For this golfer's detailed statistics, records, and other achievements, see List of career achievements by Jack Nicklaus.
| Jack Nicklaus | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Personal information | |
| Full name | Jack William Nicklaus |
| Nickname | The Golden Bear |
| Born | January 21, 1940 Columbus, Ohio |
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) |
| Nationality |  United States |
| Residence | North Palm Beach, Florida |
| Spouse | Barbara Nicklaus |
| Children | Jack (1961), Steven (1963), Nancy (1965), Gary (1969), Michael (1973) |
| Career | |
| College | Ohio State University |
| Turned professional | 1961 |
| Current tour(s) | PGA Tour Champions Tour |
| Professional wins | 115 |
| Number of wins by tour | |
| PGA Tour | 73 (2nd all time) |
| Champions Tour | 10 |
| Other | 22 (regular) 10 (other) |
| Best results in Major Championships (Wins: 18) | |
| The Masters | Won: 1963, 1965, 1966, 1972, 1975, 1986 |
| U.S. Open | Won: 1962, 1967, 1972, 1980 |
| Open Championship | Won: 1966, 1970, 1978 |
| PGA Championship | Won: 1963, 1971, 1973, 1975, 1980 |
| Achievements and awards | |
| World Golf Hall of Fame | 1974 (member page) |
| (For a full list of awards, see here) | |
Jack William Nicklaus (born January 21, 1940), also known as "The Golden Bear",[1] is regarded by many as the greatest professional golfer of all time. With the most victories in major championships (18),[2] he was continuously ranked as the world's number one golfer on McCormack's World Golf Rankings from its inception in 1968 to 1977. Having won seven professional major titles between 1962 and 1967, he would likely have been considered number one in some of those years as well (a period when he, Arnold Palmer and Gary Player vied for that status in public acclaim as The Big Three). After 1978, while much younger players such as Tom Watson and Seve Ballesteros came to be ranked higher than him, Nicklaus continued to regularly challenge for and indeed win many major titles until 1986, making a full quarter-century in which he competed at the very highest level of his sport. Indeed, over the course of this 25-year period of 100 major championships as a professional, Nicklaus finished either first or second 36 times, in the top three 45 times, the top five 54 times, and the top 10 67 times. Nicklaus and the other 45 major championship winners during this period combined for a total of 119 major championship victories, 704 official PGA Tour wins, and over 825 additional individual professional victories (excludes Champions Tour events, etc.). While other marquee players such as Nick Faldo, Tom Kite, Nick Price, Payne Stewart, and Curtis Strange were winning numerous tournaments worldwide, they had yet to break through with major wins prior to 1987, but proved to be on the verge of doing so. These facts make this period arguably the most competitive in the history of professional golf and illustrate Nicklaus' ability and durability over time.
After winning two U.S. Amateur Championships in 1959 and 1961, and challenging for the 1960 U.S. Open, Nicklaus turned professional toward the end of 1961. The 1962 U.S. Open was both Nicklaus' first major championship victory and his first professional win. This win over Arnold Palmer began the on-course rivalry between the two. In 1966, Nicklaus won the Masters Tournament for the second year in a row, becoming the first golfer to achieve this, and also won The Open Championship, completing his career slam of major championships. After failing to win a major in 1968 and 1969, Nicklaus won another Open Championship in 1970.
Between 1971 and 1980, he would win a further nine major championships, overtake Bobby Jones' record of 13 majors, and become the first player to complete double and triple career slams of golf's four professional major championships. Nicklaus also won the prestigious Players Championship a record three times during this period. At the age of 46, Nicklaus claimed his 18th and final major championship at the 1986 Masters Tournament, becoming that championship's oldest winner. (Julius Boros is the oldest major championship winner, having won the 1968 PGA Championship at the age of 48.) Nicklaus joined the Senior PGA Tour (now known as the Champions Tour) in January 1990, when he became eligible, and by April 1996 had won 10 of the tour's tournaments, including eight of that tour's major championships despite playing a very limited schedule. He continued to play the four regular Tour majors until 2005, when he made his final appearances at The Open Championship and the Masters Tournament.
Nicklaus has also taken part in various off-course activities, including golf course design, charitable work, book writing, magazine article contributions, video productions, and running his own tournament on the PGA Tour, the Memorial Tournament. His thriving golf course design company is one of the largest in the world. Nicklaus' books vary from instructional to autobiographical, with his Golf My Way considered one of the best instructional golf books of all time (influencing Greg Norman among others); the video of the same name is the best-selling golf instructional to date.
Amateur career
Nicklaus was born in Columbus, Ohio, the son of a pharmacist. He was raised in the suburb of Upper Arlington, and attended Upper Arlington High School. Overcoming a mild case of polio as a child,[3] he took up golf at the age of 10, shooting a 51 at Scioto Country Club for his first nine holes ever played.
