Jack Nicklaus and the 1986 Masters: A Look Back 25 Years Later

By
at Internationaled.org

Published: March 2, 2011

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25 years have passed since perhaps the greatest major championship in golf’s history.

Is that possible?

Heading into the 1986 Masters, Jack Nicklaus was 46 years old and winding down his career. He hadn’t won a PGA event in two years and hadn’t won a major in six years.  As much as perhaps the greatest golfer in the history of the game can be, Nicklaus was not much more than an afterthought heading into the 50th Masters that year.

Names like Greg Norman, Tom Kite, Tom Watson, Seve Ballesteros and Ben Crenshaw were the real story. Nicklaus, although not at the non-competitive level of the honorary starters that year, Gene Sarazan and Sam Snead, had little chance of winning on that weekend in April.

For the first two rounds of the 1986 Masters, that played out true to form. Nicklaus shot a 74 on Thursday and a 71 on Friday. He had made the cut, but was well back of the leader board. Seve Ballesteros led the pack after 36 holes.

In a new book coming out this March from author Tom Clavin entitled One for the Ages (Chicago Review Press), which relives the four days of  the 1986 Masters in full detail, author Clavin recounts a quote from then third year-pro Corey Pavin back in 1986.

“I think the players now respect him more for what he has done and what he has meant to golf than they respect him for his game,” said Pavin about Nicklaus. “If I were going head to head with him, I wouldn’t be afraid of him or fear anything supernatural. I think when he was playing ten years ago he was a man to fear because of the way he was playing.”

Tom Kite was asked if he thought Jack could win the Masters. “I don’t think he can win any tournament,” Kite said.

After his round of 71 on Friday, which followed his opening round of 74, Nicklaus was frustrated when he talked to the media.

“I was really down...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Golf

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