Background

Jack William Nicklaus was born on January 21, 1940 in Columbus, Ohio, United States, to Louis Charles, Jr., a pharmacist, and Helen Nicklaus. His father was an all-around athlete who had played football for the Ohio State Buckeyes and had gone on to play semi-professional football under an assumed name for the Portsmouth Spartans. He had also been a scratch golfer and local tennis champion.

Education

In his early years, Nicklaus was a natural athlete with many athletic interests. At Upper Arlington High School he played center on the basketball team, catcher on the baseball team, and quarterback on the football team. But from the age of ten, he also played golf.

Nicklaus, the all-around teenage athlete, was able to focus on his goals, and his ambition was to become the world's best golfer. Along with an abundance of natural talent, he had two other advantages: a world-class home course, the Scioto Country Club, and one of the finest golf instructors in America, Jack Grout, who remained his lifelong teacher and mentor.

At the age of thirteen, Nicklaus began a streak of amateur victories by winning the Ohio State Junior and Columbus Junior Match-Play Championships. During the next six years, he won fourteen tournaments, including the Trans-Mississippi Championship at the age of eighteen, and qualified for the second year in a row for the United States Open. In 1959, he won the United States Amateur, the North and South. In 1960, still an amateur, Nicklaus came within two strokes of beating Arnold Palmer in the United States Open at Cherry Hills, Denver, with a record 282 for an amateur playing in an Open.

In 1960, Jack completed his junior year at the Ohio State University. In between visits to Manhattan and Atlantic City, Jack played golf at Winged Foot and then at Pine Valley, a men-only club. In 1961, Nicklaus won the United States Amateur title for the second time, a victory that led him to abandon a career as an insurance salesman to join the Professional Golf Association (PGA) tour.

Nicklaus wound up a few course hours short of graduating from college. In a goodwill gesture, the Ohio State University granted him an honorary doctorate in 1972.

Career

In 1962, Nicklaus turned professional. Nicklaus's first major victory, the United States Open at Oakmont Country Club in 1962, not only tested his golfing skills but his self-control and character. It was an unpopular triumph, perhaps the most unpopular in the history of golf. "Arnie's Army" (as Arnold Palmer's many golf fans proudly called themselves) did not want this overweight, country club-bred, deliberately playing upstart to beat their hero. But Nicklaus won the play-off decisively, 71 to 74. He claimed his first Masters Tournament and PGA Championship the following year and in 1966 nabbed the only major title missing from his collection by winning the British Open.

After Nicklaus won the 1967 United States Open in record-breaking fashion, he did not win another major championship until the 1970 Open Championship at the Old Course at St Andrews.

In July 1970, Nicklaus won the 1970 Open Championship under difficult scoring conditions in Scotland, defeating fellow American Doug Sanders in an 18-hole playoff round in emotional fashion. Jack also went on to capture the Piccadilly World Match Play Championship in 1970. He won 2 & 1 over Lee Trevino in the championship match.

In 1971, Nicklaus became the first golfer ever to record a double grand slam, completing the cycle of major championship victories twice. By the end of 1971, 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. The year 1971 also brought Nicklaus a victory in the Australian Dunlop International as well, punctuated by a course record 62.

Nicklaus won the first two major championships of 1972 by three shots each in wire-to-wire fashion. During the PGA Tour season, he won seven tournaments and was runner-up in three events. Jack closed out this year with a second of three consecutive Walt Disney World Golf Classic victories. He shot a 21-under-par 267 to win by nine shots. Jack also competed in 20 official worldwide events winning seven, placing second in four, and compiling 15 top-10 finishes.

Nicklaus won the PGA Championship in August 1973 by four shots over Bruce Crampton for his 12th professional major and 14th overall. In the same year, he won another six tournaments. For the year, Nicklaus competed in 20 official worldwide events and claimed seven victories and compiled a 4-1-1 record in that year's Ryder Cup competition.

Jack had no major championship victories in 1974, but he achieved four top-10 finishes in the four events, three of which were in the top four, and placed second on the official money list behind Johnny Miller. He claimed two victories and 13 top-10 finishes in 20 official events.

