AUGUSTA, Ga. — Jack Nicklaus had won 17 majors, the most of all time, when he showed up here in 1986 to compete in the Masters.
Actually, the 46-year-old came to play in the Masters. Sure, he’d like to compete, but he was in a bit of a slump at the time, playing only 12-14 tournaments a year. It had been six years since he had last studied and he wasn’t as active in his game as he had been.
There was some fun. His son Jackie was carrying his bag. His mother and sister were coming to the tournament for the first time since 1959.
“It felt like I was done playing golf,” Nicklaus said Thursday after he, Tom Watson and Gary Player took out the Masters with celebratory shots. “I wasn’t really, you might say, expecting to win again.”
Nicklaus’ place in golf history and among golf royalty was, and always will be, secure. He didn’t need to win.
However, in its own way, his victory 40 years ago had a major impact on his career and his career.
Nicklaus was a huge force in the 1960s and 1970s, but by the mid-1980s he had become a thing of the past. Young golf fans of that decade, and new fans just coming of age, had heard stories of Nicklaus’ greatness, but had never seen much of it live.
That led to one of the most dramatic Sundays in the tournament’s history, with five different players holding at least a share of the lead at some point. Nicklaus shot a third-round 69 to start the day tied for ninth, then fired an impressive 65 to claim his sixth green jacket.
He covered it with an eagle on the 15th, near the hole-in-one and turned in a birdie at 16 and a final birdie at 17, honoring his famous downhill putt with a slight break left on a challenging green and CBS’ Verne Lundquist delivering the perfect call — “yes, sir.”
For anyone who needed to see the magic of Nicklaus, or be reminded of the magic of Nicklaus, well, here it is.
“I think for a lot of people, it’s validated my career, I think,” Nicklaus said. “It earned the respect that ends the job for that, and for me as well.”
It was the most famous of all his victories. It also boosted his stature, separating new champions, including Greg Norman, who had emerged as one of the stars of the 1980s, but finished second that day.
Augusta National still broadcasts remarkably limited Masters at that time; allowing CBS to show only the second nine on Saturdays and Sundays. Attendance appeared to be very low, with footage showing Nicklaus teeing off on 18 in the final round with only a few hundred patrons watching.
The multitude of combinations made that memorable run even more impactful. Considered by many to be one of, if not, the greatest tournaments in golf history.
That he needed one Masters is absurd, yet the last one was the best.
“Absolute No. 1,” Nicklaus said. “… People ask me, which one is your favorite? I loved them all but ’86 was the most unexpected one for me to win, over the hill and all the practice. And I won. It had to be very special for me.”
Nicklaus’ career accomplishments are almost cartoonish. Not only 18 majors, (Tiger Woods is second with 15) but 19 second place finishes. From 1962-1980, 76 major tournaments were played. Nicklaus finished in the top five of 47 of them, a ridiculous 61.8% of the time.
“I finished second 19 times in the majors,” Nicklaus said. “For me, I’m just kicking myself to finish [second] 19 times, I should have won some.”
“It was a good thing,” offered Watson, his best friend.
“It was actually a good thing,” Nicklaus said. “But I didn’t like you.”
On Thursday, 86, Nicklaus was back at Augusta National, on the first tee, to the roar of the crowd as the sun began to rise over Georgia. He first came here 57 years ago, as a 19-year-old from Ohio State. He was famous enough that he and his father were invited to Bobby Jones’ house on the grounds of meeting the designer of Augusta National in person.
He is always involved with golf, he doesn’t play anymore, maybe once a year. He had surgery to treat carpal tunnel syndrome five weeks ago, so he was worried about sticking to the club on Thursday. Jackie raised the ball and encouraged the gals to spread out …”I don’t want to kill anyone,” he said with a laugh.
He managed to avoid that, because he blew the rest of the drive over gallery. At least, he noted, no one was hit. He thought about pulling his tie off the ground, but for fear of losing his balance, he just laughed and waved.
“I don’t know what was going through my mind other than not hurting anyone,” Nicklaus joked. “It’s always a great honor and a great honor … I’ve been doing it for a few years now, it’s very special.”
Forty years ago, he managed another money, giving the Masters that was not only memorable, but reminded everyone of the genius of Jack Nicklaus.
“It was a good way to end the job, you’d say,” he said.
