St Andrews revisited: Jack Nicklaus
This week's Open marks the 150th year since the tournament began as play returns to St Andrews, where some of the most unforgettable competitions in the history of the major have taken place. All this week, we revisit some of the greatest moments at the Old Course.
Jack Nicklaus
Nicklaus won his second Open Championship, and his eighth major in all, at St Andrews in 1970. He had first won the major in 1966, when the competition had taken place at Muirfield.
He would win again at St Andrews in 1978, and it's testament to Nicklaus's incredible record that his three wins at the British tournament was his weakest at the majors, the Golden Bear having won the Masters six times, the PGA Championship on five occasions and the US Open four times.
But Nicklaus nonetheless had an enviable history at the Open, having finished as runner-up on seven occasions, and ending in the top five some 16 times. His rivalry with Arnold Palmer and Gary Player had also stimulated renewed interest in the competition, which had been in danger of losing some relevance after a number of American stars had eschewed the tournament in previous years.
The victory in 1970, however, came after another player's heinous error had given Jack a reprieve. Nicklaus and Doug Sanders had been duelling one another throughout the final round, the pair each beginning the day two strokes behind leader Lee Trevino. Trevino flagged, however, and as the round neared its climax Sanders needed only to par the final hole in order to best Nicklaus.
Yet after manoeuvring himself into a position where he required only a three-foot putt to claim victory, Sanders missed the relatively simple putt, thus dooming himself to an additional 18-hole play-off with Nicklaus.
Not that Sanders rolled over and died the following day, keeping pace with arguably golf's greatest-ever player right up to the finish - when Nicklaus made a birdie putt on the 18th to win by a single stroke. In doing so, Nicklaus had ended a barren patch of three years without a victory - no wonder that he flung his club in the air in sheer joy.
The win in 1978 was still more gratifying, at least to Nicklaus himself, who referred to his play over the course of the competition as the best four days of golf he had ever produced. Nicklaus also professed himself delighted that such play had occurred at St Andrews, describing the course as his favourite place to play.
At one time or another at the '78 Open any of the bigger names looked like they could win, with Tom Watson looking particularly dangerous. Watson had bested Nicklaus the year before at Turnberry in the famous "duel in the sun" but, as the tournament progressed, the Bear's chief rival turned out to be an unheralded New Zealander named Simon Owen.
Owen pursued Nicklaus right through the final day until the 15th, where a chip shot saw the Kiwi take the lead. But Owen lost his nerve on the 16th, overshooting the green with his approach shot to finish with a bogey, as Nicklaus birdied the same hole.
Now came the the 17th, the infamous road hole; Nicklaus had bogeyed this notorious hole on each of his previous three rounds, but he managed to retain control at this crucial stage, making par and following that up with another par on the 18th to win by two strokes, as Owen bogeyed the 17th and saw his chance to take a major turn to dust.
The New Zealander would never come as close as this again, and only ever won two European Tour events, but in 1978 he had succeeded in giving the then greatest player in the world a real fight for the Claret Jug. Nicklaus never won the Open again, but three wins, two of them coming at St Andrews, would have been enough to secure the American's legendary status in the game, even without all of his other fantastic achievements.
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