Nicklaus won the first of five straight[4] Ohio State Junior titles at the age of 12. At 13, he broke 70 at Scioto Country Club for the first time. Nicklaus won the Tri-State High School Championship (Ohio/Kentucky/Indiana) at the age of 14 with a round of 68 and also recorded his first hole in one in tournament play the same year. At 15, Nicklaus shot a 66 at Scioto Country Club which was the amateur course record and qualified for his first U.S. Amateur Championship. He won the Ohio Open in 1956 at age 16 highlighted with a phenomenal third round of 64, competing against professionals. In all, Nicklaus won 27 events in the Ohio area from age 10 to age 17.
In 1957, Nicklaus won the U.S. National Jaycees Championship having lost the previous year in a playoff. Nicklaus also competed in his first of 44 consecutive U.S. Opens that year, but missed the cut. In 1958 at age 18, he competed in his first PGA Tour event at Akron, Ohio tying for 12th place and made the cut in the U.S. Open before tying for 41st place. Nicklaus also won two Trans-Mississippi Amateurs in 1958 at Prairie Dunes Country Club and 1959 at Woodhill Country Club with final match victories of 9 & 8 and 3 & 2, respectively. Also in 1959, Nicklaus won the North and South Amateur at Pinehurst, North Carolina which is generally considered the most prestigious amateur event next to the U.S. Amateur Championship and competed in three additional PGA Tour events with his best finish being another 12th place showing at the Buick Open.
While attending Ohio State University, he won the U.S. Amateur Championship twice (1959, 1961), and an NCAA Championship (1961). In the 1959 U.S. Amateur, Nicklaus defeated two-time winner and defending champion Charles Coe in the final 36-hole match 1-up with a birdie on the final hole. This was significant not only due to Coe's proven ability as a player, but Nicklaus became the then-youngest champion in the modern era and second only to Robert A. Gardner who won in 1909. In 1961, Nicklaus became the first player to win the individual title at the NCAA Championship and the U.S. Amateur in the same year. He was followed by Phil Mickelson (1990), Tiger Woods (1996), and Ryan Moore (2004). Nicklaus also won the NCAA Big Ten Conference Championship that year with a 72-hole aggregate of 283, while earlier claiming the Western Amateur in New Orleans, Louisiana. In his second and last U.S. Amateur win in 1961, Nicklaus convincingly defeated Dudley Wysong 8 & 6 at Pebble Beach in the 36-hole championship match.
At the 1960 U.S. Open, Nicklaus shot a two-under par 282, finishing second by two strokes to Arnold Palmer, who won the tournament with a final round charge of six-under par 65. This score remains the lowest ever shot by an amateur in the U.S. Open and he did so playing the final 36 holes with Ben Hogan who later remarked he had just played 36 holes with a kid who should have won by 10 shots. During the final 36 holes, Nicklaus was two-under par and never shot a single round above par during the entire tournament. In 1960, Nicklaus also tied for 13th in the Masters Tournament and tied for fourth in the 1961 U.S. Open three shots behind champion Gene Littler having played the final 54 holes one under par. Each of these three major championship finishes designated Nicklaus as Low Amateur. However, Nicklaus' one under par 287 tie for seventh in the 1961 Masters Tournament was second that year only to Charles Coe's low amateur placing when he tied for second with Arnold Palmer at seven-under par 281, one shot behind champion Gary Player.
Nicklaus represented the United States against Great Britain and Ireland on winning Walker Cup teams in both 1959 and 1961, decisively winning both of his matches in each contest. He was also a member of the victorious 1960 U.S. Eisenhower Trophy team, winning the unofficial individual title by 13 shots over teammate Deane Beman with a four-round score of 269, a record which still stands and that broke Ben Hogan's earlier U.S. Open aggregate of 287 at the same site.[5] Nicklaus was named the world's top amateur golfer by Golf Digest magazine for three straight years, 1959-1961.
PGA Tour career
Professional breakthrough
Nicklaus began his professional career on the PGA Tour in 1962. While Nicklaus officially turned professional in late 1961, he debated heavily the idea of remaining an amateur in order to further emulate his idol, Bobby Jones. However, Nicklaus realized in order to be regarded the best, he would have to compete against the best and in greater frequency. Shortly after turning professional, Nicklaus' future agent, Mark McCormack was interviewed by Melbourne Age writer, Don Lawrence who inquired about the American golf scene. When McCormack described Nicklaus, Lawrence referred to the "large, strong, and blond" player as the Golden Bear. By 1963, the nickname stuck.
