Why Jack Nicklaus is The Greatest of All Time

There is much debate within our sport about the identity of the game’s greatest ever golfer. 

Bobby Jones won The Open, US Open, US Amateur and Amateur Championship in 1930 and soon after walked away from competitive golf.

Jones won The Open three times, the US Open four times, the US Amateur five times and The Amateur Championship once. That is 13 titles, won over a six-year period. And without him we would not have The Masters. His legacy and standing within the game takes some beating.

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But you could also consider the claims of the likes of Harry Vardon and Walter Hagen. Then there is Gene Sarazen. 

Some would point to Gary Player, a diminutive figure who claimed all four majors and won nine in total. 

Or what about Ben Hogan, regarded by many as the architect of the modern-day golf swing. Hogan was a huge influence on many of golf’s best players including six-time major champion Nick Faldo.

Or what about Arnold Palmer? He may never have completed the career grand slam but he was responsible for single-handedly reviving the fortunes of The Open Championship at a time when America’s best players were reluctant to cross the Atlantic. Without him, the world’s oldest major probably wouldn’t be the tournament it is now.

There will be some who will also throw Seve Ballesteros into the debate.

But for most golf fans and pundits it comes down to a choice between Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods.

I have been lucky enough to have lived through seeing both players in their prime. Now I know that this is purely subjective and that many will disagree with me but there is not the slightest doubt in my mind that the title of Greatest of all Time (or GOAT) belongs to Nicklaus.

The Golden Bear won his first major in 1962 and his last in 1986. No other golfer has dominated the sport for so long. Woods comes close, winning his first Masters in 1997 and his most recent in 2019.

Nicklaus won 18 majors, Woods has claimed 15. Fans of Woods will point to the fact that he lost much of his career to injury. While that may be true, after his 2008 US Open success - achieved over 91 holes with a broken leg - he had to wait 11 years for his 15th. And he was fully fit for much of that time. In 2009 he won six times, in 2012 he won three times and the following year he claimed five titles.

On top of his 18 major victories, Nicklaus also finished second on a quite remarkable 19 occasions. There were also nine third places. It is a record without precedent. In the Open, from 1966 to 1980, he didn't finish worse than sixth and won three times with six runner-ups!

I have been fortunate enough to have watched both men in the flesh and from the comfort of my armchair.

You would never teach anybody to play golf the way Nicklaus did. He had a flying right elbow and his left heel came off the ground on his backswing. His putting stroke was also very much his own - he would stand to the ball in a crouched position and with his feet, hips and shoulders way open to the target. But if ever there was a man you would want to choose to hole a 10-foot to save your life, it would have been Nicklaus.

Woods changed the game forever when he emerged on the scene. He spent as much time in the gym as he did working on his swing and was - and still is - a magnificent physical specimen. In that regard, he is seen as a trailblazer. As a matter of course, today’s best golfers now spend hours in the gym working on their physique. It is why we see so many of them routinely thrashing the ball in excess of 350 yards.

What many people forget about Nicklaus is that when he first joined the paid ranks he was overweight. Palmer’s fans taunted him about his weight. He quickly realised that if he wanted to achieve great things in the game then he would have to get himself in shape. 

Take a look at the Nicklaus who won The Open in 1966 and compare it with the man who broke Doug Sanders’ heart at St Andrews four years later. I was at that tournament and will never forget the Golden Bear taking his jumper off on the 18th tee and smashing his drive through the green - a distance of some 380 yards. With a persimmon driver.

There are other reasons I would put Nicklaus first.

At the 1969 Ryder Cup at Royal Birkdale, Tony Jacklin left himself a three-foot putt to give GB&I a tie. Without hesitation, Nicklaus picked up Jacklin’s ball with the words: You wouldn’t have missed it Tony but I was never going to give you the chance to do so."

And then there was the 1977 Open at Turnberry, the so-called Duel in the Sun. This is, without the slightest shadow of a doubt, the greatest golf tournament I have ever attended. 

Nicklaus and Tom Watson left the rest of the field trailing in their wake as they went at it for four days, trading wondrous shot for wondrous shot. At one point during the final round, Nicklaus turned to Watson, put his arm around his younger rival’s shoulder and said: "Tom, does it get any better than this?" 

I vividly recall the 72nd and final hole of that incredible week. Watson split the fairway. Nicklaus, trailing by one, hit his drive right into what seemed to be an unplayable lie. 

What happened next was scarcely credible. Watson hit his approach to around three feet. Nicklaus somehow managed to gouge his approach onto the front of the green. And, with a sense of inevitability, he holed a massive putt for the unlikeliest of birdies. The crowd went wild. But it was Nicklaus who told them to quieten down so that Watson could hole the winning putt. The pair then embraced.

Can you imagine Woods conceding a crucial Ryder Cup putt to Rory McIlroy? Can you imagine him embracing Phil Mickelson and saying: "Phil, does it get any better than this?" 

Nicklaus was never caught swearing on the course. Let’s just say that Woods’ language can be pretty industrial when things go wrong. 

There was never any hint of off-course scandal with Nicklaus. He and his wife Barbara have been married for almost 65 years.

And he also turned out to be one of the world’s leading golf course architects. 

When it comes to legacy, the record books and personal traits I believe this is a no-contest. Jack Nicklaus is surely the GOAT.

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