How Nifty It Would Be For Jack to Win at 53

AUGUSTA, Ga. He can't. All the superadjectives and oh-my-gosheswere exhausted seven years ago. If the story of Jack Nicklauswinning the Masters at 46 was an American revelation, the sort ofwe-all-can-die-now experience that left people talking in tongues,then what possibly would we say or feel Sunday if he won at . . . 53?

There he is, three presidents, a war and several thousandshanks and fades since that spiritual moment, tied for the lead atAugusta National. You truly had to blink, make sure this wasn't adeep-sleep thing, as he came up the hill at 18, a son who wascritically ill last summer (Jack Jr.) back caddying again, absorbinghosannas from a gallery oblivious to …