His first professional win came in his 17th start the same year, defeating the heavily-favored Arnold Palmer in a Monday playoff at Oakmont for the 1962 U.S. Open. While the galleries were more than vocal in their support for Palmer, who had grown up in the area, Nicklaus won the playoff by three shots (71 to 74). In 90 holes, Nicklaus had only one three-putt green. The U.S. Open victory made Nicklaus the reigning U.S. Open and U.S. Amateur champion. In addition, at age 22, Nicklaus was the youngest U.S. Open champion since Bobby Jones won at age 21 in 1923, and he has remained the youngest winner since. The U.S. Open win placed Nicklaus on the cover of Time magazine. This was also the beginning of the Nicklaus-Palmer rivalry, which attracted viewers to the new technology of television.[6] The famous quotation regarding Nicklaus and Palmer is remembered as follows:
"When God created Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer, he turned to Nicklaus and said: 'You will be the greatest the game has ever seen.' Then He turned to Palmer, adding: 'But they will love you more.'"
By the end of the year Nicklaus had picked up two more wins, those being the Seattle Open and the Portland Open back-to-back. In addition, he tied for third in his first attempt at the PGA Championship. Nicklaus completed 1962 with over $60,000 in prize-money, placed third on the PGA Tour money list, and was named Rookie of the Year.[4]
In 1963 Nicklaus won two of the four major championships - the Masters and the PGA Championship. These victories made him the then-youngest winner of the Masters and third youngest winner of the PGA Championship, and each win came in just his second year as a professional. Earlier in 1963, Nicklaus injured his left hip playing an approach shot from the rough - an injury that would manifest itself years later. Ironically, Nicklaus credits this injury with assisting him in altering his swing heading into the 1963 Masters, thus allowing him to play a draw more easily. Along with three other wins including the Tournament of Champions, he placed second to Arnold Palmer on the PGA Tour money list with just over $100,000.[4] He also teamed with Palmer to win the Canada Cup (now the World Cup of Golf) in France, representing the United States (this event was shortened to 63 holes due to heavy fog).
Despite winning no majors in 1964 (three runner-up finishes), Nicklaus led the PGA Tour money list for the first time in his career by a slim margin of $81.13 over Palmer. At The Open Championship at St Andrews, Nicklaus set a new record for the lowest score in the final 36 holes with 66-68 in high winds (the first time in the championship's history that 70 had been broken in each of the last two rounds). This was not enough, however, to win the event; Nicklaus placed second to the late Tony Lema.[4] Nicklaus also set a record for the lowest final round score in the PGA Championship with a 64 (since broken by Brad Faxon in 1995 with a 63), but fell three shots short of champion Bobby Nichols and his record-setting 271 score. In 31 official worldwide events in 1964, Nicklaus achieved six victories, seven runners-up, placed in the top-five 21 times, the top-10 21 times, and one missed cut.
Nicklaus won the Masters in 1965 and 1966, becoming the first consecutive winner of this event and the youngest two-time and three-time winner. He broke Ben Hogan's 72-hole scoring record of 274 from 1953 by compiling a new aggregate of 271 in the 1965 Masters, which while tied by Raymond Floyd in 1976, lasted until Tiger Woods shot 270 in 1997. During this tournament, Nicklaus hit 62 of 72 greens in regulation and had 123 putts inclusive of just one three-putt green. This was good enough to win by nine shots over Arnold Palmer and Gary Player. The week's performance was highlighted by a third-round 64 that consisted of eight birdies and no bogeys. It was of this round that Nicklaus said, "I had never before and have never since played quite as fine a complete round of golf in a major championship as I did in the third round of the 1965 Masters". This round tied Lloyd Mangrum's record set in 1940 at Augusta National and remained in place until Nick Price shot 63 during the third round in 1986. It was at this time that Bobby Jones stated Nicklaus played a game with which he was unfamiliar. After Nicklaus' record in 1965, some changes were made to Augusta National to toughen the course. Between these modifications and the difficult weather, Nicklaus successfully defended his title with an even par aggregate of 288, 17 shots higher. He won in an 18-hole playoff over Gay Brewer and Tommy Jacobs by shooting a two-under par 70. Nicklaus led the PGA Tour money list again in 1965 by a healthy margin over Tony Lema. In all, Nicklaus competed in 28 official worldwide events in 1965 accumulating five victories, seven runners-up, 19 top-five finishes, 23 top-10 finishes, and zero missed cuts.
In 1966, Nicklaus also won the The Open Championship at Muirfield in Scotland under difficult weather conditions, using his driver just 17 times, because of very heavy rough. This was the only major he had failed to win up to that point. This win made him the youngest player, age 26 (his fifth year on Tour), and the only one after Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, and Gary Player (until Tiger Woods at age 24 during his fourth year on Tour) to win all four major championships, now known as the Career Slam. Nicklaus eventually accomplished the double career slam in 1971 and the triple career slam in 1978, winning all four majors two and three times, respectively. Nicklaus concluded 1966 playing 22 official worldwide events with four victories, four runners-up, 14 top-five finishes, 16 top-10 finishes, and zero missed cuts.
