*** Welcome to piglix ***

Jack Nicklaus

Jack Nicklaus
— Golfer —
JackNicklaus.cropped.jpg
Nicklaus in September 2006
Personal information
Full name Jack William Nicklaus
Nickname The Golden Bear
Born (1940-01-21) January 21, 1940 (age 77)
Upper Arlington, Ohio
Height 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Nationality  United States
Residence North Palm Beach, Florida, U.S.
Spouse Barbara Bash
(m. 1960–present)
Children Jack, Steven, Nancy, Gary, Michael
Career
College Ohio State University
Turned professional 1961
Retired 2005
Former tour(s) PGA Tour
Champions Tour
Professional wins 120
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour 73 (3rd all time)
PGA Tour Champions 10
Other 26 (regular)
11 (other)
Best results in major championships
(wins: 18)
Masters Tournament Won: 1963, 1965, 1966, 1972, 1975, 1986
U.S. Open Won: 1962, 1967, 1972, 1980
The Open Championship Won: 1966, 1970, 1978
PGA Championship Won: 1963, 1971, 1973, 1975, 1980
Achievements and awards
World Golf Hall of Fame 1974 (member page)
PGA Tour
leading money winner
1964, 1965, 1967, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1976
PGA Player of the Year 1967, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1976
Bob Jones Award 1975
Payne Stewart Award 2000
PGA Tour Lifetime
Achievement Award
2008
Congressional Gold Medal 2015
(For a full list of awards, see here)

Jack William Nicklaus (born January 21, 1940), nicknamed The Golden Bear, is a retired American professional golfer. He is widely regarded as the greatest golfer of all time, winning a total of 18 career major championships, while producing 19 second-place and 9 third-place finishes in them, over a span of 25 years. Nicklaus focused on the major championships (Masters Tournament, U.S. Open, Open Championship, and PGA Championship), and played a selective schedule of regular PGA Tour events, yet still finished with 73 victories, third on the all-time list behind Sam Snead (82) and Tiger Woods (79).

After winning the U.S. Amateur in 1959 and 1961, and challenging for the 1960 U.S. Open as an amateur (he finished in second place, two shots behind winner Arnold Palmer), Nicklaus turned professional at age 21 toward the end of 1961. Nicklaus' first professional win came in a major championship, the 1962 U.S. Open, when he defeated Palmer by three shots in a next day 18-hole playoff. This win over Palmer began the on-course rivalry between the two golf superstars. In 1966, Nicklaus won the Masters Tournament for the second year in a row, becoming the first golfer to achieve this distinction, and also won The Open Championship, completing his career slam of major championships. At age 26, he became the youngest to do so at the time. In 1968 and 1969, Nicklaus did not win a major tournament. He then won another Open Championship in 1970.

Between 1971 and 1980, he won an additional nine major championships, overtook Bobby Jones' record of 13 majors, and became the first player to complete double and triple career slams of golf's four professional major championships. At the age of 46, Nicklaus claimed his 18th and final major championship at the 1986 Masters Tournament, becoming that championship's oldest winner. Nicklaus joined the Senior PGA Tour (now known as the PGA Tour Champions) in January 1990, when he became eligible, and by April 1996 had won 10 of the tour's tournaments, including eight of that tour's major championships, despite playing a very limited schedule. He continued to play at least some of the four regular Tour majors until 2005, when he made his final appearances at the Masters Tournament and The Open Championship.


...
Wikipedia

...