Jack Nicklaus shares the ‘crazy’ reason he has never made any money from Muirfield Village

“I was playing professional golf, and I wanted to bring all my guys into play. I didn’t want my fellow professionals to come in and say, ‘Jack’s in here making money off of us’. So I structured it so I couldn’t make any money.

“I’ve never made any money from Muirfield, and I feel good about that. I could bring Arnold in, or I could bring Gary, I could bring Watson or Trevino, or whoever I brought in, and I’d feel very good about saying, ‘guys, I don’t profit from this, this is all about the children’s hospital here in town, and about the Memorial Tournament and bringing golf back to Columbus. Not about me’.

“Maybe I’m crazy, but that’s just what I did.”

The remarkable number of golf courses Jack Nicklaus has had a hand in designing

Nicklaus and his company have been involved in the design of well over 400 golf courses over the last five decades.

Nicklaus was consulted by Pete Dye over the design of Harbour Town in the late 1960s. Of course, the Hilton Head venue continues to host the RBC Heritage on the PGA Tour.

Nearly a decade later, he designed Glen Abbey. It was his first solo venture, and the course has since gone on to host the Canadian Open 30 times.

Muirfield Village is one of several courses Nicklaus has designed that has since gone on to host either the Ryder Cup or the Solheim Cup.

He was also involved in designing Valhalla and the Centenary course at Gleneagles. So perhaps it is not a surprise that he is quite content with his decision to not financially benefit from owning Muirfield Village.