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Biography:

Jack Nicklaus

For most of the past 30 years Jack Nicklaus (born 1940) has been considered golf's greatest. His longevity has proved equal to Arnold Palmer's, and only Ben Hogan and Bobby Jones can be considered players in Nicklaus's league.

In numbers of major tournaments won, golfer Jack Nicklaus stands alone with 20 victories - a remarkable figure that does not include major titles won on the Senior Tour. He has won 70 times on the PGA Tour and had 58 second-place and 36 third place finishes. Nicklaus has finished top PGA Tour money winner and held the tour's low-score average eight times. He was named the PGA Tour Player of the Year in 1967, 1972, 1973, 1975, and 1976, and Golf magazine in 1988 celebrated American golf's centennial by naming Nicklaus the "Player of the Century."

Took Amateur Titles

Nicklaus shot a fifty-one for the first nine holes he ever played. At the age of 13 he broke a 70 and held a three handicap. By then his hero had become the great Jones, who won the 1926 U.S. Open at Nicklaus's home course, the Scioto Country Club. Tutored by club pro Jack Grout, Nicklaus early on realized his potential for tournament play, dominating local and national junior golf events and going on to capture two U.S. Amateur Championships (1959 and 1961). Indeed, by the time he turned pro in November 1961 he had established himself as an the country's greatest amateur golfer while simultaneously giving the professionals a scare as runner-up to Arnold Palmer by only two strokes in the 1960 U.S. Open and as an a fourth-place finisher in the 1961 U.S. Open.

Victory over Palmer

In 1962, at the Oakmont Country Club outside of Pittsburgh, Nicklaus beat Arnold Palmer in a play-off to win the U.S. Open. Palmer's millions of diehard fans - and huge throng of gallery members, called Arnie's Army, that followed their hero from tee to green - were crushed by their hero's loss, and the Nicklaus victory went down as an one of the most unpopular the world of golf had ever known. The two men could not have been more different in appearance and temperament. Palmer was a handsome, dashing figure whose powerful, lunging swing often knocked his ball into troublesome spots well off the fairway. Nicklaus was round-faced and pudgy - his girth and blond hair giving rise to his nickname, the Golden Bear - and his well-oiled, smoothly tempoed swing rarely failed him. Palmer wore his emotions on his sleeve, often grimacing and chain-smoking his way through a particularly tough round. Nicklaus was often expressionless on the course, and although he smoked - at one time up to two packs a day - he never lit up on the golf course. In explaining his ability to abstain from a nerve-smoothing addiction while playing a nerve-racking game, Nicklaus simply stated, "I don't think about it." Nicklaus's mind, even more than his great natural talent and long-ball swing, was the key to his phenomenal success. He rarely made a poor tactical decision in a tournament; he had an unflappable ego, never second-guessing himself - and his powers of concentration were intense.

In 1963 Nicklaus won the Masters and the PGA. He ran away with the 1965 Masters, winning by nine strokes in what Jones called "the greatest performance in golf history." Nicklaus shattered Hogan's seemingly insurmountable Masters record of 274 by three strokes. Nicklaus successfully defended his Masters title the following year and won his first British Open, becoming one of only four golfers to win all four majors (the others are Gene Sarazen, Hogan, and Gary Player). At the 1967 U.S. Open Nicklaus pulled away from Palmer in the final round to win by four strokes, signaling to even the most obstinate among Arnie's Army that the Golden Bear had forever robbed the king of his throne.

The New Bear

The beginning of the new decade saw a leaner, more fashionable Bear. Nicklaus dropped weight and let his golden hair grow prior to the 1970 season. He adopted more colorful golf course attire, adding color and flair to an image that had suffered from fat jokes and the general perception that Nicklaus was boring and mechanical. When it came to winning consistently, however, Nicklaus was every bit a machine. Between 1970 and 1975 he won several more majors - the only victories "that count," he liked to say. His 1973 PGA title put him one ahead of Jones's 13 major victories, and his 1975 Masters was his fifth win in Augusta, Georgia, and was proclaimed by observers and sportswriters to have been one of the most thrilling golf victories of all time. On Augusta's sixteenth hole the last day of the tournament, Nicklaus sank a 40-foot putt to take a one-stroke lead and held on the last two holes - winning by one over Tom Weiskopf and two over Johnny Miller.

