Jack Nicklaus learned a surprising lesson from a McDonald's Happy Meal glass

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.

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 he first played the event in 1962. He had a quadruple-bogey 9 on the 16th hole.

Jack Nicklaus sippy cup (Photo submitted)

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.”

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