In a world that is increasingly tactless and rudderless, role models are hard to come by. Here is one that deserves respect: Jack Nicklaus. Sports writer Bob Greene has an excellent appreciation of the man in today’s Wall Street Journal.

His theory of golf—and of life—was pretty elementary. Do your best, and everything else will take care of itself. If you’re good enough, people will say it for you. Hit one shot, keep your head down and then hit the next. If you make a poor shot, it’s no one’s fault but your own; don’t scream and don’t blame the course or the gallery. You’re going to end up in the rough on certain days of your life. It’s your job alone to find your way out.

Even if you don’t play golf or are too young to remember some of Jack’s major triumphs, you would do well to point yourself or your children at his example. (The final round of the 1986 Masters may well have been the best televised golf event in history.)