In early 1975, Nicklaus won the Doral-Eastern Open, the Sea Pines Heritage Classic, and the Masters in consecutive starts. He won the PGA Championship in August by two shots over Bruce Crampton. Nicklaus also captured his fourth Australian Open. During the year, Nicklaus yielded 6 wins, 12 top-5 finishes, and 16 top-10 finishes in 18 official worldwide events.

In 1976, Jack competed in 16 events, winning just two. The 1976 Tournament Players Championship saw him set a championship record of 19-under-par 269. The next year Nicklaus achieved four top-10 finishes in the four events inclusive of two second and one third-place finish. He won his 63rd tour event, passing Ben Hogan to take second place on the career wins list. The same year, Nicklaus won the Memorial Tournament for the first time.

In 1978, Nicklaus won the 1978 Open Championship and became the only player to win each major championship three times. In the same year, he won three other tournaments on the PGA Tour. The year 1978 also marked Nicklaus's sixth Australian Open victory. In 1979, Jack did not win any tournament.

In 1980, Nicklaus recorded only four top-10 finishes in 14 events, but two of these were his victories at the United States Open and the PGA Championship. In the next five years, he only won twice on the PGA Tour, the Colonial Invitational in 1982 and the Memorial Tournament in 1984. In 1986, Nicklaus won his sixth Masters title under challenging circumstances. He became the oldest Masters winner in history, a record that still stands. This victory was his final major title.

Nicklaus became eligible to join the PGA Tour Champions, when he turned 50. He won in his first start on the Tour, The Tradition, also a Senior Tour major championship. Jack also won another three Traditions. Later in the year, Nicklaus won the Senior Players Championship by six shots over Lee Trevino. In 1991, he won three of the five events he started in, including the United States Senior Open at Oakland Hills. After a winless year in 1992, Jack again won the Senior United States Open in 1993. Also that year, he won the Wendy's 3-Tour Challenge alongside Chi Chi Rodríguez and Raymond Floyd on the Team Champions Tour. He also won this tournament for the following two years.

In 1994, Nicklaus won the Senior PGA Tour's version of the Mercedes Championship for his only win of the year. His 100th career win came in 1996 when he won the Tradition for the fourth time and the second time in succession.

In 2000, Nicklaus played in his 44th and final United States Open. On July 15, 2005, he finished his professional career at The Open Championship. The last competitive tournament played in the United States was the Champions Tour's Bayer Advantage Classic in Overland Park, Kansas, on June 13, 2005.

Nicklaus designed several golf courses, including Muirfield Village Golf Course in Ohio, site of the Nicklaus-sponsored Memorial Tournament beginning in 1976. He operates one of the largest golf design practices in the world.

Jack also wrote several books, including Golf My Way (1974; co-written with Ken Bowden), Nicklaus by Design (2002; co-written with Chris Millard), and Jack Nicklaus: Memories and Mementos from Golf's Golden Bear (2007; co-written with David Shedloski). Nicklaus has written golf instructional columns for Golf Magazine and for Golf Digest magazine. He appeared as a television analyst and commentator with ABC Sports on golf broadcasts.

Nicklaus is also an honorary chair for the American Lake Veterans Golf Course capital campaign in Tacoma. He owns Nicklaus Golf Equipment, which manufactures equipment in three brands: Golden Bear, Jack Nicklaus Signature, and Nicklaus Premium. In 2010, Jack partnered with Terlato Wines to produce a collection of three Napa Valley wines: Jack Nicklaus Private Reserve (a red blend), Cabernet Sauvignon and Private Reserve White (a white blend).

Achievements

• Jack Nicklaus is widely considered to be one of the greatest golfers of all time. He won the Masters Tournament six times, the United States Open four times, the Professional Golfers' Association of America (PGA) Championship five times, and the British Open (Open Championship) three times. His victories overseas included six Australian Open titles. Nicklaus was a record three-time individual World Cup winner. By 1986, he had played in 100 major championships, finishing in the top three 45 times.
  
  Nicklaus was named the PGA Player of the Year five times (1967, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1976) and he was elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1974. His career totals include 73 PGA victories and a record 18 victories in the four major professional championships.
  
