50 Fun Facts About Jack Nicklaus

How many major championships did Jack Nicklaus win, a record that still stands?

He also finished second in majors 18 times between 1962 and 1986.

What is Jack Nicklaus's famous nickname?

A Melbourne journalist coined it in 1962, though his high school's teams in Upper Arlington were already the Golden Bears.

In which city was Jack Nicklaus born in 1940?

He grew up in the suburb of Upper Arlington; his father Charlie was a pharmacist and former semi-pro footballer.

Whom did Nicklaus beat in an 18-hole playoff to win the 1962 U.S. Open, his first professional victory?

The galleries at Oakmont backed the local hero Palmer, but Nicklaus won 71 to 74 and a rivalry was born.

Nicklaus, Palmer and which third golfer were marketed as 'The Big Three' in the 1960s?

Agent Mark McCormack managed all three and staged televised Big Three Golf matches around the world.

How old was Nicklaus when he won his sixth and final Masters in 1986?

He shot 30 on the back nine for a 65 and remains the oldest Masters winner ever.

How many times did Nicklaus win the Masters?

His wins came in 1963, 1965, 1966, 1972, 1975 and 1986.

Nicklaus took up golf at what age, scoring 51 for his first nine holes at Scioto Country Club?

Club pro Jack Grout became his lifelong instructor.

Which illness did Nicklaus overcome as a 13-year-old?

That same year he broke 70 for the first time and carried a +3 handicap, the lowest in Columbus.

Who was Nicklaus's lifelong golf instructor, the Scioto club pro who coached him from age 10?

Grout was a contemporary of Byron Nelson and Ben Hogan and later flattened Nicklaus's swing after his 1979 slump.

In which two years did Nicklaus win the U.S. Amateur?

In 1961 he became the first man to win the NCAA title and the U.S. Amateur in the same year.

Which golfing great, paired with 20-year-old amateur Nicklaus at the 1960 U.S. Open, said the kid should have won by 10?

Nicklaus finished second to Palmer with a 282, the lowest amateur score in the event until Viktor Hovland in 2019.

Which university did Nicklaus attend, later the site of the Jack Nicklaus Museum?

He majored in pre-pharmacy, then insurance, and left a few credits short; the school gave him an honorary doctorate in 1972.

Nicklaus's father played semi-pro football under an assumed name for which team, later the Detroit Lions?

He was also a scratch golfer and died of pancreatic cancer in 1970 at 56, months before Jack's emotional Open win at St Andrews.

Who first put Nicklaus's famous nickname in print?

By 1963 the name had stuck; Nicklaus later named his own management company Golden Bear Inc.

How much prize money did Nicklaus earn for winning the 1962 U.S. Open, including the playoff bonus?

Gary Woodland collected $2.25 million for the same title in 2019.

Nicklaus's 271 at the 1965 Masters broke whose 72-hole scoring record?

He won by nine shots, and Bobby Jones said he played 'a game with which I am not familiar'.

Nicklaus's win at the 1966 Open Championship completed his career grand slam at what age?

He was then the youngest to do it; Tiger Woods managed it at 24 in 2000.

At which Scottish course did Nicklaus win the 1966 Open, using his driver just 17 times?

He later named his own Ohio club Muirfield Village in its honour.

Nicklaus closed out his 1967 U.S. Open win with a famous 238-yard shot using which club?

He holed a 22-foot birdie putt afterwards for a back nine of 30 and a final round of 65.

Who was Nicklaus's caddie for most of his professional career?

Argea's silver hair became almost as familiar as the Golden Bear's blond.

To which British golfer did Nicklaus concede a putt on the final green of the 1969 Ryder Cup, forcing a tie?

Jacklin had just holed a 35-foot eagle putt on the 17th to square the match.

Whom did Nicklaus beat in an 18-hole playoff to win the 1970 Open at St Andrews?

His father had died five months earlier, and Nicklaus called it an emotional 'big boost' to get back to work.

Nicklaus's win at the 1971 PGA Championship made him the first golfer to achieve what?

He completed the triple career grand slam at St Andrews in 1978, a feat only Tiger Woods has matched.

At the 1972 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, Nicklaus's 1-iron on the par-3 17th famously did what?