The following year, he won his second U.S. Open title at Baltusrol, breaking Hogan's 72-hole record by one shot with a 275.[4] During the four rounds, Nicklaus hit 61 of 72 greens in regulation. Nicklaus finished this record win with a dramatic 239-yard one-iron shot, uphill into a breeze and light rain, to the 72nd green (an approximate 260 yard equivalent) and holing a 22-foot birdie putt to close out a final nine of 30 and final round of 65 to beat Arnold Palmer by four shots. Nicklaus and Palmer were the only two players to break par for the week. He also finished runner up in The Open Championship and third in the PGA Championship one shot our of a playoff between Don January and Don Massengale. For a third time, Nicklaus led the PGA Tour money list for 1967. Later that year, Nicklaus and Palmer teamed up for a 13-shot wire-to-wire World Cup victory in Mexico City. Nicklaus competed in 24 official worldwide events in 1967 with five victories, four runners-up, 14 top-five finishes, 16 top-10 finishes, and one missed cut.
Career downturn (1968-1970)
After Nicklaus won the 1967 U.S. Open, he did not win another major championship until the 1970 Open Championship at the Old Course at St Andrews. Moreover, his highest finish on the Tour money list for the years 1968-70 was second; his lowest was fourth, his worst ranking on the list since turning professional. However, it should be noted that his fourth place ranking in 1970 would have been elevated to second if The Open Championship winnings were included during that period in the official PGA Tour money list, as they are today.
In his inaugural Ryder Cup play in 1969, Nicklaus was the anchor singles match on the final day and both his and the team matches were tied as he and opponent Tony Jacklin played the eighteenth hole. With the entire competition outcome riding on his match, Nicklaus made a five-foot par put on the last hole, and then conceded Jacklin's three-foot par putt to halve the individual match and the overall team results. This concession was considered by many as one of the greatest displays of sportsmanship in the game's history. As defending champions, the Americans retained possession of the Ryder Cup.
During this period, Nicklaus also let his physical condition decline somewhat, putting on excess weight, which affected his stamina. He significantly improved his condition in the fall of 1969 by losing twenty pounds, and his game returned to top form.[7] In February 1970, Nicklaus' father, Charlie Nicklaus, died. Soon after this Nicklaus won the 1970 Open Championship under difficult scoring conditions where the wind howled up to 56 MPH, defeating fellow American Doug Sanders in an 18-hole playoff round in emotional fashion. On the 18th hole of the playoff, Nicklaus drove about 380 yards, through the par-4 green with a three-wood, and was forced to pitch back to the hole. His eagle pitch finished approximately eight feet short of the cup. Nicklaus threw his putter into the air after sinking the winning putt, as he was thrilled to have won the Open at the home of golf, St Andrews.[8] He describes this period in his life:
"I was playing good golf, but it really wasn't that big a deal to me one way or the other. And then my father passed away and I sort of realized that he had certainly lived his life through my golf game. I really hadn't probably given him the best of that. So I sort of got myself back to work. So '70 was an emotional one for me from that standpoint. ... It was a big boost."[9]
Nicklaus also went on to capture the Piccadilly World Match Play Championship in 1970 with a 2 & 1 win over Lee Trevino in the championship match. In all for the year, Nicklaus competed in 23 official worldwide events, won four, placed in the top five 10 times, and the top 10 in 14.
Record setter
With a wire-to-wire two-shot win at the 1971 PGA Championship in February over Billy Casper, Nicklaus became the first golfer to win all four majors twice in a career.[4] In this championship, Nicklaus was the only player to break 70 consecutively in the first two rounds under windy conditions and finished at seven-under par 281. Nicklaus finished second twice and fifth in the remaining three major championships for the year. While he finished tied for second in the Masters with Johnny Miller, Nicklaus made a big enough impression on a young Nick Faldo (watching on TV in England) in order for him to take up the game seriously. By the end of the year, he had won four additional PGA tournaments including the Tournament of Champions by eight shots and the National Team Championship with Arnold Palmer by six shots. With $244,490 in official PGA Tour earnings, Nicklaus established a new single season money record during the year. Nicklaus also claimed his third World Cup individual title in 1971 with help from a 63 in the third round. He also won the team competition with partner Lee Trevino by 12 shots. 1971 brought Nicklaus a victory in the Australian Dunlop International as well, punctuated by a course record 62 (his career low score in competition) in the second round. For the record, Nicklaus played in 23 official worldwide events in 1971, won eight, had 17 top-five finishes, 20 top-10 finishes, and compiled a 5-1-0 record in that year's Ryder Cup competition.
Nicklaus won the first two major championships of 1972 by three shots each in wire-to-wire fashion, the Masters and the U.S. Open, creating talk of a Grand Slam. Nicklaus opened with a four-under par 68 at Augusta National and never looked back. He was the only player under par for the week as he and the field battled difficult scoring conditions. In the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach again under severe scoring conditions, Nicklaus struck a one-iron on the 218-yard par-three 17th hole into a stiff, gusty ocean breeze that hit the flagstick and ended up three inches from the cup. The U.S. Open was Nicklaus' 13th career major and tied him with Bobby Jones for career majors (although a different group of tournaments had been considered majors in Jones's time). This victory was also Nicklaus' 11th professional major tying him with Walter Hagen. He won a total of seven tournaments during the year, and was runner-up in a further three PGA Tour events. Nicklaus did not win the Grand Slam in 1972, however, as Lee Trevino repeated as the Open Championship winner (Nicklaus finished second, one shot behind), and Gary Player prevailed in the PGA Championship. He closed out this remarkable year with a second of three consecutive Walt Disney World Golf Classic victories by shooting a 21-under par 267 to win by nine shots. Nicklaus concluded 1972 by competing in 20 official worldwide events winning seven, placing second in four, and compiling 15 top-10 finishes.