Improved Failing Game

In 1977 Nicklaus was involved in a thrilling duel with Tom Watson, America's new star, at the British Open. He lost what sportswriters later called the "Duel in the Sun" but returned in 1978 to claim the British title. With the emergence of players such as Watson, however, Nicklaus's victories seemed less easy to come by with each passing year, and by the end of the decade, many in golfing believed that Nicklaus's dominance - at least when it came to the majors - had ended. In 1979 Nicklaus had his worst season to date, having gone winless and finishing seventy-first on the money list. His length off the tee and the long flight and high trajectory of his iron shots had once given him a huge advantage over the rest of the field - and had revolutionized the game. But there was a new generation of golfers who hit the ball as high and as far as their idol could. Nicklaus decided to go back to the drawing board, looking to improve his biggest weakness - the short game - and turn it into a strength. In 1980 he returned to top form, winning the U.S. Open and PGA Tour during the 1980s, and at the 1986 Masters he scored perhaps golf's most emotion-stirring victory. He had by then become the game's elder statesman and had gone from being golf's villain - the fat kid who beat Arnie - to being one of the most popular athletes the world of sports had ever known.

 
 
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: Jack William Nicklaus

Jack Nicklaus, 1982.
(click to enlarge)
Jack Nicklaus, 1982. (credit: Focus on Sports Inc.)
(born Jan. 21, 1940, Columbus, Ohio, U.S.) U.S. golfer, one of the greatest in the game's history. Nicklaus won the U.S. Amateur Championship twice (1959, 1961) while attending Ohio State University. After turning professional in 1962, he won the U.S. Open four times (1962, 1967, 1972, 1980), the Masters Tournament six times (1963, 1965, 1966, 1972, 1975, 1986), the PGA Championship five times (1963, 1971, 1973, 1975, 1980), and the British Open three times (1966, 1970, 1978). He was a member of the winning U.S. World Cup team six times and was a record three-time individual World Cup winner (1963, 1964, 1971). By 1986 "the Golden Bear" had played in 100 major championships, finishing in the top three 45 times. He combined skill and power with remarkable concentration and composure under pressure. In 2005 Nicklaus retired from tournament play with 73 PGA wins — a number exceeded only by Sam Snead with 82 — and a record 18 major professional championship titles.

For more information on Jack William Nicklaus, visit Britannica.com.

 
Columbia Encyclopedia: Nicklaus, Jack William,
1940–, American golfer, b. Columbus, Ohio. He began playing golf at the age of 10 and before becoming a professional in late 1961 was considered by many the greatest amateur golfer since Bobby Jones. In his first year as a professional in 1962 he defeated Arnold Palmer in the U.S. Open and won the first World Series of Golf. Capable of hitting drives in excess of 300 yards (270 m), Nicklaus won the Masters six times and the U.S. Open four times, the British Open three times, and the PGA Championship five times.
 
Quotes By: Jack Nicklaus

Quotes:

"The older you get the stronger the wind gets -- and it's always in your face."

"I'm a firm believer that in the theory that people only do their best at things they truly enjoy. It is difficult to excel at something you don't enjoy."

"I never hit a shot, not even in practice, without having a very sharp, in-focus picture of it in my head. First I see the ball where I want it to finish, nice and white and sitting up high on the bright green grass. Then the scene quickly changes, and I see the ball going there: its path, trajectory, and shape, even its behavior on landing. Then there is a sort of fade-out, and the next scene shows me making the kind of swing that will turn the previous images into reality."

"Resolve never to quit, never to give up, no matter what the situation."

"He had a lot of talent, but didn't have much dedication, wasn't organized, didn't know how to learn, didn't know how to comprehend what he was doing, didn't try to learn how to get better."

