“JACK NICKLAUS – The Golden Bear”

Jack Nicklaus was a major force in professional golf, first on the PGA Tour from the 1960s to the mid-to-late 1980s, then on the Champions Tour from the early to mid 1990s. Nicklaus is generally regarded as one of the greatest golfers of all time and has won the most number of Majors by any professional golfer. He is credited with turning golf into the major spectator sport it has become.

Nicklaus began his professional career in 1962. His first professional win came in the same year, the U.S. Open. He is still the youngest ever winner of this event. He completed his year placed third on the tour money list, and was named Rookie of the Year. He won The Masters in 1965 and 1966, becoming the first back-to-back winner of this event. Also in 1966 he won The Open Championship, which was the only major he had failed to win up to this time. This win made him the youngest player, and only the fourth player to win all four major championships. After winning the 1971 PGA Championship, Nicklaus became the first golfer to win all four majors twice in a career. Nicklaus won the 1978 Open Championship to become the only player to have won each major championship three times. In 1986, he became the oldest winner of the Masters at the age of 46 with a final round of 65. He finished his professional career at The Open Championship at St. Andrews in July 2005 which was the last year he could enter a PGA tournament as an exempt player, having turned 65. Nicklaus ended his illustrious career in style, making a fifteen-foot birdie putt and extending his putter and left arm in the air as he had done so many times to celebrate crucial putts (he missed the cut with a score of +3).

He is second on the all-time list of players with most PGA Tour wins. In 1974, he was one of the 13 original inductees into the World Golf Hall of Fame. So revered is Nicklaus in the United Kingdom for his British Open exploits that in July 2005, the Royal Bank of Scotland announced that Nicklaus's image would be printed on a special issue of 5 Pound notes . He is currently the only player to achieve a "triple grand slam" i.e. winning all four major championships three times in a career.

Nicklaus now devotes much of his time to golf course design and operates one of the largest golf design practices in the world known as Nicklaus Design. His first design was opened for play in 1970 and he is personally responsible for over 200 course designs around the world. Nicklaus also continues to manage the Memorial Golf Tournament he created in his home state of Ohio, which is played on a course he designed and is one of the more prestigious events on the PGA TOUR. There is a Jack Nicklaus Museum on the campus of The Ohio State University in his home town of Columbus, Ohio. His other interests are varied and many, and include golf academies and a golf equipment company – Nicklaus Golf (Golf Warehouse is an exclusive distributor for Nicklaus equipment in Pakistan. Click here for more details).

Jack Nicklaus had an unusual playing style, combining being one of the greatest putters of all-time with being the longest hitter on the tour during his prime. He popularized the "power fade," which was his characteristic ball flight. He was also known as a conservative player at times, only going for broke when he needed to. This was especially apparent on the green. He would be less aggressive and make sure of an easy two-putt.