Charl Schwartzel heeded Jack Nicklaus' advice

Charl Schwartzel sat down for lunch with Jack Nicklaus in the spring of 2010, hoping to talk about their shared interest in hunting. Instead, he came away with the blueprint to bag a green jacket.

“I didn’t want to be another guy who goes up and asks him, ‘So how did you do it?’ ” said Schwartzel of the meeting with Nicklaus that Johann Rupert, a South African business magnate, set up during Ernie Els’ fund-raising tournament at PGA National.

“I feel people keep coming (at Nicklaus) with questions of golf, golf, golf, golf, golf. Sometimes it’s nice to talk about something else. So I wanted to go ask him about his hunting trips, because I know he’s been to Africa a couple of times and he likes it. I was very interested in those stories.”

Once everybody at the table became comfortable, it was Ru­pert who steered the conver­sation toward Augusta.

Schwartz­el was getting ready to play his first Masters Tour­nament, so Rupert asked the six-time champion whether he had any advice for the rookie.

Next thing you know, Nicklaus walked Schwartzel through all 18 holes.

“Charl had not yet played Augusta Na­tional, so he wasn’t familiar with the layout beyond what he had seen on television,” Nicklaus said. “I went through all the shots and how you play them, or at least how I used to approach playing Augusta National. We talked about where you try to play certain shots, as well as where you don’t want to play them. I think I went through all 18 holes relatively quickly.”

Nicklaus has become somewhat of a golf whisperer. Trevor Immelman picked his brain just before winning the 2008 Masters. Rory McIlroy had personal sessions with the Golden Bear before winning as a rookie at Quail Hollow in 2010 and bouncing back to win last year’s U.S. Open after a Masters collapse.

Just six weeks ago, young LPGA player Jessica Korda had a confab with Nicklaus and subsequently won the Australian Open.

“I didn’t think I would ever be a psyche coach,” Nicklaus said. “I’m telling you, no idea. But it’s actually kind of fun to see these kids come and try to be able to help them and see them have some success.

“What am I telling them? Maybe I’d better write this down.”

Rupert took notes during the lunch session and gave them to Schwartz­el. It obviously made quite the impression.

“What stuck to me was how he actually thought around the course,” Schwartzel said. “The way to play, there is no secret. There’s nothing hidden away. It’s there in front of you. You just need to know it really well before you even hit the shot. He knew it that well and some of the things he thought about and decisions he made were very interesting.”

For instance, Schwartzel adopted the way Nicklaus handled the beguiling par-3 12th.

“He never ever took on any of the flags; he was always over the middle bunker,” Schwartzel said. “If it was long or short it would be in a bunker. Just very clever. He actually played it very conservative. Tiger (Woods) does as well. In a way, that is the secret how to play it, because it is difficult to get shots back and you don’t want to waste them.

‘‘People make bogeys out of the middle of the fairway by bad decisions. That’s what he didn’t do. He was very clever and played very smart.”

That thoughtful approach to playing the course instead of attacking it suited Schwartzel perfectly. He tied for 30th in his Masters debut, with the speed of the greens something that needed to be experienced.

“My biggest obstacle was fast greens,” he said. “That was my biggest struggle the first year.”

Already armed with Nicklaus’ course-management plans, Schwartzel implemented more advice from David Frost and Nick Price to prepare for Augusta’s greens the second time around. At each venue he went to in the weeks leading up to the Masters, he sought out the fastest putts and practiced getting the feel.

“When I eventually got to Augusta I felt I wasn’t scared of the greens like I was the first time,” he said. “I was the No. 1 putter that week. I probably hit the ball the same.”

Nicklaus watched the end of the Masters and it reminded him of his 1975 shootout with Johnny Miller and Tom Wesikopf, “and I think this was even better.”

“To me, watching the finish of the Masters last year, the tournament was truly won and not lost,” Nicklaus said. “And the finish by those three young players – Adam Scott, Jason Day and Charl – they all played terrific down the stretch. They matched each other stroke for stroke. All of a sudden, you turn around and realize Charl had birdied the last four holes. Phenomenal finish. Just unheard of at Augusta.”

Schwartzel and Nicklaus share the record of playing the final four holes in 4-under to win a Masters (Nicklaus went eagle, birdie, birdie, par in 1986). Nicklaus was so impressed by Schwartzel’s performance that he sent him a handwritten congratulatory letter that Schwartzel had reproduced on canvas and framed next to an autographed picture of them taken before last year’s Masters.

“I mean, a guy who’s such a respected person to actually take the time to write a letter to me ... that’s really special to me,” Schwartzel said. “I gave him a lot of credit on the help he gave me. And he actually in his note, he said he appreciates it, but it wasn’t anything that he did, that I did it all.”