"My ability to concentrate and work toward that goal has been my greatest asset."

See more famous quotes by Jack Nicklaus

 
Wikipedia: Jack Nicklaus
For his detailed statistics, records, and other achievements, see List of career achievements by Jack Nicklaus.
Jack Nicklaus
JackNicklaus.cropped.jpg
Personal Information
Birth January 21 1940 (1940--) (age 67)
Columbus, Ohio
Height 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Weight 185 lb (84 kg)
Nationality Flag of the United States United States
Residence North Palm Beach, Florida
College Ohio State University
Career
Turned Pro 1961
Tours PGA Tour (joined 1962)
Champions Tour (joined 1990)
Professional wins 113 (PGA Tour: 73, Other: 21, Champions
Tour: 10, Other senior: 9)
Major Championship Wins (18)
Masters (6) 1963, 1965, 1966, 1972, 1975, 1986
U.S. Open (4) 1962, 1967, 1972, 1980
The Open (3) 1966, 1970, 1978
PGA Championship (5) 1963, 1971, 1973, 1975, 1980
Awards listed here

Jack William Nicklaus (born January 21, 1940), also known as "The Golden Bear",[1] is widely regarded as the greatest professional golfer of all time, in large part because of his records in major championships.[2] Nicklaus accumulated a record 18 professional majors in a PGA Tour career lasting 25 years, from 1962 to 1986. Later, on the Champions Tour, the senior version of the PGA Tour, he won 8 of that tour's majors between 1990 and 1996. Both records still stand today.
Nicklaus has also taken part in many off-course activities, including golf course design, golf instruction book writing, and running his own tournament on the PGA Tour, the Memorial Tournament. Together with Arnold Palmer and Gary Player (collectively known as the "Big Three"), he is credited with turning golf into the major spectator sport it has become. While Palmer brought golf into the television era, it was the developing Nicklaus-Palmer-Player rivalry that drove subsequent interest.[2]

Amateur career

Nicklaus was born in Columbus, Ohio. He was raised in the suburb of Upper Arlington, and attended Upper Arlington High School, where he earned his nickname "The Golden Bear", as that was the school's mascot. Overcoming a mild case of polio as a child, he took up golf at the age of ten, shooting 51 for his first nine holes. At 13, he broke 70. He won the first of five straight[3] Ohio State Junior titles at the age of twelve. He won the Ohio State Open in 1956 at age 16, competing against professionals. While attending The Ohio State University, he won the U.S. Amateur title twice (1959, 1961), and an NCAA Championship (1961). At the 1960 U.S. Open, he shot a 282, finishing second by two strokes to Arnold Palmer, who won the tournament with a final round 65. This score remains the lowest ever made by an amateur player in the U.S. Open. He represented the United States, against Great Britain, on winning Walker Cup teams in both 1959 and 1961, 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 with a four-round score of 269, a record which still stands.[4]

PGA Tour career

Professional breakthrough

Nicklaus began his professional career in 1962. His first professional win came in the same year, defeating the heavily favored Arnold Palmer in a Monday playoff at Oakmont for the 1962 U.S. Open. To this day, Nicklaus is still the youngest ever winner of this event. 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. He completed 1962 with over $60,000 prize-money, placed third on the tour money list, and was named Rookie of the Year.[3]

In 1963 Nicklaus won two of the four major championships - the Masters and the PGA Championship. Along with three other wins including the Tournament of Champions, he placed second on the tour money list with just over $100,000.[3]

Despite winning no majors in 1964, Nicklaus placed first on the tour money list for the first time in his career with a margin of $81.13 over Palmer. At the British Open at St Andrews, Nicklaus set a new record for the lowest score in the final 36 holes with 66-68. This was not enough, however to win the event; Nicklaus placed second to Tony Lema.[3]