  In 2001, Nicklaus was honored with the "Lombardi Award of Excellence" from the Vince Lombardi Cancer Foundation. Four years later, he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Nicklaus topped the 2009 worldwide list of 35 individuals who were selected by a panel of editors for their ability to influence and impact the business of golf, be it the development of courses and communities, the operation of courses, the equipment used by golfers, or the rules and regulations of the game.
  
  On May 19, 2014, the United States House of Representatives voted to pass H.R. 2203, a bill that would award Nicklaus the Congressional Gold Medal "in recognition of his service to the nation in promoting excellence and good sportsmanship".

Works

More photos

• book

  • Jack Nicklaus

    (In a long-awaited autobiography, the "Golden Bear" chroni...)

    1997
  • Jack Nicklaus: My Story

    (Jack Nicklaus: My Story is Jack Nicklaus's compelling, pe...)

    1984
  • Putting My Way: A Lifetime's Worth of Tips from Golf's All-Time Greatest

    (Nicklaus's classic Golf My Way - the sport's all-time wor...)

    2009
  • Jack Nicklaus' Lesson Tee

    (In 45 colorful, easy-to-follow lessons, Jack Nicklaus sha...)

    1977
  • Golf My Way

    (Jack Nicklaus, golf's leading master, definitively covers...)

    1974
  • My 55 Ways to Lower Your Golf Score 1964

• movie

  • Yes Sir! Jack Nicklaus and the Historic 1986 Masters Victory 2011

Politics

Jack Nicklaus said: "Whether it's Barack Obama or Donald Trump in the office of the president, you respect the office. My political views might be different from somebody else's political views, but it doesn't make any difference. The office of the president is the head of the greatest country in the world." Nicklaus is a vocal Trump supporter.

Views

Nicklaus manages the Memorial Tournament. Each year, the tournament selects one or more individuals as honorees who have made a significant impact on the game. The Memorial Tournament continues the PGA Tour's philanthropic focus through its relationships with Central Ohio charities. The most significant of which is its relationship with Nationwide Children's Hospital since 1976.

Nicklaus also serves as an honorary chairman of the Nicklaus Children's Health Care Foundation in North Palm Beach, Florida. The foundation provides valuable programs and services free of charge to more than 4,000 hospitalized children and their families through Child Life programs, the Pediatric Oncology Support Team, and the Safe Kids program. Also, Jack and his wife Barbara established a pro-am golf tournament - "The Jake." It has become the foundation's chief fundraiser.

Quotations: "Achievement is largely the product of steadily raising one's level of aspiration and expectation."

"Don't be too proud to take lessons. I'm not."

"We don't have to do a bunch of things to figure out how to win the Ryder Cup. Just go play golf. I'm a little bit too casual probably about a lot of things, but you can't force good play. Good play comes from good hard work and actually being prepared to play, not being forced to play."

"A kid grows up a lot faster on the golf course. Golf teaches you how to behave."

"I never hit a shot, not even in practice, without having a very sharp, in-focus picture of it in my head."

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

"Focus on remedies, not faults."

"Concentration is a fine antidote to anxiety."

"Confidence is the most important single factor in this game, and no matter how great your natural talent, there is only one way to obtain and sustain it: work."

"Complacency is a continuous struggle that we all have to fight."

"I never missed a putt in my mind."

"Golf is not, and never has been, a fair game."

"I don't know if I'll ever do it again or not, but frankly I don't really care."

"If I had only one more round to play, I would choose to play it at Pebble Beach. I've loved this course from the first time I saw it. It's possibly the best in the world."

"It takes hundreds of good golf shots to gain confidence, but only one bad one to lose it."

"Golf is a better game played downhill."

"I've had a lot of majors where I didn't play well until the last round. Keep yourself in contention; that's the name of the game. I usually ended up shooting a good round and all of a sudden, somehow, I won."

"Did you know there's probably more golf played in Iceland than most places in the world? They play 24 hours a day in the summertime and the northern part is warmer than the southern part."

"The game is meant to be fun."

"He's going to be around a long, long time, if his body holds up. That's always a concern with a lot of players because of how much they play. A lot of guys can't handle it. But it looks like he can."

