It HAS been the golden anniversary of the Golden Bear.
As the current generation were limbering up for the final stretch at Augusta National yesterday, the man who set the standards for all to follow was basking in reflection. Everybody likes a stroll down memory lane, so who better to take this particular meander with than Jack Nicklaus?
Fifty years have drifted by since this celebrated son of Ohio snuggled into the green jacket for the first time. He would perform the same ritual on another five occasions, setting a benchmark that has remained untouched to this day.
In 1997, when a 21-year-old Tiger Woods unleashed his heavy artillery on Augusta and romped to a maiden victory with a record-shattering 18-under aggregate, many were left quaking like infantry in the trenches at the damage he had exacted on this enchanting stretch of golfing terrain. The term 'Tiger-proofing' began to be tossed around in wild abandon as Augusta, like many of the courses on the major rota, bolstered the defences to repel Woods' regular bombardments. Some 30 years earlier, of course, those similar concerns were being raised about another first-time winner in this corner of Georgia.
Nicklaus had captured the first of what would become 18 majors in the previous year's US Open, then staved off the challenges of Tony Lema, Julius Boros and Slammin' Sam Snead to plunder the Augusta bounty by a stroke.
"At its pink and white loveliest, Augusta seemed a most inappropriate place to use a bludgeon," wrote Alfred Wright at the time in that great powerhouse of a publication, Sports Illustrated. "Yet this is what big, smart Jack Nicklaus did as he became, at 23, the youngest golfer ever to win the most cherished tournament of them all."
It had been an eventful week. Nicklaus opened with a 74 but roared back with a second-round 66 before the heavens opened on the Saturday. The deluge was fearsome, but it did not rain on the Nicklaus parade.
"I remember the 13th fairway, we had 100% casual water and there was no place to drop it," said the 73-year-old, who performed his role as honorary starter on Thursday, along with his old sparring partners, Arnold Palmer and Gary Player. "They [the officials] said 'tough, play it'. So we played it out of the water. Nobody thought we would finish our round but we got to the 18th green. I'm colour blind and I looked at the leaderboard and I saw several 'ones' on the board. I looked at my caddie, Willie Peterson, and I said: 'Willie, how many of those ones are red?'
"He said, 'Just you, boss'. That's when I found out I was leading the tournament."
He would have to fight to hold on to it, though. Standing on the 12th tee of the final round, Nicklaus was sharing the lead with a charging Snead, who was 50 at the time and had won the last of his seven majors nine years earlier. Only two shots separated the top five players and when Nicklaus stumbled to a bogey on the 12th, Snead trundled in a birdie on the 15th to get his nose in front. The veteran's place at the summit was short-lived and a trip into the water at 16, followed by a bogey on the last, scuppered his chances. Nicklaus, meanwhile, upped the ante with a brace of birdies at 13 and 16 to assume command again and take the ultimate honours. Golf's most sought-after blazer was his, although it took him a while to finally get his own.
"Arnold [Palmer] put a green jacket on me, and it was a size 46 long," he recalled. "I could have used it for an overcoat. I was a 43 regular.
"So the next year I came back and they didn't have a coat for me, and they said, 'Here, use this one'. It was [former governor of New York] Tom Dewey's coat. He was a 43 regular. The coat fitted me perfectly, and I wore that for about 10 years.
"They kept putting Tom Dewey's coat on me every time I won the Masters. It got around to 1998 and I told [then Augusta chairman] Jack Stephens the story about never being given a green jacket. 'I've won six times and nobody has ever given me a green jacket'. And he said, 'What?' I said, 'I'm the only guy that's ever won this tournament and never got one.' I went home that weekend, came back, and there was a note in the locker. 'You will go to the pro shop and get your green jacket.' So now I have a green jacket."
The years may have passed but the annual pilgrimage to Augusta still stirs the senses for Nicklaus. "I've always loved the Masters, from the first time I was there, when I was 19," he said. "That first time, I got chills coming down Magnolia Lane. I still get those chills."
The love affair is still going strong.
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