Ben Griffin, tied for the second-round lead at the Memorial Tournament, had just pulled his drive on the par-4 17th into Muirfield Village’s thick rough. Then, walking off the tee box, it was time for what has become a new normal in professional golf.
The walk-and-talk interview.
As he strolled up to his second shot, Griffin, who won at Colonial last week, was accompanied by Golf Channel’s Rex Hoggard, who asked the co-leader a series of questions. One about his form, another about the conditions and a third about his stamina.
“Joked yesterday, I asked you what your energy levels are like,” Hoggard said, “and your wife had one answer. She said she was exhausted, you said you were fine. How are you?”
After Griffin gave the typical ho-hum answers, Hoggard kicked it back to the broadcast booth, which featured Jack Nicklaus making a guest appearance.
And the 18-time major winner did not hold back his feelings about the walk-and-talks.
“I can’t stand that,” the 85-year-old said, “the interview on the golf course.”
Play-by-play voice Terry Gannon and analyst Frank Nobilo began to laugh.
Nicklaus continued.
“Let me tell you how I think, how I feel,” Nicklaus, who hosts the Memorial, said. “I mean, seriously, here’s a guy who's leading the golf tournament, he’s just hit the edge of the rough, he’s got a very difficult shot on a very difficult hole, and you’re talking to him about stuff that totally takes his mind off of what he was doing.
“How would you think [Ben] Hogan would respond to that question?”
“Times have changed,” Gannon quipped.
“You would not have any teeth left if you did,” Nicklaus added. “He’d hit you right in the face with it.”
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Jack Nicklaus Says He 'Can’t Stand' Walk-and-Talk Interviews on Memorial Broadcast.