Jones's record of majors was soon broken when Nicklaus won the PGA Championship in August 1973 by four shots over Bruce Crampton for his 12th professional major (surpassing Hagen's mark of 11) and 14th overall when using the old-style configuration of Jones's day. In that year he won another six tournaments. The PGA Player of the Year was awarded to Nicklaus for the third time, and the second year in a row. Nicklaus was also the first player to win over $300,000.00 in official money for a single season in 1972 at $320,542; he eclipsed that threshold again the following year with $308,362. The former total was $106,137 more than runner-up Lee Trevino. The latter total for the year 1973 catapulted Nicklaus over the $2 million career PGA Tour earnings mark making him the first player to reach that milestone. Nicklaus teamed with Johnny Miller for another team title in the World Cup of Golf, held in Spain. For the year, Nicklaus competed in 20 official worldwide events and claimed seven victories, 14 top-five finishes, 17 top-10s, and compiled a 4-1-1 record in that year's Ryder Cup competition.
Nicklaus' failure to win a major in 1974 was offset somewhat by winning the inaugural Tournament Players Championship and being named one of the 13 original inductees into the World Golf Hall of Fame.[10] Nicklaus said this honor was a "nice memento" after a "disappointing season".[11] Although he had no major championship victories in 1974, Nicklaus still achieved four top-ten finishes in the four events, three of which were in the top four, and placed second on the official money list behind Johnny Miller. While less than a stellar year, Nicklaus was able to claim two victories and 13 top-10 finishes in 20 official worldwide events in 1974.
Nicklaus started off well in 1975: he won the Doral-Eastern Open, the Sea Pines Heritage Classic, and the Masters in consecutive starts. His Masters win was his fifth, a record he was to break eleven years later. In this tournament, Nicklaus made a 40-foot putt on the 16th hole of the final round to all but secure his victory over Tom Weiskopf and Johnny Miller in a riveting final round battle. He also won the PGA Championship in August at Firestone Country Club by two shots over Bruce Crampton for his fourth win. Having won the Masters and PGA Championship, Nicklaus missed a playoff for the U.S. Open by two shots and a playoff for Open Championship by one shot. His performance in 1975 resulted in his being named PGA Player of the Year for the fourth time, tying Ben Hogan, and he was also named ABC's Wide World of Sports Athlete of the Year. Nicklaus also captured his fourth Australian Open during the year. 1975 yielded Nicklaus six wins, 12 top-five finishes, and 16 top-10 finishes in 18 official worldwide events.
Nicklaus' performance from the five-year period of 1971 through 1975 is summarized as follows:
- Official Worldwide Tournaments Played: 101
- Victories: 30
- Runners-up: 12
- Top-Five Finishes: 64
- Top-10 Finishes: 81
- Missed Cuts: 0
- Major Championships Played: 20
- Major Championship Victories: 6
- Major Championship Runners-up: 4
- Major Championship Top-Five Finishes: 17
- Major Championship Top-10 Finishes: 19
- Ryder Cup Record: 11-4-2
Nicklaus placed first on the PGA Tour money list again in 1976, despite competing in only 16 events, winning just two (Tournament Players Championship and World Series of Golf) — neither of them majors — and playing what he called "hang-back-and-hope golf".[12] The 1976 Tournament Players Championship saw Nicklaus set a championship record of 19-under par 269 for his second win in this event which remained in place until Greg Norman's 24-under par 264 assault in 1994. He also won the PGA Player of the Year award for a record fifth time. Between 1972 and 1976 the only time he failed to win this award was 1974. The year 1976 also concluded an official streak of 105 consecutive cuts made on the PGA Tour which began for Nicklaus in 1970. At the time this streak was second only to Byron Nelson's record of 113.
