NICKLAUS STILL THE TALK AROUND HERE.

Byline: JILL PAINTER

GOLF

Jack Nicklaus hears it all the time. Tiger Woods needs five more victories to break his record of 18 majors.

People routinely debate when, not if, Woods will break that magical record.

Nicklaus obliges in the same conversations with strangers at gala dinners, during interviews and at charity functions.

Nicklaus has every right to crinkle his tanned nose and roll his soft blue eyes, but that would imply it bothers him. And that's simply not the case.

"I think it's been as good for me as it has been for him," Nicklaus said Sunday after receiving the Roy Firestone Award by the Westcoast Sports Associates at the Omni Hotel in downtown LosAngeles.

How is this a good thing for Jack? Woods is just 32, and he should smash Nicklaus' record, one that before Woods came along seemed unbreakable. Some think Nicklaus is the greatest golfer of all time, but many believe Woods owns that distinction. How many majors can Tiger win? Twenty-two? Twenty-five?

"I'm grateful for Tiger's greatness," Nicklaus said. "Every time Tiger is mentioned, I'm mentioned in the same breath."

Nicklaus is retired from golf, but we're still talking about him. We're talking about him over coffee, on ESPN, and in columns. We bet our friends over how long it will take Tiger to eclipse Jack. We try to emulate him at the golf course, nearly falling forward with that back-breaking putting stance.

Woods has revived Nicklaus' career while Nicklaus isn't even playing. It's a brilliant public relations move that even Nicklaus' team must kick back and admire.

But the best thing for Nicklaus is that he's not being mentioned in the same breath with someone who's not so admirable. Nicklaus is just thankful the Tiger chasing him is so darn likeable.

"First of all, I like Tiger," Nicklaus said. "We could have someone who heads up the sport that would be a very poor example, and we don't have that. He sets a very good example. Every time his name is mentioned, my name is mentioned, too. It's probably kept me in the sport a lot longer than people expected. It's certainly good for me. I think it's good for the game. It's a rivalry over time."

Nicklaus admires Woods for the man that he is and the charity work that he does. Woods has the Tiger Woods Foundation in addition to many other worthy causes. Nicklaus and his wife, Barbara, are involved in 14 charities.

Now don't get Nicklaus wrong. His competitive fire still burns bright. Roy Firestone interviewed Nicklaus during the Westcoast's awards dinner and asked whether he or Tiger would win -- turning back the clock -- if both were 26 years old and staring each other down on the back nine of a major.

"I'd beat him like a drum," Nicklaus said to a roar of applause.

Of course, Jack was kidding. Not about the beating him part, the competitor in Jack hasn't retired with his retirement.

"I honestly don't know the answer and we'll never know the answer," Nicklaus said. "If you ask Tiger, he thinks he would win. If you ask me, I think I would win."

Nicklaus doesn't play much golf anymore. But people are still talking about him. While Woods takes his private jet from PGA Tour spot to sponsor engagement to charity function, Nicklaus is flying around the world. His golf-course design business is the best in the business. He's busy planting golf courses in remote corners of the world where people don't know a putter from a driver.

He puts people at ease. At seemingly every news conference, he shakes off public relations personnel who always want to cut off his interviews, then talks for another 30 minutes or however long it takes.

You could argue Nicklaus is making an even bigger impact on the golf world and in the philanthropist department than when he was playing golf for a living, introducing the sport to people who've never heard of it. When he wondered why there was no children's hospital in West Palm Beach, Fla., where he resides, he and his wife had one built.

K.J. Choi was overcome with emotion when he won the Memorial Tournament, hosted by Nicklaus, earlier this year. As a boy growing up in South Korea, he learned to play golf by reading a Nicklaus instruction book, "Golf My Way." To win Nicklaus' tournament was a life-changing moment.

In 20 years, we might see the first Russian on tour give thanks to Nicklaus for building a course in his backyard.

You can see why Nicklaus doesn't even have time to worry about records falling. He knows Woods will break it.

"Unless he falls on his face somewhere," Nicklaus said, "which I don't expect him to do."

Woods will break Nicklaus' record someday, all right. And Jack might be a little sad, but not for the reason you think.

Nicklaus need not worry. We'll still be talking about him.

Golden Bear goes global

Jack Nicklaus doesn't really play golf much anymore, save for a few rounds here and there.

But he still has that competitive drive.

Nicklaus is pouring that spirit into his golf course design business, which he has been involved with for 40years.

But that design business is expanding to such cities as Moscow, where he finished a course earlier this year.

He has courses in 32 countries and is working on building courses in 26 other countries.

Nicklaus, 67, was first approached about doing a golf course in Moscow 20 years ago.

"I didn't want to be part of the regime," Nicklaus said.

Two weeks ago, Nicklaus hung out with the mayor of Moscow, Yuri Luzhkov, and that conversation might have given him as much joy as winning a tournament.

"He's gotten bit by the golf bug," Nicklaus said. "He said, 'Jack, I want to do 15 golf courses around Moscow. I want to do with golf what we did with tennis. I want public courses, and we want kids to be able to play.'

"To have the opportunity to go to any country and go in and shape what's going to happen for the future in this game is exciting.

"We're into Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, Czech Republic, Montenegro, Greece, Cyprus and Turkey."

Nicklaus is supposed to be retired from golf.

The Golden Bear's jet travels around the world during the week but is on autopilot to return to Florida on Thursday so he can attend his grandchildren's high school football games.

He has managed to squeeze in a few Ohio State games as well.

Croatia prime minister Ivo Sanader is receptive to Nicklaus and the game of golf. Nicklaus didn't realize just how much.

After all, there were only three courses in Croatia and all of them had sand greens.

He met with the cabinet and the lady prime minister of tourism, who asked Nicklaus what golf would do for tourism. He explained, which he said got them excited about golf.

Then he went to Sanader's chambers to give him a set of golf clubs. Sanader said he liked the driver, and Nicklaus was impressed he knew the club.

"Then he took out the 5-iron and said: 'You don't suppose I could get this an inch longer?' Nicklaus said. "I got a big kick out of that."

A couple of months later, Sanader tracked down Nicklaus via cellphone when Nicklaus was on a golf course in Croatia. He told Nicklaus those clubs changed his golf game.

"When I get that kind of enthusiasm, it gets me going," Nicklaus said.

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Jack Nicklaus received the Roy Firestone Award on Sunday from the Westcoast Sports Associates at the Omni Hotel in downtown Los Angeles.

Special to the Daily News

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