One last golden moment for golf's Golden Bear

Bobby Jones, the legendary amateur golfer, once told Jack Nicklaus that no true champion's career was complete without a victory at the Old Course at St. Andrews on Scotland's uncompromising coast. So, being the good student of the game that he is, Nicklaus went out and won two of his three British Opens on the undulating turf of the course that is the birthplace - the shaggy shrine - of golf.

This week, as he competes in his 38th and last British Open, he may be laying down his own axiom for the next generation: If you have to retire, do it on golf's grandest stage.

When he walks off the 18th green at St. Andrews this week, officially ending his competition in major championships, he will be leaving behind a legacy of being, arguably, the greatest golfer of all time - and one of the most dominant athletes in any sport in the past half century.

Characteristically for Nicklaus, he's not in Scotland to revel in past triumphs or the adoration of tweedy British fans. He's there to win.

Even at 65, Nicklaus thinks he just might have one more magical week in him. "I'm here as a competitor," he said at a press conference this week. "And we'll find out whether that competitor can play through to Sunday and try do the best he can."

Scotland is also an appropriate stage for Nicklaus's curtain call because of the imprint he's put on the game. To many, he has revolutionized how golf is played. The sheepherders who chose to swing their wooden staffs at spherical stones centuries ago would hardly recognize the sport his talents spawned. His powerful swing, and towering ball-flight, ushered in a new era of 300-yard drives and 7,000-yard courses that are now the standard on the PGA Tour.

But for all his physical gifts, it was Nicklaus's mental toughness that many of his fellow pros remember the most. "There wasn't any one thing that made Jack better than the rest of us. But as his opponent, you could never expect him to make a mistake," says Lanny Wadkins, one of Nicklaus's toughest competitors in the 1970s.

Wadkins recalls his rookie year when he played in the same group with Nicklaus in the US Open at Pebble Beach - a tournament Nicklaus won. "Jack just had a presence. He understood how good he was," he says. "He wasn't cocky about it, but he would give you a look like: You take your best shot - it's not going to be good enough. He knew he was better, and he knew that you knew he was better."

Nicklaus's trophy case is well stocked. Throughout his career, he's won 18 major championships (Tiger Woods, by comparison, has won 9). Less heralded but also remarkable, he came in second 19 times in majors. He's captured 113 titles worldwide and finished in the top three 167 times. He's registered 19 holes-in-one.

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