Nicklaus won the Masters in 1965 and 1966, becoming the first consecutive winner of this event. In 1966 he also won the British Open at Muirfield in Scotland, which was the only major he had failed to win up to this time. This win made him the youngest player, age 26, and the only one after Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, and Gary Player (until Tiger Woods at age 24) to win all four major championships, now known as the Career Slam. Jack Nicklaus eventually accomplished the triple career slam in 1978, winning all four majors three times. Until Tiger Woods, no other golfer had won every major more than once. (As of May 2007, Woods has won the career slam twice, completing it in 2005 at the age of 29, needing only a 3rd U.S. Open victory to tie Nicklaus) In 1967 Nicklaus won his second U.S. Open title at Baltusrol, breaking Hogan's 72-hole record with a 275.[3]

Career downturn (1968-1970)

After Nicklaus won the 1967 U.S. Open, he did not win another major championship until the 1970 British Open 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. In 1970, Nicklaus's father, Charlie Nicklaus, died. Soon after this Nicklaus won the 1970 British Open, defeating fellow American Doug Sanders in a playoff round in emotional fashion. 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.[5] 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."[6]

Record setter

With a win at the 1971 PGA Championship in February, Nicklaus became the first golfer to win all four majors twice in a career.[7] By the end of the year he had won four additional tournaments including the Tournament of Champions and the National Team Championship with Arnold Palmer.

Nicklaus won the first two majors of 1972, the Masters and the U.S. Open, creating talk of a Grand Slam. In the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, Nicklaus struck a one-iron on the par-three 17th hole into a stiff, gusty ocean breeze which landed, hit the flagstick and ended up six inches from the cup. The U.S. Open was Nicklaus's 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). He won a total of seven tournaments during the year, and was runner-up in a further three.

Nicklaus did not win the Grand Slam in 1972, however, as Lee Trevino repeated as the British Open champion, and Gary Player prevailed in the PGA Championship.

Jones's record of majors was soon broken when Nicklaus won the PGA Championship in August 1973 for his 14th professional major. 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's failure to win a major in 1974 was offset somewhat by his being named one of the 13 original inductees into the World Golf Hall of Fame.[8] Nicklaus says this honor was a "nice memento" after a "disappointing season".[9]

Nicklaus started off well in 1975: he won the Doral-Eastern Open, the 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 to all but secure his victory. He also won the PGA Championship for the fourth time in August. 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.

He placed first on the tour money list again in 1976, despite competing in only 16 events, winning only two — neither of them majors — and playing what he called "hang-back-and-hope golf".[10] 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 following year, 1977, was also majorless for Nicklaus, but his second-place finish behind Tom Watson at the British Open 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. 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."[11]

During 1977, Nicklaus won his 63rd tour event, passing Ben Hogan to take second place on the career wins list, behind only Sam Snead.

Nicklaus won the 1978 British Open to become the only player to have won each major championship not twice but three times. Nicklaus won three other tournaments on the PGA Tour including the Tournament Players Championship, and was named Sportsman of the Year by Sports Illustrated. After this year he suffered a lapse of form, not winning another tournament until June 1980. The year of 1979 was the first in which he failed to win a tournament; he had only one runner-up finish.

In 1980, Nicklaus recorded only three top-ten finishes, but two of these were victories in majors (the U.S. Open and the PGA Championship); the other was a runner-up finish in the Doral-Eastern Open. During the next five years Nicklaus won only twice on the tour, including his own tournament (Memorial Tournament) in 1984.

In 1986, Nicklaus capped his career by recording his sixth Masters victory under incredible circumstances, posting a six-under 30 on the back nine at Augusta for a final round of seven-under 65. At the 17th hole, Nicklaus hit it 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. At age 46, Jack 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 improbably and too imperfect. The US 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."[12]

This victory was his 18th major title as a professional.

