as a catchphrase.
And so it was with a twinge of sadness when I had to tear myself away from my impromptu history lesson that day. That's one of the beautiful things about our game; we don't just stroll around dazzlingly beautiful landscapes, but we also walk in history. And here was history, speaking to me, in a high clear voice, echoing through a century, those Kodachrome moments captured forever like a Paul Simon song – making it seem all the world's a sunny day.
So as we sit here on the eve of the season's last major, bending spoons with Dustin Johnson (his golf bag gives smarter, more interesting interviews than he does), sniggering at Phil and Ernie's white, scrawny shins (in short, they look silly) and cringing as King of the Grunge Punks Justin Bieber yuks it up on the practice range with Bubba Watson, we can at least reflect upon the tournament's illustrious history. Some golfers of our age are mere dwarfs when measured against the giants on whose shoulders they stand, but if they win a major, it's surprising how much grace and class the media can impart to them. Sometimes they'll deserve the accolades, sometimes we'll overstate the case, but when all else fails, just take a picture. It'll last longer.