"Scoring comes from being able to preserve what you've got and play your smart shots when you need to play them and not do stupid things and take advantage of things when have you them."

"Nobody ever remembers who finished second at anything."

"Golf is a game of precision, not strength."

"The worse you're performing, the more you must work mentally and emotionally. The greatest and toughest art in golf is "playing badly well." All the true greats have been masters at it."

"People only do their best at things they truly enjoy."

"Success depends almost entirely on how effectively you learn to manage the game's two ultimate adversaries: the course and yourself."

"When I want a long ball, I spin my hips faster."

"If there is one thing I have learned during my years as a professional, it is that the only thing constant about golf is its inconstancy."

"It's great to win, but it's also great fun just to be in the thick of any truly well and hard-fought contest against opponents you respect, whatever the outcome."

"Golf is a game of respect and sportsmanship; we have to respect its traditions and its rules."

Membership

Jack Nicklaus is a member of the American Society of Golf Course Architects. He was also a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta.

Personality

Throughout his career, Nicklaus often came across as very egotistical. He walked with an arrogant swagger that gave off the impression that he always thought he was just a little bit better than everyone else, both on and off the course.

Nicklaus is also known to be an extremely ruthless businessman and is rumored to be a very difficult man to work for and work with.

Physical Characteristics: Jack Nicklaus overcame a mild case of polio as a 13-year-old.

Jack is 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) tall and weighs 185 lbs (84 kg).

Quotes from others about the person

• Dan Jenkins: "Jack Nicklaus is the greatest winner I've ever seen."
  
  Molly Sims: "I grew up watching Lee Trevino, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer."
  
  Johnny Miller: "Nobody ever heard Jack Nicklaus say 'I don't know' about anything."
  
  Tiger Woods: "I'm not as far along as Jack Nicklaus was at this age, but I'm trying."
  
  Tim Finchem: "The game of golf was bigger than Jack Nicklaus when Jack was dominating the game."
  
  Dan Jenkins: "Every immortal except Jack Nicklaus has hit a wall and stopped making putts he had to make in order to win. Jack did it for 20 years."
  
  Lee Trevino: "Jack Nicklaus liked to curve the ball by opening or closing the clubface at address."
  
  Dan Jenkins: "If you want to put golf back on the front pages again, and you don't have a Bobby Jones or a Francis Ouimet handy, here's what you do: You send an aging Jack Nicklaus out in the last round of the Masters and let him kill more foreigners than a general named Eisenhower."
  
  Chi Chi Rodriguez: "Jack Nicklaus is a legend in his spare time."

Interests

• fishing, hunting

• Politicians

  Donald Trump

• Sport & Clubs

  basketball, football, baseball, tennis, and track and field

Connections

In July 1960, Jack married Barbara Bash, who was a nursing student at Ohio State. The couple has five children.

Father:

Louis Charles Nicklaus Jr.

(October 22, 1913 - February 19, 1970)

Mother:

Helen Nicklaus

(August 21, 1909 - August 16, 2000)

Spouse:

Barbara Bash

(born 1940)

Son:

Jack Nicklaus Jr.

Son:

Steve Nicklaus

Daughter:

Nancy Nicklaus

Son:

Gary Nicklaus

(born January 15, 1969)

Gary Nicklaus is an American professional golfer. He spent three years as a member of the PGA Tour from 2000-2003. After an 11 year stint in the amateurs, Nicklaus returned to pro ranks on PGA Tour Champions in January 2019.

Son:

Michael Nicklaus

Friend:

Arnold Palmer

(September 10, 1929 - September 25, 2016)

Arnold Palmer was an American professional golfer who is generally regarded as one of the greatest and most charismatic players in the sport's history. Dating back to 1955, he won numerous events on both the PGA Tour and the circuit now known as PGA Tour Champions.

References

• Jack Nicklaus: Golf's Greatest Champion In this intimately penned biography, the only one written about the "Golden Bear," author Mark Shaw, with the energy of a lifelong fan, chronicles Nicklaus's life from his early days as a young golfer to his final tournaments on the PGA and Champions Tour.
  2002
• Jack Nicklaus' Official Website