Welcome to The Masters on HooperstarGolfer.blogspot.co.uk
A unique series of blogs taking you inside the history of Golf''s First Major and looking ahead to the 2013 Masters, as well as providing updates on the play and reports from each day of the first major of the golf season.
I hope you enjoy the series which will publish articles each day between April 1 and 15 EXCLUSIVELY on www.HooperstarGolfer.blogspot.co.uk
All feedback is appreciated.
Enjoy.
Matt.
On the PGA Tour D.A. Points holed a clutch putt at the 72nd hole to win the weather-delayed Shell Houston Open late on Sunday night to secure his place at The Masters. Henrik Stenson finished in 2nd place to book his return to Augusta via the top 50 of the official world golf ranking.
On the European Tour Germany's Marcel Siem completed a wire-to-wire win at the Trophee Hassan II, the four-shot win looked to have secured his place at The Masters via the world rankings until Stenson's top 2 finish in Houston.
In other news Reeve Whitson of Royal County Down Golf Club secured his place in the Semi-Finals of the West of Ireland Amateur Championship, the Spanish Amateur Champion is looking for a second big win of the season and you can find out more about Reeve in a special blog coming on April 18.
For
37 years Tiger Woods has been on a quest to break the records of one
man; the man who has won more majors than anyone else, the man who
has won the joint most US Open championships ever, the man who has
won the joint most PGA Championships and won the third most Open
Championships by an American. He is the man though who has won
clearly the most green jackets, six Masters titles two more than the
next best of four by Arnold Palmer and Tiger Woods, The Masters
Tournament is Jack Nicklaus and Jack Nicklaus is The Masters
Tournament. Six wins over three decades at Augusta National,
culminating with his iconic come from behind win at the 1986
tournament, his first Major for six years and first Masters for
eleven.
While
it is fair to say that Arnold Palmer was more glamorous and
universally more popular than Nicklaus, Gary Player was more globally
appreciated and Seve was more revered and idolized, there can be no
doubt that the most respected golfer in the history of the game is
Jack Nicklaus. The wins and the records, the appreciation for golfers
of all levels and from all parts of the world made Nicklaus a
commanding figure within the game, being more modest than Palmer,
Player or Seve has earned him a level of respect and admiration from
golfers of all levels and especially within the professional game as
youngsters seek out the most successful golfer of all-time for advice
and encouragement.
Each
generation has its legendary golfer or golfers who the next
generation look up to and take attributes from to improve and aspire
to. Rory McIlroy looked up to Tiger Woods, Tiger Woods chased Jack
Nicklaus's records and for Nicklaus it was Bobby Jones who was the
idol, the icon he looked up to and chased his records which makes his
success at Augusta more relevant in that it is Bobby Jones who
founded the club in the 1930's.
Born
in Atlanta, Georgia Bobby Jones had a short but immensely successful
career at the top of the world of golf despite remaining amateur for
his entire career. Competing in the same era as Walter Hagen and Gene
Sarazen Jones won four U.S. Open and three Open Championships in
addition to five U.S. Amateur and one Amateur championship, 13 major
championships (7 professional) in 8 amazing years culminating in the
“Impregnable quadrilateral” or “Grand Slam” of 1930. Jones
and his friend Clifford Roberts hired Alister Mackenzie to build a
golf course in Augusta, Georgia in 1933 initially intending to bring
the U.S. Open down to the South, but when the USGA declined on the
grounds of the extreme heat during June in Georgia Jones and Roberts
came up with an idea to host their own tournament. And The Masters
Tournament was born.
Jones
was for Nicklaus what Nicklaus is for Tiger Woods today. His record
of 13 Major championships was the record which Jack hunted down from
the start and he is noted for saying that he considers himself to
have won 20 Majors as he counts his two U.S. Amateur titles as Major
championships and his similarities with Jones make it absolutely no
surprise that Nicklaus had the most success at Augusta National.
Because Jones valued the amateur golfer he invited amateurs to
compete in The Masters Tournament and gave them special accommodation
and status within the tournament, giving Jack Nicklaus, and later
Tiger Woods, the opportunity to play at Augusta and compete in a
Major prior to turning professional. Nicklaus won the 1959 U.S.