The following year, 1977, was also majorless for Nicklaus, but he did achieve four top-10 finishes in the four events inclusive of two second and one third place finish - this being one shot out of the PGA Championship playoff between Lanny Wadkins and Gene Littler. Despite a brilliant final round 66 at the Masters, he finished second by two shots to Tom Watson. But his subsequent second-place finish behind Watson at the Open Championship at Turnberry created headlines around the world. In a one-on-one battle dubbed the "Duel in the Sun," Nicklaus shot 65-66 in the final two rounds, only to be beaten by Watson, who scored 65-65. This event marked the first time 270 was broken in a major championship and the third-place finisher Hubert Green scored 279. Nicklaus would later say:
"There are those in golf who would argue into next month that the final two rounds of the 1977 British Open were the greatest head-to-head golf match ever played. Not having been around for the first five hundred or so years of the game, I'm not qualified to speak on such matters. What's for sure, however, is that it was the most thrilling one-on-one battle of my career."[13]
In 1977, Nicklaus won his 63rd tour event, passing Ben Hogan to take second place on the career wins list, behind only Sam Snead. He also became the first player to amass over $3 million in official PGA Tour earnings. The year also saw Nicklaus win for the first time his own Memorial Tournament in which he described the victory as the most emotional moment of his entire career where he nearly decided to retire from competitive golf.
During the 1977 Ryder Cup at Royal Lytham & St Annes, Nicklaus approached the PGA of Great Britain about the urgency to improve the competitive level of the contest. The issue had been discussed earlier the same day by both past PGA of America President Henry Poe and British PGA President Lord Derby. Nicklaus pitched his ideas, adding: "It is vital to widen the selection procedures if the Ryder Cup is to continue to enjoy its past prestige." The changes in team selection procedure were approved by descendants of the Samuel Ryder family along with The PGA of America. The major change was expanding selection procedures to include players from the European Tournament Players' Division, and "that European Members be entitled to play on the team." This meant that professional players on the European Tournament Players' Division, the forerunner to the European Tour we have today, from continental Europe would be eligible to play in the Ryder Cup.
Nicklaus won the 1978 Open Championship at St. Andrews to become the only player to have won each major championship three times. This record has since been tied by Tiger Woods, by winning the 2008 U.S. Open. Nicklaus and Woods are the only two players to win three "Career Grand Slams". Nicklaus considered his performance in the 1978 Open as the finest four days of tee-to-green golf he had ever produced and was most proud that the win came at St. Andrews, his favorite place to play golf. The victory was also his most emotional to date. Nicklaus won three other tournaments that year on the PGA Tour including the Jackie Gleason-Inverrary Classic by playing the final 36 holes 13 under par that included five consecutive birdies over the closing holes in the final round plus the Tournament Players Championship in difficult weather conditions, and was named Sportsman of the Year by Sports Illustrated. The latter win was Nicklaus' third Tournament Players Championship having won three of the first five played and he remains that championship's only three-time winner. 1978 also marked Nicklaus' sixth and final Australian Open victory.
After that year he suffered a lapse of form, not winning another tournament until June 1980. The year of 1979 was the first since turning professional in which he failed to win a tournament; he had only one runner-up finish plus tied for second with Ben Crenshaw behind 22-year-old Seve Ballesteros at The Open Championship. Previously, Nicklaus won a minimum of two tournaments per year for 17 consecutive years.
During the offseason, Nicklaus addressed two problems which had hurt his performance. His lifelong teacher Jack Grout noticed that he had become much too upright with his full swing causing a steep, oblique approach into the ball vs. a more direct hit; this was corrected by flattening or "deepening" his backswing. Then Nicklaus' short game, never a career strength, was further developed with the help of Phil Rodgers, a 20-year friend and earlier PGA Tour rival, who had become a fine coach. Rodgers lived for a time at the Nicklaus home while this work was going on.[7]
In 1980, Nicklaus recorded only four top-10 finishes in 14 events, but two of these were record-setting victories in majors (the U.S. Open and the PGA Championship); the other two were a tie for fourth in The Open Championship and a runner-up finish in the Doral-Eastern Open to Raymond Floyd via his chip-in birdie on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff. These victories and placements more than justified the work Nicklaus put in toward his game during the off-season.
Nicklaus set a new scoring record for the 1980 U.S. Open with an aggregate of 272 that while having been tied by three other players still stands today, eclipsing his earlier record of 275 from 1967. This was his second win at Baltusrol Golf Club. Nicklaus opened with a record-tying 63 in round one and fought off his playing partner of all four rounds, 1978 Colgate World Match Play Championship winner, Isao Aoki. Entering the final round, Aoki had caught Nicklaus after three consecutive rounds of 68, but over the course of the last day, Nicklaus pulled away by two shots. Each player birdied the final two holes for a dramatic finish. Aoki's aggregate of 274 was the lowest score for a U.S. Open runner-up and would have been the winning total any other year. Nicklaus' win was his fourth and final victory in the championship tying him with Willie Anderson, Bobby Jones, and Ben Hogan. Nicklaus referred to this win as "by far the most emotional and warmest reaction to any of my wins in my own country".