Nicklaus won the 1986 Masters using the Response ZT putter. Its manufacturer, MacGregor Golf, received 5,000 orders the next day; it had planned to sell only 6,000 copies of this model for the entire year.[13] Before the tournament a journalist wrote that he was "done, washed up, through", and this spurred him on, as he says:

"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."[14]

This victory was to be his last in his long career on the PGA Tour. At the age of 58, Nicklaus made another valiant run at the 1998 Masters, where he tied for sixth.[15]

Champions Tour career

Nicklaus became eligible to join the Champions Tour when he turned 50 in early 1990[16], 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."[17] He then quickly won in his first start on the tour, the Tradition, which was also a Champions Tour major championship. Nicklaus would go on to win another three Traditions, while the most anyone else has won is two. Later in the year, Nicklaus won the Senior Players Championship for his second win of the year, and also his second major of the year. The next year, in 1991, Nicklaus won three of the five events he started in, those being the U.S. Senior Open, the PGA Seniors Championship and the Tradition for the second year straight. These, again, were all majors on the Champions Tour.

After a winless year in 1992, Nicklaus came back to win the U.S. Senior Open for the second time in 1993. Also in that year he teamed up with Chi Chi Rodriguez and Raymond Floyd to win the Wendy's Three Tour Challenge for the Champions Tour team. In 1994 he won the Champions Tour's version of the Mercedes Championship for his only win of the year. 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. His 100th career win came the next year, when he won the Tradition for the fourth time, and second time in succession. This was to be his last win on the Champions Tour, and the last official win of his career.

Close of playing career

Nicklaus played without much preparation in April 2005 at The 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.[18]

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.

Nicklaus finished his professional career at the The Open Championship at St. Andrews on July 15, 2005.[19] Nicklaus turned 65 in January that year, which was the last year he could enter a PGA tournament as an exempt player. He played with Luke Donald and Tom Watson in his final round.[20] On the 18th hole, Nicklaus hit the final tee-shot of his career, and strolled to the Swilcan Bridge and waved to the appreciative crowd (who gave him a ten-minute standing ovation). He then began posing for commemorative photographs with his son and caddy, Steve, as well as Donald and Watson. Afterwards, Nicklaus ended his illustrious career in style, making a fifteen-foot birdie putt and extending his putter and left arm in the air as he had done so many times to celebrate crucial putts. Nicklaus missed the 36-hole cut with a score of +3 (147).

In 2000, Nicklaus played in the U.S. Open and PGA Championship for the last time, with Woods winning both; Woods also won The Open Championship in that year, which Nicklaus originally intended as his last appearance in that event. In 2005, Nicklaus made his last Masters appearance, and played The Open one last time. Woods won both events as well.

Off-the-course career

Nicklaus devotes much of his time to golf course design and operates one of the largest golf design practices in the world. His first design was opened for play in 1970. 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 sole design, Glen Abbey Golf Course in Oakville, Canada, opened for play in 1976. He is now 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.[21]). There are Nicklaus Design courses in more than thirty U.S. states and more than twenty-five countries around the world. Jack Nicklaus is personally responsible for over 200 golf course designs. These include Muirfield Village, Shoal Creek, Porta Cima, Castle Pines and the PGA Centenary Course at the Gleneagles Hotel.

Nicklaus "Dotting the i" at the Buckeyes football game against Golden Gophers at Ohio Stadium on 2006-10-28
Enlarge
Nicklaus "Dotting the i" at the Buckeyes football game against Golden Gophers at Ohio Stadium on 2006-10-28

Nicklaus also continues to manage the Memorial Tournament he created in his home state of Ohio, which is played on a course he designed and is one of the more prestigious events on the PGA Tour. His other interests are varied and many, and include a golf equipment company and golf academies. There is a Jack Nicklaus Museum on the campus of the Ohio State University in his home town of Columbus, Ohio.[22] He had the unique privilege of dotting the "i" of "Script Ohio" (specifically the "i" in "Ohio"), the signature formation of the Ohio State University Marching Band, at the Ohio State homecoming game on October 28, 2006 when the Buckeyes played Minnesota; this is considered the greatest honor that can be bestowed on a non-band member.[23] While at Ohio State University, Nicklaus became a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta.[24] Nicklaus also started/ heavily supported a private school in North Palm Beach called The Benjamin School.

