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Jack William Nicklaus, well known as “The Golden Bear,” was born on January 21, 1940 and may well be, as his fans will tell you, among the greatest pro golfers ever. Growing up in Columbus, Ohio, a pharmacist’s son, he was a student in Upper Arlington High School and beat a mild case of polio as a youth. Turning to golf at ten years old and shooting an amazing 51 for nine holes, he broke 70 at age 13 on eighteen holes.

He won the 1956 Ohio Open while only 16 and the US Amateur twice, in 1959 and 1961 – and in the 1960 open, he came in second only to Arnold Palmer. In the same year, Nicklaus was part of the team which won the Eisenhower Trophy, scoring a still-standing 269 four round score.

By 1962, Nicklaus was playing professionally, winning the US Open for the first time. His defeat of Arnold Palmer gave his immediate fame – he went on to win the Masters Tournament twice before the 1960s came to a close; although he would not win another US Open championship until 1970. The 1970s saw Nicklaus taking 9 other major titles, breaking Bobby Jones’ 13 title record. In 1986, Jack Nicklaus played and won his last major tournament, his 18th – and at 46, becoming the oldest player to do so.

In 1990, Nicklaus joined the PGA Senior tour. He would win 10 tournaments on the tour by 1996. Eight of these were major tournament wins, no less. His last appearance in a major tournament would be in 2005. Since then, he has stayed active in the golf world – designing courses, holding his own PGA tournament (the Memorial Tournament) and writing both autobiographies and instructional books – on how to play his way, of course.

Like his long-time rival Arnold Palmer, Nicklaus came to prominence as golf was beginning to be a televised sport. He quickly became one of the highest paid players, earning a then unheard of $60,000 in 1962; a year he would also win Rookie of the Year. 1963 was an even better year for Palmer as he captured the PGA and Masters championships.

In 1964, he won the British Open at St. Andrews and established a new record for lowest score in the last thirty-six holes-66-68. His Masters win in 1965 set a tourney record of 271-which stood until Tiger Woods shot 270 in 1997. In the 1968, The Golden Bear let his physical condition slip, which most felt affected his playing skills, but Jack improved in the fall of 1969 where he returned to top form. Sadly, he lost one of his biggest supporters and mentors, his father, Charlie Nicklaus in 1970.

Once asked about himself and his career during 1970, Nicklaus said, “I was playing good golf, but it really wasn’t that big a deal to me one way or the other. And then my father passed away and I sort of realized he had certainly lived his life through my golf game. I really hadn’t probably given him the best of that. So I sort of got myself back to work. So 1970 was an emotional one for me from that standpoint-it was a big boost.” Perhaps this is true, as Jack became known as the “Record Setter,” being the first golfer to win all four major tournaments twice in a career.

In 1974, the PGA Player of the Year was given to Nicklaus for the third time and he was among the first to be inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame. In 1975, he won his fifth Masters and his fourth PGA Championship. ABC named him Wide World of Sports Athlete of the Year. Again, at the top of the money list in 1976, he played what he liked to call, “hang-back-and-hope golf.” In 1986, he won his sixth Masters-again and unbelievably was still going strong. His 1978 British Open win gave him a place in golf history where he won each major championship three times-a record finally tied by Tiger Woods in 2008. His Senior Tour wins include The Tradition (four times), the Senior Players Championship, and the US Senior Open. Along with his 100th career win (The Tradition) in 1996, he and his four sons and son-in-law had 299 courses open in 2005, an impressive 1% of all the courses in the world. Jack Nicklaus is The Golden Bear for record breaking, his playing style, and his off-the-course achievements and will remain one of golf’s greatest players of all time.

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