In the 1980 PGA Championship, Nicklaus set another record in winning the championship by seven shots over Andy Bean at the Oak Hill Country Club largely due to exceptional putting. Nicklaus shot an even-par 70 in the first round followed by three successive rounds in the 60s over the difficult terrain and was the only player to break par for the 72 holes. for the week, the field averaged 74.60 strokes while Nicklaus averaged 68.50. This was Nicklaus' fifth and final victory in the PGA Championship which elevated him to record-holder for the most wins in the stroke-play era and tied him with Walter Hagen for the most wins overall since the latter's victories were all during the match-play era. Nicklaus' seven-shot winning margin remains the largest for the championship since converting from match play to stroke play in 1958. This victory also made Nicklaus the only player since Gene Sarazen in 1922 and Ben Hogan in 1948 to win the U.S. Open and PGA Championship the same year (subsequently equaled by Tiger Woods in 2000).
Over the next five years Nicklaus won only twice on the PGA Tour, including his own Memorial Tournament in 1984 for the second time as that tournament's first repeat champion. He accumulated seven more top-10 placements in major championships including three runner-up performances. Nicklaus also finished second in the 1985 Canadian Open to Curtis Strange which marked his seventh and final second place finish in that tournament. These seven runner-up finishes came over the course of 21 events - or one second place finish for every three tournaments played and does not include a third place finish in 1983 one shot out of the playoff between John Cook and Johnny Miller. Also in 1983, Nicklaus closed out the PGA Championship and World Series of Golf with brilliant final rounds of 65 and passed many players to move into contention, but finished runner-up in each to Player of the Year Hal Sutton and red-hot Nick Price, respectively, who dominated the tournaments from start to finish. Despite not winning a PGA Tour event in 1983, Nicklaus finished 10th on the PGA Tour money list and passed a significant milestone by becoming the first player to eclipse the $4 million level in career earnings.
During this five-year period, the Ryder Cup matches provided Nicklaus with two bright spots. He completed his competition as a player in style by contributing a perfect 4-0-0 record inclusive of a 5 & 3 anchor singles match win over Eamonn Darcy in 1981 and captained the United States team in 1983 to a one-point win over Europe.
In 1986, Nicklaus capped his career by recording his sixth Masters victory under incredible circumstances, posting a six-under par 30 on the back nine at Augusta for a final round of seven-under par 65. At the 17th hole, Nicklaus hit his second shot to within 18 feet and rolled it in for birdie, raising his putter in celebration and completing an eagle-birdie-birdie run. Nicklaus made a victory-sealing par-4 at the 72nd hole, and waited for the succeeding players to falter. Nicklaus played the final 10 holes seven under par with six birdies and an eagle. At age 46, Nicklaus became the oldest Masters winner in history, a record which still stands. On the feat, sports columnist Thomas Boswell remarked,
"Some things cannot possibly happen, because they are both too improbable and too imperfect. The U.S. hockey team cannot beat the Russians in the 1980 Olympics. Jack Nicklaus cannot shoot 65 to win The Masters at age 46. Nothing else comes immediately to mind."[14]
This victory was his 18th major title as a professional.
Before the 1986 Masters Tournament, Tom McCollister, writing in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, said that Nicklaus was "done, washed up, through," and this spurred him on. He said:
"I kept thinking all week, 'Through, washed up, huh?' I sizzled for a while. But then I said to myself, 'I'm not going to quit now, playing the way I'm playing. I've played too well, too long to let a shorter period of bad golf be my last."[15]
This victory was to be his last in his long career on the PGA Tour and was described at the time by noted golf historian and writer Herbert Warren Wind as "nothing less than the most important accomplishment in golf since Bobby Jones' Grand Slam in 1930".
Author Ken Bowden would write after the win:
"There have been prettier swingers of the club than Jack Nicklaus. There may have been better ball-strikers than Jack Nicklaus. There have definitely been better short-game exponents than Jack Nicklaus. Other golfers have putted as well as Jack Nicklaus. There may have been golfers as dedicated and fiercely competitive as Jack Nicklaus. But no individual has been able to develop and combine and sustain all of the complex physical skills and the immense mental and emotional resources the game demands at its highest level as well as Jack Nicklaus has for as long as he has."
At the age of 58, Nicklaus made another valiant run at the 1998 Masters, where he tied for sixth despite being hampered by an ever-increasing painful left hip.[16] Nicklaus' five-under par 283 is the lowest 72-hole score by a player over 50 in the Masters.
Over the course of his 25-year span (1962–1986) of winning 18 major championships, Nicklaus finished second an astounding 18 times (excludes the second place finish at the 1960 U.S. Open as an amateur). In addition to the 18 runners-up as a professional, Nicklaus placed third four times and fourth one time and in each case was one shot out of a playoff. Nicklaus' total span of 73 top-10 finishes was 39 years (1960–1998) which is a record in total number as well as longevity among the four major championships and encompassed his tenure from an amateur through the majority of his Champions Tour career.
Champions Tour career
Nicklaus became eligible to join the Senior PGA Tour, now known as the Champions Tour, when he turned 50 in January 1990,[17] at which point he declared, "I'm never satisfied. Trouble is, I want to play like me—and I can't play like me anymore."[14] He then quickly won in his first start on the Tour, The Tradition, also a Senior Tour major championship. Nicklaus would go on to win another three Traditions - the final two in succession - while the most anyone else has won is two.