The win tied Bobby Jones's 13 majors and made him the first to win the U.S. Amateur and U.S. Open on the same course.

Whose record of 13 major championships did Nicklaus break at the 1973 PGA Championship?

Jones was his boyhood idol; Nicklaus had once considered staying amateur to emulate him.

What name is given to Nicklaus's 1977 Open battle with Tom Watson at Turnberry?

Nicklaus shot 65–66 over the weekend, Watson 65–65, and third place was 10 shots back.

Nicklaus's proposal at the 1977 Ryder Cup led to what change from 1979?

He told the British PGA the selection process had to widen if the Cup was to keep its prestige.

Which former rival helped rebuild Nicklaus's short game after his winless 1979?

Rodgers lived at the Nicklaus home during the work, while Jack Grout flattened his over-upright swing.

Nicklaus opened the 1980 U.S. Open at Baltusrol with a record-tying score of what?

He beat playing partner Isao Aoki by two with a record 272 aggregate.

By how many shots did Nicklaus win the 1980 PGA Championship at Oak Hill, then the stroke-play record?

He was the only player under par all week and averaged 68.5 against a field average of 74.6.

What score did Nicklaus shoot on the back nine of the final round of the 1986 Masters?

He ran eagle-birdie-birdie from the 15th, raising his putter on 17, and played the last ten holes in seven under.

Which two contenders were still on the course when Nicklaus finished the 1986 Masters?

Herbert Warren Wind called it the most important golf accomplishment since Bobby Jones's 1930 Grand Slam.

Nicklaus won his first start on the Senior PGA Tour in 1990. Which event, a senior major, was it?

He won it four times in all; no one else has won more than two.

What did Nicklaus make in the final round of his 100th career win, the 1996 Tradition?

He closed with back-to-back 65s.

Where did Nicklaus make his final major appearance, in 2005, waving farewell from the Swilcan Bridge?

He got a ten-minute standing ovation on the 18th tee and finished with a birdie.

Which Scottish issuer put Jack Nicklaus on a five-pound note, the first living non-monarch on British paper money?

It was a commemorative five-pound note marking his farewell at St Andrews.

Which PGA Tour event does Nicklaus host at the Ohio club he built and named after a Scottish links?

He won it himself in 1977 and 1984, calling the first the most emotional moment of his career.

Nicklaus's Ohio club, home of the Memorial, was co-designed with which architect and opened in 1974?

It was dedicated on Memorial Day 1974 with an exhibition match in which Nicklaus shot 66.

Nicklaus's first course design, Harbour Town Golf Links, was co-credited with which architect?

Dye had first asked his opinion on The Golf Club near Columbus in the mid-1960s.

Nicklaus's first solo design, Glen Abbey, opened in 1976 in which country?

It hosted the Canadian Open for many years, an event in which Nicklaus finished second a record seven times.

How many Nicklaus Design courses were open for play at the end of 2005?

That was nearly 1% of all the golf courses in the world.

Nicklaus's classic instruction book, first printed in 1974, is called what?

The video of the same name is the best-selling golf instructional to date.

Which two US honours did Nicklaus receive in 2005 and 2015 respectively?

The Gold Medal bill praised his 'magnetic personality and unfailing sense of kindness'.

In which years did Nicklaus captain the US Ryder Cup team?

He won the Cup five times as a player, including a perfect 4–0–0 record in 1981.

How many consecutive U.S. Opens did Nicklaus play, starting in 1957?

He missed the cut in the first one as a 17-year-old amateur.

Which entertainer, like Nicklaus, was a non-band member honoured with 'dotting the i' in Script Ohio?

It is considered the greatest honour the Ohio State marching band can give an outsider; coach Woody Hayes also received it.

Who joined Nicklaus, Palmer and Watson at Harbor Shores in 2010 and doubted a wild uphill putt Nicklaus holed?

Miller had beaten him to second on the 1974 money list and lost to him in the 1975 Masters shootout.

What did Nicklaus initially major in at Ohio State, planning to follow his father's trade?

As his amateur wins piled up he switched to insurance, intending to stay amateur and sell policies for a living.

Nicklaus married Barbara Bash in July 1960. What was she studying at Ohio State?

The first of their five children, Jack Jr., arrived in September 1961, a month before his second Masters as an amateur.