Big Jack, First Round

You Know Exactly Where You Were...

Now that we’ve given The King his due, it’s time to talk about The Greatest.  No, not Muhammad Ali, who had the audacity (and skill) to call himself The Greatest and then prove it to all the world, but Golf’s Greatest.  No, not Tiger Woods, who will get short shrift in this blog from now until, oh, give or take, doomsday (his phony persona and total lack of character -- not to mention his completely repellent public personality – has he ever been truly gracious on camera to a reporter or, Heaven forfend, to one of his competitors, in his life? -- doom him to permanent exile in the TGA Blog).  No, I am talking about the greatest golfer ever, the Golden Bear, Jack Nicklaus. 

            Last year we celebrated the 25^th anniversary of his Masters victory in 1986, arguably the greatest triumph in golf history (right up there on Mount Golfmore with Ben Hogan’s 1951 U.S. Open Victory after nearly losing his life in a car accident and being told he might never be able to walk again; Ken Venturi’s 36-hole death march to the title in the 1964 U.S. Open at Congressional CC, the site of last year’s thrilling U.S. Open by Rory McIlroy, and Arnie’s aforementioned come-from-behind U.S. Open victory in 1960.   And had then 59-year old Tom Watson hit a 9-iron instead of an 8 on his approach to the 72^nd hole, his victory in The Open at Turnberry in 2009 would have been the greatest achievement in the golf (possibly sports) history (amateur Francis Ouimet’s stunning victory in the 1913 U.S. Open over Harry Vardon and Ted Ray notwithstanding).    Rory McIlroy’s 2011 U.S. Open victory at Congressional may not earn honors on Mt. Golfmore, but it certainly ranks as one of the most hilarious and humiliating golfing victory of all time. 

            In anticipation of hosting the Open, the Blue Course was shut down to member play and the club spent millions in renovations to the course, even changing the order of holes just to make it Open-tough for the players.  The members spent all that lucre just to convert the event into the Kemper Open, with the pros shooting lights out and setting scoring records left and right the first two days.  The ultimate ignominy and outrage was the USGA’s decision to make the course easier after two rounds so that somebody might be able to catch the streaking, very European Rory.  Fortunately, no one took advantage of this disgraceful, pro- (and un-) American show of sportsmanship and European Rory won historically big.

The Golden Cub

            Every golf fan old enough to hold a club at that point in time knows where he was that second Sunday in April in 1986.  But even without that remarkable victory at age 46, Nicklaus was the greatest ever.  Not only did Nicklaus win 18 majors (in 163 majors appearances), perhaps more incredibly, he finished second in major tournaments 19 times!  Even more incredibly, he posted top-five finishes in major championships 56 times!  That’s a top-five finish twice a year for 28 consecutive years!  He finished in the top ten in major tournaments 73 times!  By the way, Nicklaus also won 8 senior majors titles, more than any other golfer,

Woods, on the other hand, in 62 major championships appearances has won 14 times but finished  2^nd just 6 times and has 29 top-five finishes (and hopefully won’t improve those totals any time soon, despite his recent win, most ironically, at Jack’s Memorial tournament.) 

            And Nicklaus wasn’t playing against the undistinguished crowd of nameless golfers that win one major and disappear, like Woods’ crew of opponents – Nicklaus was playing in the Golden Age of Golf against a cadre of the greatest golfers of all time.  Legends like Arnold Palmer, Tom Watson, Lee Trevino, Gary Player, Johnny Miller (who remains the only golfer to shoot 63 in the final round to win a major), Seve Ballesteros, and Greg Norman, all squarely in or close to their primes.  Of the 18  golfers with victories in three or more majors (other than Nicklaus and Woods), whose careers overlapped those of Nicklaus and/or Woods,   Nicklaus competed against thirteen of them during his time on tour.  Conversely, Tiger has competed against seven such triple winners, but that list includes Nick Faldo (last victory in a major was 1996), nonagenarian Tom Watson (last victory in a major was 1983), Payne Stewart (tragically died in 1999) and Vijay Singh (last victory in a major was 2004). In fact, the only golfers against whom Tiger has competed who won all three of their majors since Tiger won his first  major in 1997 are the aforementioned Singh, Phil Mickelson and Padraig Harrington.  Their combined list of nine major championships does not include one U.S. Open. 

            And in that historic Masters in 1986, Nicklaus in his final round passed Seve Ballesteros, Tom Watson, Greg Norman, Nick Price, Bernhard Langer  and Tom Kite, all of whom are in the Golf Hall of Fame, and who together combined for 19 major titles.  Jack also started the final round tied with Sandy Lyle, winner of the 1988 Masters and The Open Championship in 1985, Corey Pavin, the 1995 U.S. Open champ and Bob Tway, the 1986 PGA Championship winner.    

The Greatest Open Champion

            Woods, on the other hand has been competing against majors winners like Shaun Micheel, Geoff Ogilvy, Jim Furyk, Ben Curtis, Stewart Cink, Rich Beem, David Toms, Yang Yong-eun and the like, one-hit wonders when it comes to golf’s majors. Switching sports metaphors, this is not exactly a Murderers’ Row of golfing greats, especially compared to the lineup of legends against which The Bear competed. 

Woods will never get to 18 majors, if the golf gods really exist and are even remotely paying attention, despite Nicklaus’s recent comments generously conceding that it might still be possible for Woods to break his record.  (Such generosity of spirit is something Woods might occasionally attempt to imitate.)  Even if Woods does break Jack’s record, he will still not earn the title of The Greatest Golfer Ever from this observer.  The competition Woods has faced is simply pathetic compared to the golf legends Nicklaus faced week in and week out during his long and historic career.  Simply put, Nicklaus’s accomplishments are extraordinary, and Woods’ career record, incomplete as it may be,  pales in comparison. 

AMDG 

© R.E. Kelly 2012-2019