Later in the year, Nicklaus won the Senior Players Championship by six shots over Lee Trevino for his second win of the year, and also his second major of the year by shooting a record 27-under par 261. The next year, in 1991, Nicklaus won three of the five events he started in, those being the U.S. Senior Open at Oakland Hills by firing a 65 in a playoff against Chi Chi Rodriguez and his fine round of 69, the PGA Seniors Championship and The Tradition for the second year straight. These, again, were all majors on the Champions Tour.
Nicklaus has won all the Champions Tour majors with the exception of the Senior British Open. However, he never played the Senior British Open which was only elevated to a major in 2003. After a winless year in 1992, Nicklaus came back to win the U.S. Senior Open for the second time in 1993 by one shot over Tom Weiskopf. Also in that year he teamed up with Chi Chi Rodriguez and Raymond Floyd to win the Wendy's Three Tour Challenge for the Senior Tour team.[18] In 1994 he won the Senior Tour's version of the Mercedes Championship for his only win of the year.[19] The Tradition was his again in 1995, in a year where he made the top 10 in all of the seven tournaments he entered in.[20] His 100th career win came the next year, when he won the Tradition for the fourth time, and second time in succession. He made a double eagle in the final round. Nicklaus closed the final 36 holes with back-to-back seven-under par rounds of 65 to shoot a 16-under par 272 and win by three shots over Hale Irwin. This was to be his last win on the Champions Tour, and the last official win of his career.[21]
Close of playing career
Nicklaus' final U.S. Open was held at Pebble Beach Golf Links in 2000, where he shot 73-82 to miss the cut.[22] Later in the year, he was paired with Tiger Woods and Vijay Singh in his final PGA Championship only a few days after the death of his mother, where he also missed the cut by one shot.[23][24] In both tournaments, Nicklaus provided last minute heroics by reaching the par-5 18th in two shots in the U.S. Open and nearly holing his wedge shot for eagle at the par-5 18th in the PGA Championship.
Nicklaus played without much preparation in the 2005 Masters, a month after the drowning death of his 17-month-old grandson Jake (child of his son, Steve) on March 1, 2005. He and Steve played golf as therapy for their grief following the death. After days of playing, it was Steve who suggested his dad return to The Masters. He made that his last appearance in the tournament.[25] Later in 2005, Nicklaus finished his professional career at The Open Championship played at St Andrews on July 15, 2005.[26] Nicklaus turned 65 in January that year, which was the last year he could enter The Open Championship as an exempt player. He played with Luke Donald and Tom Watson in his final round.[27] After hitting his tee shot off the 18th tee in the second round, Nicklaus received a ten-minute standing ovation from the crowd. Soon afterwards, Nicklaus ended his career with a fitting birdie, holing a fifteen-foot birdie putt on the 18th green. Nicklaus missed the 36-hole cut with a score of +3 (147).[28]
The last competitive tournament in which Nicklaus played in the United States was the Champions Tour's Bayer Advantage Classic in Overland Park, Kansas on June 13, 2005.[28]
Off-the-course career
Golf course design
Nicklaus devotes much of his time to golf course design and operates one of the largest golf design practices in the world. In the mid-1960s, Pete Dye initially requested Nicklaus' opinion in the architecture process of The Golf Club in suburban Columbus, OH and the input increased from that point forward. Nicklaus considered golf course design another facet of the game that kept him involved and offered a challenge. His first design, Harbour Town Golf Links, was opened for play in 1969.[29] A subsequent early, yet more prominent design was Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, OH which opened in 1974 and has hosted the Memorial Tournament since its inception in 1976. This course has also hosted the 1987 Ryder Cup and the 1998 Solheim Cup matches. For the first few years, all of his projects were co-designs with either Pete Dye or Desmond Muirhead, who were two of the leading golf course architects of that era.
His first solo design, Glen Abbey Golf Course in Oakville, Ontario, opened for play in 1976.[30] This course served as the host site for the Canadian Open for many years, the first being in 1977.[31] In 2000, the King & Bear opened in St. Augustine, FL as a joint collaboration between Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer. In 2006, the Concession Golf Club opened in Sarasota, FL as a joint collaboration between Nicklaus and Tony Jacklin to commemorate their historic Ryder Cup singles match in 1969.
Nicklaus is in partnership with his four sons and his son-in-law through Nicklaus Design. The company had 299 courses open for play at the end of 2005, which was nearly 1% of all the courses in the world (In 2005 Golf Digest calculated that there were nearly 32,000 golf courses in the world, approximately half of them in the United States.[29][32]). While the majority of Nicklaus-designed courses reside in the United States, a significant presence also occupies Asia, Australia, Canada, Europe, and Mexico. For 2009, Nicklaus Design had 12 courses in Golf Digest’s "75 Best Golf Resorts in North America".
