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Jack
Nicklaus
Jack Nicklaus "The
Golden Bear"(born January 21, 1940), is our #1 ranked Golfing Legend, with a record total of 18 career Major wins and third on the
PGA Tour winning list with 71 official PGA Tour victories all total. Nicklaus
is generally credited with having won 73 PGA Tour events. However, I don’t feel
that the two team events (the 1970 National Four-Ball Championship and the 1971 National Team
Championship)
he won with Arnold Palmer should not be counted. I believe that only individual
wins should be included as official PGA Tour wins.
Jack didn’t take up golf until age 12
when his dad, Charley Nicklaus, (a pharmacist) brought him to Jack Grout to
learn the game. Despite living in the cold climate state of Ohio, it didn’t
take Jack long to catch on and become a very proficient golfer. At the tender
age of 16, Jack shocked the Ohio PGA community by winning the 1956 Ohio State
Open against a field comprised mostly of professional golfers. In fact, it had
been a former PGA Tour stop which Byron Nelson had previously won. It was a
sure signal that big things were in store young Nicklaus. As an amateur, Jack
went on to win the 1959 and 1961 U.S. Amateur and tie for second with Ben Hogan
in the 1960 U.S. Open that was won by Arnold Palmer.
Jack Turns Pro
Nicklaus turned pro toward the end of 1961 and his big
breakthrough came at the 1962 U.S. Open. This would become the first major
championship battle between Jack and Arnie. After tying for first in
regulation, a Monday, 18-hole playoff was required to determine the
winner. The Open it took place at
Oakmont C.C in Pennsylvania, not far from where Arnold grew up in Latrobe. The
gallery was predominantly filled with blue collar workers who tended to be very
wild and boisterous in support of Arnold, their hometown hero. In fact they
were quite mean and taunting to Nicklaus, calling him “fat Jack” and trying
every trick in the book, including pounding on the ground while Jack was
putting, in an effort to cause him to mess up. However, Jack was in his own
little world and the gallery’s rude and inappropriate behavior didn’t seem to
bother him in the least. On the other hand, Arnold was very ashamed of the fan
behavior and it bothered him greatly – so much so that it threw him off his
game. Ultimately, the inappropriate behavior of Arnold’s fans backfired as it
adversely affected Palmer’s performance and made it fairly easy for Jack to win
the playoff with a score of 71 to Palmer’s 74. This win was the beginning of
the on-course between Jack and Arnie, with Jack winning the majority of the
time.
Nicklaus Wins
1963 Masters for his first Green Jacket
Jack gets a big hug from his dad,
Charley Nicklaus, after winning the Masters in Augusta, Ga. on April 7, 1963.
Jack finished with a, relatively high, four round total of -2, 286 to beat Tony
Lema by a stroke. As a footnote, Gene Sarazen finished in 49th place
that year at age 61.
Nicklaus Blows away Masters field in 1965 en route to his 2nd
Green Jacket
Defending Champion, Arnold Palmer,
helps Jack into the traditional green jacket after Nicklaus' nine-stroke
victory at Augusta National Golf Club, April 11, 1965. Jack shot a tournament
record score of 271, -17.
Nicklaus would go on to dominate the PGA Tour in the 60’s,
particularly in the Majors, through 1967, with 1966 being a particularly good
year for Jack as he won the Masters, for the second year in a row, as well as
the Open Championship. This gave him the career grand slam at age 26, something
that Arnie was never able to achieve. Although Jack won five tour events during
1968 and 1969, he didn’t win another Major.
By the time the Open Championship rolled around in 1970,
Jack was hungry for another Major. This one was particularly important to
Nicklaus as it was played at St. Andrews, the birthplace of golf. The Open came
down to a contest between Jack and Doug Sanders. Nicklaus, playing ahead of
Sanders, failed to birdie the final hole and he was convinced that he had lost
the tournament.
With Sanders leading by one as he teed off on the, relatively easy 72nd hole, it looked like he had the tournament in the bag. He managed to hit a decent drive and all he had left was a short wedge shot and two putts for a win. However, instead of using the bump and run method for his shot, as he had been employing successfully all week, Doug decided to try flying the ball to the hole. Unfortunately he flew the ball too far and left himself 35 feet from the hole. Sanders hit a decent first put, but still had a three-footer left for the win.
However, when Doug was just about to make a stroke, he bent down to remove an imaginary lose impediment before making a pathetic nervous stab at the putt and missing it, amid the gasps of crowded gallery. Suddenly, Nicklaus had renewed hopes of winning the Championship. Jack went on to win the 18-hole playoff, by sinking a 12 foot birdie putt on the final hole for a one stroke victory, after which he hoisted his putter into the air and nearly clobbered Sanders on the head as it fell to the ground. Nicklaus had just accomplished his dream of winning the Open Championship at the home of golf.
With Sanders leading by one as he teed off on the, relatively easy 72nd hole, it looked like he had the tournament in the bag. He managed to hit a decent drive and all he had left was a short wedge shot and two putts for a win. However, instead of using the bump and run method for his shot, as he had been employing successfully all week, Doug decided to try flying the ball to the hole. Unfortunately he flew the ball too far and left himself 35 feet from the hole. Sanders hit a decent first put, but still had a three-footer left for the win.
However, when Doug was just about to make a stroke, he bent down to remove an imaginary lose impediment before making a pathetic nervous stab at the putt and missing it, amid the gasps of crowded gallery. Suddenly, Nicklaus had renewed hopes of winning the Championship. Jack went on to win the 18-hole playoff, by sinking a 12 foot birdie putt on the final hole for a one stroke victory, after which he hoisted his putter into the air and nearly clobbered Sanders on the head as it fell to the ground. Nicklaus had just accomplished his dream of winning the Open Championship at the home of golf.
Nicklaus
wins 1970 Open Championship at the expense of Doug Sanders
Doug Sanders ducks for cover as the putter, that Jack
hoisted, crashes to the ground. As if it wasn’t bad enough that Sanders missed
a three foot putt to win the Open in regulation before losing the next day’s
playoff by a single stroke. To add insult to injury, he nearly gets killed by
Jack’s falling putter.
During the rest of the 1970s Jack would go on to win his
third, fourth and fifth PGAs in 1971, 1973 and 1975; his fourth and fifth
Masters in 1972 and 1975; his third U.S. Open in 1972; and his third Open
Championship in 1978. That gave Nicklaus
a total of eight Major victories in a single decade.
By 1980 Jack had won a total of 17 professional Majors and
beat his own record of double career slams of the Majors by completing a triple
career Major slam. In this, the pre Tiger era, Jack was untouchable. However,
his finest moment was yet to come. His final Major triumph came after nearly a
six year Major draught when sports writers, in general, were saying Jack was
all washed up. In 1986, at age 46, Jack became the oldest Masters champion and
claimed his 18th and final Major.
Jack joined the Senior Tour after he turned 50 in 1990 and,
despite a very limited schedule, won 8 Senior Majors. Jack still holds the
record for most Majors won on the Senior/Champions Tour, with Hale Irwin coming
in second with 7 Majors. Chi Chi Rodriguez once called Nicklaus “a legend in his
spare time.” That about sums up Jack’s Senior Tour career.
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