I hope they give me some tomorrow," Nicklaus said with a smile.Playing the front nine of the Nicklaus North Golf Course he designed in 1995, the 65-year-old Nicklaus did not miss a fairway but was well behind his playing partners off the tee at the 459-yard, par-four fourth. But his five-iron from 194 yards stopped 10 feet from the pin, inside Singh and Daly, who hit their drives 75 yards farther. After Daly and Singh missed birdie putts from 20-25 feet, Nicklaus calmly made his putt and drew a roar from the gallery for winning four skins after the first three holes were carried over."I'd like to just play when I'm 65," Singh said, joking. "Jack's beating us at 65."Daly claimed a skin at the 416-yard, par-four fifth, making an eight-foot birdie putt after Ames had missed on the same line.Singh, who missed a birdie putt inside five feet on the opening hole, had another chance to win a skin at the par-three sixth when he hit his tee shot within four feet But his putt caught the lip of the cup and spun out "You still have to put the ball in the hole," Singh said "I played well, I was fired up out there. Jack Nicklaus rolled in a 10-foot birdie putt on the fourth hole to win four skins worth $48,000 (£27,500) and take the first-day lead at the Canadian Skins Game in Whistler, British Columbia, on Monday. The Frenchman spent a brief spell on loan at St James' from Metz in 1998, but the club baulked at the £2m asking price and he later joined Fulham before making his £12.8m move to Old Trafford in January last year.A loan deal would provide a short-term solution, with Graeme Souness having been rebuffed by Saha's team-mate Alan Smith and Christian Vieri - who joined Milan yesterday - but any interest is in its infancy.Should Saha stay at Old Trafford, he will have a new team-mate as Park Ji-Sung was granted a work permit on appeal yesterday The South Korean will be officially unveiled next week..
The Canadian Stephen Ames collected two skins worth $28,000, while John Daly won one skin worth $12,000. Vijay Singh missed two short birdie putts and was shut out. Nicklaus is using the two-day event as a warm-up for his final British Open at St Andrews next week, saying that the competitive environment would force him to focus on his game. What better sign is there that the club is going in the right direction [than winning the Champions' League]?" Parry asked.. Frustration was mounting on Tyneside last night as Craig Bellamy's departure from Newcastle failed to gather pace. Everton and Celtic have been given permission to talk to the 25-year-old Welsh international, with Aston Villa and Blackburn maintaining an interest. David O'Leary, the Villa manager, is due back from his summer break today and will attempt to lure Bellamy to Birmingham, while it is understood Bellamy has some misgivings about joining Everton after talks with the manager, David Moyes.Newcastle became the latest club to be linked with a possible loan move for Manchester United's Louis Saha as he attempts to fight his way back into form. "Money was not a problem; this is about long-term ambition and a feeling about where he wants to be and winning trophies.
Presumably, he feels that is elsewhere."The club has to be bigger than any individual," Parry added "It's the ups and downs of football We must move on He has made it clear he wants to go. We have done our best and I think it looks pretty final."We sat down with him last summer and we understood his frustrations - it was to do with perceived lack of success. We said, 'Stick with it and see what we achieve' and we thought we achieved quite a lot. He is desperate to add a league winner's medal to his collection, however, and having voiced his frustration at Liverpool's poor Premiership form several times last season his dramatic U-turn will have been done with that in mind.Parry confirmed as much last night: "To be fair to Stevie, it is not an issue of money," Parry said.