Nicklaus wins Skins Game, biggest check of career

WAILEA, Hawaii - Jack Nicklaus returned from a long layoff following back surgery to take the Champions Skins Game on Saturday, winning 11 straight skins and a career-high $340,000 in a runaway victory over Craig Stadler.

Nicklaus, who turned 65 last month and hadn't played a competitive round of golf for months, rode on the back of a cart for much of the round because of a strained hamstring. He had back surgery on Nov. 23.

Stadler, the 2004 Champions Tour player of the year, was second with five skins and $180,000 in his Skins Game debut. Defending champion Tom Watson earned $80,000 for his two late skins, and Arnold Palmer was blanked for the third time in four years.

Nicklaus, also the 1991 winner, sealed the victory in the made-for-TV tournament by holing a 14-foot birdie putt - his third straight birdie - for $40,000 on the 548-yard No. 15th. On the previous hole, Nicklaus hit a spectacular 6-iron to set up a 4-foot birdie putt for five skins and $170,000.

The 51-year-old Stadler, the youngest in the group, set the pace early by outdriving his competition. He birdied three of the first four holes to take four skins and $80,000. With four skins and $100,000 on the line on the par-3 eighth, Stadler had a chance to expand his lead but missed his 6-foot birdie attempt an inch to the left.

Nicklaus halved the hole by two-putting from 18 feet to begin his run.

He got on the board with an 8-foot birdie putt on the 353-yard ninth to pick up five skins and $130,000 as the sunsplashed gallery roared.

Stadler's 4-footer to halve the hole lipped out. But he won the big-money 18th hole, making a 20-foot birdie putt to earn another $100,000.

The first six holes were worth $20,000, Nos. 7-12 $30,000, the next five $40,000 and No. 18 $100,000.

Watson picked up his first skin of the day on the 216-yard No. 16, bending his birdie putt right to left and into the hole for $40,000. He made a 10-foot birdie putt on No. 17 to win another skin worth $40,000.

Last year, he won at Wailea with a par on the third playoff hole worth five skins and $260,000, for a winning total of 10 skins and $400,000.

Palmer, 75, was the shortest off the tees and just missed several birdie attempts through the day.

Conditions at the Wailea Golf Club's Gold Course were balmy with the slightest of ocean breezes.

The scenic layout runs along the base of the dormant volcano Haleakala and features views of the Pacific Ocean.

The players took a 20-minute break after the ninth hole to change shirts, to make it appear they were playing on two different days for television.