Playing style

Jack Nicklaus had an unusual playing style, combining being one of the greatest putters of all time with being the longest hitter on the tour during his prime. He popularized the "power fade," which was his characteristic ball flight. He was also known as a conservative player at times, going for broke only when he needed to. This was especially apparent on the green, where he would often choose to be less aggressive and make sure of an easy two-putt.[25]

Nicklaus, a pioneer of performance science, was also known for eating bananas on the golf course as an energy food.

Career achievements

Main article: List of career achievements by Jack Nicklaus

Major Championships

Year Championship 54 Holes Winning Score Margin Runners Up
1962 U.S. Open 2 shot deficit -1 (72-70-72-69=283) Playoff 1 Flag of the United States Arnold Palmer
1963 The Masters 1 shot lead -2 (74-66-74-72=286) 1 stroke Flag of the United States Tony Lema
1963 PGA Championship 3 shot deficit -5 (69-73-69-68=279) 2 strokes Flag of the United States Dave Ragan Jr.
1965 The Masters (2) 5 shot lead -17 (67-71-64-69=271) 9 strokes Flag of the United States Arnold Palmer, Flag of South Africa Gary Player
1966 The Masters (3) Tied for lead E (68-76-72-72=288) Playoff 2 Flag of the United States Gay Brewer, Flag of the United States Tommy Jacobs
1966 The Open Championship 2 shot deficit -2 (70-67-75-70=282) 1 stroke Flag of the United States Doug Sanders, Flag of Wales Dave Thomas
1967 U.S. Open (2) 1 shot deficit -9 (71-67-72-65=275) 4 strokes Flag of the United States Arnold Palmer
1970 The Open Championship (2) 2 shot deficit -5 (68-69-73-73=283) Playoff 3 Flag of the United States Doug Sanders
1971 PGA Championship (2) 4 shot lead -7 (69-69-70-73=281) 2 strokes Flag of the United States Billy Casper
1972 The Masters (4) 1 shot lead -2 (68-71-73-74=286) 3 strokes Flag of Australia Bruce Crampton, Flag of the United States Bobby Mitchell, Flag of the United States Tom Weiskopf
1972 U.S. Open (3) 1 shot lead +2 (71-73-72-74=290) 3 strokes Flag of Australia Bruce Crampton
1973 PGA Championship (3) 1 shot lead -7 (72-68-68-69=277) 4 strokes Flag of Australia Bruce Crampton
1975 The Masters (5) 1 shot deficit -12 (68-67-73-68=276) 1 stroke Flag of the United States Tom Weiskopf, Flag of the United States Johnny Miller
1975 PGA Championship (4) 4 shot lead -4 (70-68-67-71=276) 2 strokes Flag of Australia Bruce Crampton
1978 The Open Championship (3) 1 shot deficit -7 (71-72-69-69=281) 2 strokes Flag of the United States Ben Crenshaw, Flag of the United States Raymond Floyd, Flag of the United States Tom Kite, Flag of New Zealand Simon Owen
1980 U.S. Open (4) Tied for lead -8 (63-71-70-68=272) 2 strokes Flag of Japan Isao Aoki
1980 PGA Championship (5) 3 shot lead -6 (70-69-66-69=274) 7 strokes Flag of the United States Andy Bean
1986 The Masters (6) 4 shot deficit -9 (74-71-69-65=279) 1 stroke Flag of the United States Tom Kite, Flag of Australia Greg Norman

1 Defeated Arnold Palmer in 18-hole playoff - Nicklaus (71), Palmer (74)
2 Defeated Tommy Jacobs & Gay Brewer in 18-hole playoff - Nicklaus (70), Jacobs (72), Brewer (78)
3 Defeated Doug Sanders in 18-hole playoff - Nicklaus (72), Sanders (73)

