Bobby Jones, after the first time Jones had seen Jack Nicklaus play golf at Augusta National.
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| One for all ages |
You don’t need to buy into the Masters Golf Tournament being the high holy day of the golf world. You needn’t worry that the gentlemen running the show in Augusta might evict you as a commentator on the CBS telecast because you said the "greens were so slick, it’s like they’ve been bikini-waxed." That actually happened to Gary McCord a few years back.
What any true fan of sports and game competition knows is that what Jack Nicklaus did at Augusta National in the 1986 Masters was one of the greatest performances of all time anyone had ever seen in any sporting event, and it was there for anyone to see, and now we can watch it again, or maybe for the first time?
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| Jack at 19 years of age |
Jack was the best golfer the world had ever seen, but he was 46 years old, and hadn’t won a major golf tournament since the 1980 US Open. He hadn’t won at all in 2 years, and knew he was about at the end of being a true contender in most tournaments he played. He couldn’t even see the flight of the ball after he hit it sometimes, and was beginning to suffer from a number of other aches and pains a lot of guys in their late-40’s get.
No one gave him a chance to win.
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| '75 was the last Masters win |
The details of how it all happened that afternoon have been better told than I could perhaps ever hope to do, but I can tell you that watching the last 3 hours of the telecast that day was surreal. Even a bogie at number 12 was just a small hiccup after he played the last 6 holes at 5-under par.
The increasing crowd roars and cheers must have frightened some of the other golfers, or at least given them plenty of pause? I can truly say that what happened that afternoon sent more chills down my body than anything I have ever seen in a sporting event in my life. And again, this was not a ‘moment’ in time – it was three hours of drama that would be laughed at, if written in a script.
The men that run the tournament won’t allow anyone on the telecast to refer to the folks attending the tournament to call them a crowd or a mob. They must be referred to as "patrons," or the "gallery," and the number of patrons is limited to 20,000 per day. Getting a ticket to see the tournament is one of the most prized tickets in all of sports. One must get on a waiting list to have a chance to get a ticket to a practice round. That day, that afternoon, all 20,000 patrons and 99.9% of the millions watching on TV were riveted to the most stunning display they’ll probably ever see, and all of us were cheering for him.
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| Arnie and Jack |
He hit his tee shot on 16, the par 3 over the pond that extends from tee to green, and without checking the flight of the ball, leaned over to retrieve his tee. His son Jackie was caddying for him, and Jackie said "Be right!" It’s a classic golf phrase.
Jack said "It is."
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| It truly was surreal |
It missed by inches of going in the hole for an ace, but the birdie was a given by then. Another birdie at 17 became the signature photograph of the tournament, when Jack rolled it in. He finished with a (then) record 30 on the back nine and left up to others to fall short, and the best golfers in the world complied.
Jack was back, and still phat.
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