Amateur championship at the Broadmoor Golf Club in Colorado and the
1961 championship at Pebble Beach, these wins in addition to other
amateur achievements enabled Nicklaus to compete in the 1959, 1960
and 1961 Master Tournaments, finishing 13th and 7th
in 1960 and 1961 respectively. He turned professional in late 1961
and went on to finish in 15th place at the 1962 Masters
before his major breakthrough at Oakmont in the U.S. Open, Nicklaus
defeated the man who would become a rival, colleague and friend in an
18-hole play-off by 3 shots.
Arnold
Palmer was the leading figure in golf following the end of the Ben
Hogan era and had won 30 tournaments including 4 Majors prior to Jack
Nicklaus turning professional and in April 1962 won his fifth major
and third green jacket in the first major Nicklaus competed in as a
professional. In the same period Gary Player won over 30 tournaments
worldwide including 2 Majors and they would soon be joined by
Nicklaus in arguably the greatest triumvirate of golfers or sportsmen
ever seen and “The Big Three” would dominate Augusta National for
a decade.
With
Palmer winning in '60 and '62 and Gary Player winning in '61 they
were the guys Nicklaus knew he had to beat and in 1963 it was time
for the youngster to break through and fulfill the potential he showed
as an Amateur. With four Masters appearances under his belt playing
in The Masters at Augusta under the watchful eye of Bobby Jones was
not daunting for the 23-year-old, and despite starting with a
2-over-par round of 74 he showed his immense talent by bouncing back
with a six-under-par 66 which formed the basis for his first Masters
win and second career Major win. The conditions were blustery and
difficult all week at Augusta but were near perfect on Friday and it
was then Nicklaus took advantage and made his power count with
birdies at 7, 8, 12, 13, 15 and 17, his lowest round of his fledgling
career at Augusta. However he was still trailing Mike Souchak by a
shot.
Following
wind on Thursday, sun on Friday the weather turned decidedly murky on
the weekend, making the course play long and scoring was at a
premium, but playing with the confidence of a U.S. Open win under his
belt Nicklaus didn't let the conditions affect his focus and
minimized the damage on Saturday to post 74 and sit three shots clear
of Tony Lema on 2-under-par. On the final day Lema shot a 2-under-par
70 and Nicklaus came to the 72nd hole requiring par to win
outright, 2 putts from 35 feet secured the title. Nicklaus had won
for the first time at Augusta in just his second start as a
professional in the tournament and had announced to the world, and to
Palmer and Player, that he was a major force in the world of golf. With
each of the big three having won once or more in the last four
Masters tournaments and Palmer dominating the field in 1964, winning
by 6, the scene was set for the 1965 Masters and the pinnacle of this
great global golfing rivalry.
Coming
into the 1965 Masters Tournament Arnold Palmer had won 7 Majors, Gary
Player had lifted 3 and Jack Nicklaus had also been victorious 3
times on the grandest stage in golf, 11 of these wins had come in the
16 matches preceding the 1965 Masters establishing the trio as
without question golf's greatest of the time. Of course so often in
sport when you build something up you are left disappointed, but the
1965 Masters did not leave us wanting more, it was arguably one of
the greatest majors ever played and it is somewhat surprising that it
doesn't get referred to that often as such.
Gary
Player surged into a two-stroke lead with a sensational 7-under-par
65 and Nicklaus posted a 5-under-par 67, with Arnold Palmer starting
off slowly with a 2-under-par 70. In round two Player stumbled to a
1-over-par 73, Nicklaus added a 1-under-par 71 and Palmer moved into
the picture with a 4-under-par 68 and the 50,000 fans who came to
Augusta that week had been treated to a dream couple of days which
culminated in the three greatest golfers of the time being tied for
the lead going into the weekend. Can you imagine the hype if Tiger
Woods, Rory McIlroy and Phil Mickelson enter the weekend at the 2013
Masters tied for the lead? And then can you imagine Tiger stamping
his authority on the other two with a sensational third round to take
control of the tournament? Well in 1965 that was exactly how it
panned out with Jack Nicklaus shooting a record-equalling low round
of 64 to blow away the other contenders, stretching out to a five
shot lead over Gary Player and establishing a new record-low 54-hole
total of 202 at The Masters Tournament.
