David Shedloski once said, “Jack has this kind of sense of humor in his personality. It’s teasing, but it’s not mean in spirit. It’s good-natured."

That sense of humor was on full display when Kenny Perry found himself paired with Jack Nicklaus for a practice round at the Open Championship in 2005, as per the Associated Press.

Jack Nicklaus caught Kenny Perry offguard

Perry believed he was lucky to join Nicklaus for a practice round at the British Open, the final major of his career. Then Nicklaus started teasing him.

Perry revealed he played the practice round as a team with Tom Watson against Nicklaus and Mike Weir. However, since he was on the opposing team, Nicklaus started throwing verbal jabs even though it was just practice.

When Perry missed a shot or left a putt short, Nicklaus would say, "Yeah, my mother would have done it like that." Perry admitted he wondered if the comment was directed at him. "I felt like a pin cushion out there," he added.

While Kenny Perry wouldn't have stayed silent, he hesitated in going tit-for-tat with Nicklaus. He even looked at Mike Weir and asked: "Can I say something to him?’ But that’s Jack Nicklaus. I can’t needle that guy."

Thankfully for Perry, Tom Watson couldn't stand by and watch Nickalus have a field day with his teammate. "It got so bad that Tom Watson finally stuck up for me," Perry recalled.

Then again, as David Shedloski said, Nicklaus was never mean-spirited. "Some of that comes back to his competitive nature. He wants to stir it up. It’s his way of having fun with you," added Shedloski, and Kenny Perry saw that firsthand.

Perry said he looks back on the experience and remembers the end of the round, when Nicklaus asked the group to join him on the Swilcan Bridge for a photo.

"He [Nicklaus] sent me the picture with an autograph, and a 5-pound note,” and added, "That’s going to make a good picture," said Perry.

Written by

Aditi Singh

Edited by

Sagnik Bagchi