NEWTOWN SQUARE, PA — Jack Nicklaus did not miss many cuts during his prime, especially at majors.
But one of those, at the 1988 PGA Championship at Oak Tree National in Oklahoma, has become great conversation for Nicklaus … because of the message he received from, of all things, a souvenir glass from McDonald’s.
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Nicklaus, 48 at the time, was a 9-over-par after the second round (72-79). He missed the cut by seven shots, just the third missed cut at a PGA Championship since his first played the event in 1962. He had a quadruple-bogey 9 on the 16th hole.
Nicklaus, the 18-time major champion, including five PGA Championship titles, was working for ABC Sports at the time. That meant he had to stick around for the final two rounds because of his broadcasting duties.
“The only thing worse than missing the cut is having to stay around for the weekend and talk about those who did make the cut,” he said at the time.
But that was not the worst of it. Nicklaus tells the story of how his wife, Barbara, took their youngest son, Michael, to McDonald’s the Friday night after the second round. She ordered a Happy Meal, which came with a souvenir glass.
The next morning, Jack’s orange juice was in the Happy Meal glass that included Peanuts’ characters and an inscription on one side that read:
“THERE’S NO EXCUSE FOR NOT BEING PROPERLY PREPARED.”
Jack Nicklaus speaks to Rory McIlroy about being prepared
Nicklaus has spoken many times, including with Rory McIlroy early in McIlroy’s career, about the importance of being prepared.
And that was the message he was sent on a Happy Meal glass.
“I would usually go to a major 10 days early,” Nicklaus once said. “I was there working, preparing myself for the golf course and preparing my own game. I took it very seriously.”
Somewhere around 70 golfers will experience that feeling Nicklaus had in 1988 on May 15 – Cut Day at the 2026 PGA Championship. Some because they just are not good enough.
Others because they were not prepared.
To this day, an exact replica of that glass sits in a cabinet in the Nicklaus home in North Palm Beach.
Tom D’Angelo is a senior sports columnist and reporter for The Palm Beach Post. He can be reached at tdangelo@pbpost.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Happy Meal glass, Jack Nicklaus and rare missed PGA Championship cut
Reporting by Tom D’Angelo, Palm Beach Post / Palm Beach Post
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