Results timeline

Tournament 1957 1958 1959
The Masters DNP DNP CUT
U.S. Open CUT T41 CUT
British Open DNP DNP DNP
PGA Championship DNP DNP DNP
Tournament 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969
The Masters T13 LA T7 T15 1 T2 1 1 CUT T5 T24
U.S. Open 2 LA T4 LA 1 CUT T23 T31 3 1 2 T25
British Open DNP DNP T32 3 2 T12 1 2 T2 T6
PGA Championship DNP DNP T3 1 T2 T2 T22 T3 CUT T11
Tournament 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
The Masters 8 T2 1 T3 T4 1 T3 2 7 4
U.S. Open T49 2 1 T4 T10 T7 T11 T10 T6 T9
British Open 1 T5 2 4 3 T3 T2 2 1 T2
PGA Championship T6 1 T13 1 2 1 T4 3 CUT T65
Tournament 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
The Masters T33 T2 T15 WD T18 T6 1 T7 T21 18
U.S. Open 1 T6 2 T43 T21 CUT T8 T46 CUT T43
British Open T4 T23 T10 T29 T31 CUT T46 T72 T25 T30
PGA Championship 1 T4 T16 2 T25 T32 T16 T24 CUT T27
Tournament 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
The Masters 6 T35 T42 T27 CUT T35 T41 T39 T6 DNP
U.S. Open T33 T46 CUT T72 T28 CUT T27 T52 T43 CUT
British Open T63 T44 CUT CUT CUT T79 T45 60 DNP DNP
PGA Championship CUT T23 CUT CUT CUT T67 CUT CUT DNP DNP
Tournament 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
The Masters T54 CUT DNP CUT CUT CUT
U.S. Open CUT DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP
British Open CUT DNP DNP DNP DNP CUT
PGA Championship CUT DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP

LA = Low Amateur
DNP = did not play
WD = withdrew due to injury
CUT = missed the half way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place.
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.

Summary of major championship performances

  • Starts - 163
  • Wins - 18
  • 2nd place finishes - 19
  • Top 3 finishes - 46
  • Top 5 finishes - 57
  • Top 10 finishes - 73
  • Longest streak of top-10s in majors - 13

See also

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Notes and references

  1. ^ MSN Encarta article on Jack Nicklaus, last accessed April 11, 2007
  2. ^ a b Spencer, Reid; The Sporting News. The Sporting News selects 50 Greatest Golfers. The Sporting News. ISBN 0892046929. 
  3. ^ a b c d e Nicklaus, Jack with Bowden, Ken: "Golf My Way", page 256. William Heinemann Ltd, 1974
  4. ^ 2006 World Amateur Championship Fact Sheet. Retrieved on 2007-03-17.
  5. ^ Professional Highlights 1970 Last Accessed January 22, 2007
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The Masters champions

1934 Horton Smith • 1935 Gene Sarazen • 1936 Horton Smith • 1937 Byron Nelson • 1938 Henry Picard • 1939 Ralph Guldahl • 1940 Jimmy Demaret • 1941 Craig Wood • 1942 Byron Nelson • 1943-45 Cancelled due to World War II • 1946 Herman Keiser • 1947 Jimmy Demaret • 1948 Claude Harmon • 1949 Sam Snead • 1950 Jimmy Demaret • 1951 Ben Hogan • 1952 Sam Snead • 1953 Ben Hogan • 1954 Sam Snead • 1955 Cary Middlecoff • 1956 Jack Burke, Jr • 1957 Doug Ford • 1958 Arnold Palmer • 1959 Art Wall, Jr. • 1960 Arnold Palmer • 1961 Gary Player • 1962 Arnold Palmer • 1963 Jack Nicklaus • 1964 Arnold Palmer • 1965 Jack Nicklaus • 1966 Jack Nicklaus • 1967 Gay Brewer • 1968 Bob Goalby • 1969 George Archer • 1970 Billy Casper • 1971 Charles Coody • 1972 Jack Nicklaus • 1973 Tommy Aaron • 1974 Gary Player • 1975 Jack Nicklaus • 1976 Raymond Floyd • 1977 Tom Watson • 1978 Gary Player • 1979 Fuzzy Zoeller â