Jack Nicklaus won a record 18 professional major championships. But he also finished second in
19 more majors! Yes, that's a record, too. That's a lot of runner-up finishes for the Golden Bear, and some of those second-places came in tournaments that are now legendary. Nicklaus himself wouldn't consider these "great" accomplishments, but he would appreciate the greatness of the moments in golf history. Here are the Top 5 Near-Misses in Majors by Jack Nicklaus:
Nicklaus and Tom Watson square off in "The Duel in the Sun" at Turnberry, perhaps the greatest one-on-one battle in golf history. Playing together the final two rounds, they play flawlessly. Nicklaus shoots 66-66, but Watson goes 66-65 to win by one. At the final hole, Nicklaus has a very long and difficult birdie putt while Watson is in close. "I think we've got him now," Watson's caddie said. "No, he's going to make this," Watson replied. Jack did, but Watson sank his short one for the win.
"That S.O.B. did it to me again," Nicklaus said of Tom Watson (in admiration, not anger) after the 1982 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach. Nicklaus was on the verge of a record-setting fifth U.S. Open, in the clubhouse with the lead. Watson, the only player who could beat Nicklaus, was in deep rough off the 17th green, a near-impossible chip. And Watson holed it. Nicklaus has called this his toughest loss.
Still an amateur (as he would be for another two years), Nicklaus finished alone in second with a score of 282, still the lowest score ever shot in a U.S. Open by an amateur. His 71 was OK, but Arnold Palmer scorched Cherry Hills with a 65, coming from 7 shots off the pace to nip Nicklaus by two. Nicklaus played the final round with
Ben Hogan, who said after the round, "Today, I played with the young man who should have won the U.S. Open."
Nicklaus began 1972, his
greatest year on the PGA Tour, by winning the first two majors, The Masters and U.S. Open. His dream of the Grand Slam was alive heading to the British Open. Nicklaus trailed Lee Trevino by six shots entering the fourth round at Muirfield, then posted a 66 to take the clubhouse lead. Trevino was in trouble on the 17th, but improbably chipped in for par. Another par on 18 and Trevino had stopped Nicklaus' Grand Slam quest by one stroke.
Lee Trevino was as much a nemesis to Nicklaus in the early '70s as Watson was in the late '70s and early '80s. Trevino and Nicklaus tangled in an 18-hole playoff at the U.S. Open in 1971, which Trevino won 68 to 71. This tournament is famous for the snake incident - on the first tee of the playoff, Trevino pulled a rubber snake from his bag. Contrary to legend, it wasn't a prank that unnerved Nicklaus. Both players had a good laugh and Nicklaus opened with a birdie.