This
was the confirmation if it was needed that while Palmer was
universally more popular than Nicklaus the Ohioan had a golf game
that was just a level above Palmer and Player, the first signs of
what was to come for Jack Nicklaus over the next 20 years at Augusta
and around the world. With the rest of the field having to push and
be aggressive on Sunday Nicklaus would have been excused for playing
defensive golf but he posted a fine 69 to go further under par and
break yet more records on his way to a second green jacket and an
astonishing victory over his greatest rivals. He posted 17-under for
the four rounds, the lowest aggregate ever at Augusta, and played the
final two rounds in an amazing 11-under-par to win by 9 strokes from
Palmer and Player, the greatest winning margin ever at The Masters.
In
1966 England was gripped by World Cup fever but in golf was in the
vice-like grip of Jack Nicklaus, he won a third green jacket in an
18-hole play-off by two strokes from Tommy Jacobs and eight from Gay
Brewer and then at a brutal Muirfield the “Golden Bear” completed
the career grand slam by winning The Open Championship by the
narrowest of margins from Doug Sanders and Dave Thomas, posting
2-under-par on a course where only three players broke par for the
four rounds. Jack Nicklaus had joined Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan and
Gary Player as the only players to have won all four professional
majors in their career, and he did it in just under five years after
turning professional.
It
would be six years before Nicklaus next slipped into the green jacket
but in between he won three further Major Championships to take his
total to nine, matching Gary Player and moving two ahead of Arnold
Palmer. The 1972 Masters would set Nicklaus up for a shot at the
calendar year Grand Slam, claiming another green jacket with a
2-under-par total on a long course in difficult conditions finishing
as the only player under par and winning by three strokes from
Weiskopf, Bobby Mitchell and Bruce Crampton. Crampton would feature
in the next major in 1972 at the Pebble Beach Golf Links, winning the
race for second place as Nicklaus won by another three shot margin on
the course which he won a second U.S. Amateur title, the championship
would be remembered for the spectacular 1-iron he hit at the par
three seventeenth that struck the pin to set up a birdie. Nicklaus
arrived at Muirfield, the site of his first Open Championship in
1966, as the overwhelming favourite to win an 11th Major,
2nd Open and third leg of the Grand Slam and once again it
was a battle royal for the championship.
Lee
Trevino was among a group of new stars rising to challenge Nicklaus
having won three majors coming into the 1972 Open as a serious
contender, along with the 1969 Open and 1970 US Open champion Tony
Jacklin, the trio were to serve up a classic Open Championship around
arguably the fairest test of all Major courses. Tony Jacklin started
the best shooting a 2-under-par 69 to sit in second place one stroke
behind the unheralded Peter Tupling, one ahead of Nicklaus and two
ahead of Gary Player and Lee Trevino. The second day would see
Trevino move into a tie for the lead with Jacklin at 1-under for the
championship and Nicklaus, Player, Miller and Sanders were all tied
at level par just one behind setting up a sensational final two
rounds. A leaderboard which began bunched as ten players were covered
by two strokes was stretched by the outstanding duel which Trevino
and Jacklin had in the third round as the “Merry Mex” shot a five
under par 66 to the Englishman's four under round of 67, by contrast
Nicklaus had seemingly blown the grand slam with a level par 71 to
sit six off the lead with 18 holes to play.
The
final round was one of the all-time classic finishes to a Major with
Nicklaus charging to a 66, Jacklin faltering to a 1-over-par 72 and
Trevino narrowly edging out the pair by one and two shots
respectively with a level par 71. Nicklaus's 66 was a course
record-equalling score but he played the final three holes in one
over par to miss out on a play-off with Trevino, while Jacklin
suffered a devastating three-putt bogey at the 17th which
was countered by the now iconic pitch-in by Lee Trevino. Nicklaus's
Grand Slam dream was over but he would get over the defeat quickly by
winning the 1973 PGA Championship before another double-major winning
season in 1975, beginning with a now legendary battle on the second
nine at Augusta with Johnny Miller and Tom Weiskopf.
Weiskopf
held the 54-hole lead at 9-under with Nicklaus one back on 8-under
and Miller four back on 5-under and the trio were to star in another
classic major finish with Nicklaus coming out on top once again.
