Jack Nicklaus is among one of the biggest names to ever come out of the sport of golf, with most true sports fans knowing or recognizing his name. He is thought to be one of the best, if not the best golfer of all time. This is due to a few records that he holds, with the most impressive being that he has the most major tournament wins in the history of the game.
Nicklaus was born in Columbus, Ohio in 1940. In his youth, he played plenty of sports with his biggest two being basketball and golf. He was so good at basketball that he had many college teams scout and ask for him to play, including the local college Ohio State. Nicklaus was far better at golf, however, picking it up extremely quickly in his youth. Between the ages of 10 and 17, he won an impressive 27 events in the Ohio area.
At age 18 he went on to play in the first of many PGA Tour events, finishing 12th in his first outing. This was a solid beginning, and he only improved and gained attention after going to Ohio State. During his undergraduate career, he won the U.S. Amateur in both 1959 and 1961. He also won the NCAA championship in 1961, making him the first to win both the NCAA Championship and the U.S. Amateur in the same year.
At the age of 22, Nicklaus won his first PGA Tournament at the U.S. Open. This was a huge feat due to the fact that he was so young. During this tournament, he faced off against golfing legend Arnold Palmer and won. This was just the start of an exciting rivalry. In the same year, he won two more tournaments and was named rookie of the year.
The next year Nicklaus won his first two major tournaments at the Masters and PGA Championship. Over the years he continued to play at a highly competitive level, winning an astonishing 18 Major Championships. He also has won 73 PGA Tour events, which is good for third-most in the history of the PGA. He is behind Sam Snead as number one and Tiger Woods as number two. His final championship happened to also be his sixth Masters’ victory, which was in 1986. Not to mention that he did this at the age of 46. This made Nicklaus the oldest golfer to win this tournament, and the record stands to this day.
Nicklaus has since retired from golf. After his time in the PGAs, he decided to join the Senior PGAs where he continued to win. He is still very involved with the sport, however, writing books on the sport, putting on tournaments in his home state of Ohio and working to design courses. Although he no longer plays the game competitively, he is one of the undisputed great who holds one of the longest, if not the longest streak of success that any pro golfer has had. Jack Nicklaus will be a household name and a golfing icon for years to come.
