Countdown to the Masters 2011 – Day 28: Nicklaus’ first win in 1963
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Welcome to Day 28 of the Today’s Golfer Countdown to The Masters 2011. Every day from February 17th until the big day when the season’s first Major tees off, April 7th, we will be bringing you some of our favourite memorable moments from The Masters since the tournament started in 1934.
Some tournaments are won by a mile. Others involve a two-horse race. Very seldom do several of the world’s top players get involved in a dog-fight down the stretch. The 1963 Masters was one such occasion.
Sam Snead, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, Julius Boros and Tony Lema all had times on the final afternoon when the tournament looked like being theirs. In the end, the Golden Bear finished atop the pile; helped enormously by a wonderful, curling 12 foot birdie putt on the par-3 16th.
It was an iconic moment, the beginning of a new era; and indeed after Nicklaus’s heroics this week, people started to talk about The Big Three (Nicklaus, Palmer, Player) for the first time. At 23, Jack became the youngest player ever to win the Masters (until Tiger broke his record some three and a half decades later).
He had only been a professional for 15 months, but it became clear to everyone that this youngster was in a different class to most of the rest of the field. His immense length, strength and power meant that he could literally overpower a golf course. At the 15th in the final round, for instance; 99% of the field were either laying up short of the creek, or trying to play their seconds with a wood, and not being able to hold the putting surfaces. Nicklaus hit a 5-iron second, which pitched on the green and stopped within a few feet.
Perhaps even more impressive than his final round however, was Nicklaus 6-birdie 66 on Friday. In cruel winds, with everyone in the field whining and whinging about the course and the elements, Jack put together an extraordinary exhibition. Sports Illustrated later described it as “one of the greatest rounds ever played at Augusta National”. And Nicklaus himself said of it: “I don’t, think I’ve ever played a better round of golf”.
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