Having bogeyed the first hole to fall 2 shots behind Weiskopf Jack
made birdies at the 2nd, 3rd, 5th
and 9th to reach 11-under and tie Weiskopf for the lead,
two ahead of Johnny Miller who made five birdies on the first nine to
reach 9-under. Miller and Weiskopf bogeyed the 11th to
fall three and one stroke behind Nicklaus with seven holes to play,
and a birdie for Miller on the 13th meant that the three
protagonists were separated by just two strokes with five holes
remaining. A mistake by Nicklaus at the 14th saw him fall
to 10-under and Weiskopf birdied the same hole to take the outright
lead and still two strokes covered the leading trio. All three made
birdies at the par five fifteenth hole to set up a truly thrilling
final three holes, and Nicklaus produced another iconic Masters
moment with a forty-foot putt at the 16th to take a one
stroke lead following Weiskopf's bogey on the same hole, but the
title was not Jack's yet. Miller birdied the 17th hole to
tie Weiskopf at 11-under and set the clubhouse target for Nicklaus
and Weiskopf to beat, the pair made par at the 72nd and
Nicklaus won by one to clinch a record fifth green jacket in dramatic
fashion on a Sunday never to be forgotten.
17
Major Championship wins. An astonishing record which was 6 better
than Walter Hagen's 11 professional major titles, a record which made
Jack Nicklaus by far and away the most successful golfer ever to walk
the earth, but even following this amazing career record Nicklaus
wanted more. And despite winning further PGA Tour titles in 1982 and
1984 his career at the top level seemed to have come to an end, so
much that a journalist wrote that “Nicklaus was washed up”. The
hadn't reckoned on one more magical Masters moment from Jack William
Nicklaus.
I
am not going to go into the 1986 Masters in detail because it is the
most famous Major Championship ever played. Norman, Ballesteros, Kite
and Price battled on the back nine and from nowhere Nicklaus comes
charging through to win with a second nine thirty. A sixth green
jacket and an eighteenth Major Championship, 23 years after his first
Masters win and 24 years after his first Major win, adding to the
incredible list of achievements by the greatest golfer ever.
Following
the dramatics of 1986 Nicklaus would be spurred on to contend for the
title again in 1987, 1990 and 1998 as well as recording top 25
finishes in 1988 and 1989, he didn't do anything in any of the other
majors but Augusta was different. Augusta was special. Augusta was
Jack Nicklaus's home from home, or so it seemed.
In
2005 he made his final appearance at the two majors which most people
will associated Nicklaus with. On a glorious sunny Friday in St
Andrews in front of a record one-day crowd over 50,000 fans at the
Home of Golf he birdied the 18th hole to rapturous
applause and cheers from the British fans, bringing to an end his
professional career at the course most people can identify him with
after Augusta. That April though Nicklaus brought the curtain down on
his competitive association with the golf course that has defined his
career. 45 appearances in Golf's First Major which included 22 top
ten finishes, only 7 missed cuts and 6 remarkable wins.
His
unrivalled record at Augusta with a string of tournament records and
the six wins made Nicklaus just as associated with Augusta as his
hero Bobby Jones, and this status was recognized by the Augusta
National Golf Club in 2010 when Jack was invited to join Arnold
Palmer as honorary starter for The Masters Tournament, Gary Player
joined them in 2012 to complete The Big Three's return to Augusta to
perform a role that the legends of every era have performed.
In
the autumn of 2010 Augusta National Golf Club sold the television
rights in the UK for all four rounds of The Masters Tournament to Sky
Sports and for its promotion of its coverage the broadcaster signed
Jack Nicklaus for advertising on its Sky Sports channels and to give
expert comments on the Thursday and Sunday of its coverage. Nicklaus
returned in 2012 and joined Sky at the 2012 US Open at the Olympic
Club and the 2012 Ryder Cup at Medinah in the same role, and in 2013
the 6-time Masters champion has featured prominently in advertising
ahead of The Masters and will return to the Sky studio by the driving
range for both Thursday and Sunday as Sky lead the way in coverage of
Golf's First Major.
So
in addition to performing his role as honorary starter Jack Nicklaus
will be a part of millions of people's Masters via television. The
Masters Tournament is Jack Nicklaus and Jack Nicklaus is The Masters
Tournament.
Tomorrow on
The Masters on HooperstarGolfer.blogspot.co.uk
– Sensational Seve
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