Nicklaus' '86 victory is frozen in time
Jack Nicklaus is 20 years removed from his stirring victory in the Masters Tournament, yet it still resonates with the public.
It was one of those monumental events in which people remember where they were when Nicklaus was rolling over Augusta National Golf Club's back nine on his way to a victory for the ages in the 1986 Masters.
Even today, Nicklaus says he's stopped by fans who tell him exactly what they were doing late Sunday afternoon April 13, 1986, when he won his sixth and final Masters title at age 46.
One man told Nicklaus that his wife "was yelling" at him to go somewhere during Nicklaus' charge through the back nine. The man proudly told Nicklaus he wouldn't budge from his seat in front of the television.
"I've had thousands of people tell me that story," Nicklaus said.
THE VICTORY IS considered one of the greatest Masters tournaments. Nicklaus is still the oldest winner at Augusta National. Billy Mayfair, who will participate in his 10th Masters this year, was a sophomore at Arizona State when he watched Nicklaus roll back the years.
"I still have the tape from it," Mayfair said. "What he did was very impressive. Being 46 years old and coming back and winning that thing."
Nicklaus was not supposed to be a factor in the tournament. It had been 11 years since his fifth Masters crown, and nearly two years since he'd won on the PGA Tour. Going into the Masters, he'd missed the cut in three of his seven starts and withdrew from another.
Ernie Els watched the tournament in his native South Africa with his father.
"You know, as a 15-year-old, you think a 46-year-old is too old to win," Els said. "So I was watching, and it kind of was like watching an old boxer like Muhammad Ali fight Larry Holmes, and you hope he's going to beat the guy, but you think he's going to get the crap beat out of him."
Recalled Nicklaus: "It was Tom McCollister (the late golf writer for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution) who had written that I was done, washed up, clubs were rusty, whatever he said."
In a Masters preview article handicapping the field, McCollister had written, "Nicklaus is gone, done. He just doesn't have the game anymore. It's rusted from lack of use. He's 46, and nobody that old wins the Masters."
Nicklaus proved he still had a champion's heart.
"It was like, you know, that I can still summon what I had back in the past and still could use it," Nicklaus said. "And still could use it coming down the stretch.
"That was special to me, and I think it was special too, I suppose, to the golfing world in many ways because they just didn't expect that to happen."
It was the last of Nicklaus' 18 professional major championships, and the one with the most vivid details in his mind.
"I've been asked about it 4,000 times, plus I see it on TV, so it refreshes my memory," he said.
Indeed, highlights of the 1986 Masters are a staple of The Golf Channel's programing.
"That was exciting stuff," Els said. "They can show that on the Golf Channel every day instead of all that other stuff they show."
IN 1986, NICKLAUS opened with rounds of 74-71-69 and trailed Greg Norman by four shots going into the final round. Few still took Nicklaus seriously, but he knew better.
"When I got to Augusta, I started hitting the ball better," he said. "Augusta always sort of inspired me."
It all started for Nicklaus on No. 9, where a birdie pulled him within five shots. He then birdied Nos. 10 and 11 but bogeyed No. 12.
"I think that bogey might have been something really good for me, because it brought me back to the reality that, you know, that I've still got golf to play," Nicklaus said. "I'm not really in contention yet."
A birdie on No. 13 and a par on No. 14 moved Nicklaus within two shots of the lead.
After his drive to the top of the hill on the par-5 15th hole, he surveyed the 200-plus yards to a water-guarded green. He turned to his oldest son, Jack II, his caddie that year.
"I said, 'How far do you think a 3 (an eagle) will go here,' and I said, 'I don't mean club.' He knew what I meant. He said, 'I think it will go a long way, Pops.'"
Nicklaus knocked his second shot within 12 feet of the hole and made the eagle putt. But he was still two behind Seve Ballesteros.
On the par-3 16th, a hole that played a role in other Nicklaus victories at Augusta National, he hit 5-iron from the tee.
"As soon as it left the club, I knew exactly where it was," Nicklaus said. "I knew the ball had a chance to go in the hole. I just reached down and picked up my tee and Jackie said, 'Be right.' And I didn't even pay much attention. I said, 'It is.' It was kind of a cocky remark that I made that I don't normally make, but I had so much confidence in what was going on that that's what I did."
Just as Nicklaus had thought, the ball almost went in the hole. When he made the four-foot birdie putt, the crowd exploded.
"The place went wild," Nicklaus said. "And you know, it's kind of fun to go to a place and have it be wild again. It had kind of been a few years since I'd seen any of that."
Before Nicklaus teed off on No. 17, Ballesteros dumped his second shot into the water on No. 15 to make bogey and fall into a tie with Nicklaus.
"It put me in position, knowing that I was right there at the time," Nicklaus said.
On the par-4 17th hole, Nicklaus hit a wedge shot into the green, leaving him a tricky 12-foot birdie putt for the outright lead.
"We walked up on the green, and I looked at Jackie and he said, 'Dad, it's going to go right.' I said, 'I know it's going to go right, Jack, but I think it's going to come back left at the hole because Rae's Creek is going to have an influence at the end of that putt.'"
As the ball rolled into the cup, Nicklaus lifted his putter to the sky with his left hand, then stuck out and bit his tongue. It is one of the most famous photographs in golf history.
"I've putted that putt a thousand times since, and it's never broken left again," Nicklaus said.
A two-putt par on No. 18 capped his round of 65, which he said afterward "may be as fine a round of golf as I ever played."
As he walked up the hill from the 18th green to the scorer's tent, Nicklaus gave his caddie-son a bear hug.
"It's a great picture; I love that picture watching the two of us walk off," Nicklaus said.
Nicklaus retired to the nearby Jones Cabin to see the finish on television. He watched as Tom Kite missed a 10-foot birdie putt that would have forced a playoff.
In the final group, Greg Norman needed a par to force a playoff. But Norman, who had made four birdies in a row, blew his second shot into the right gallery and missed a 10-footer to tie.
"When Greg missed his putt, then obviously the tournament was over, and it was kind of a blur after that," Nicklaus said.
NICKLAUS, 66, PLAYED his final Masters in 2005 and retired from competitive golf in July after the British Open.
For this week's tournament, Nicklaus plans to attend the Champions Dinner on Tuesday night and "might play" in Wednesday's Par-3 Contest. But he said he'll be "long gone" by Thursday's first round.
As the 20th anniversary of his final victory at Augusta National approached, Nicklaus received so many interview requests that he decided to hold a news conference.
It took place at his course, the Bear's Club, in Jupiter, Fla., in mid-March.
"That's the only thing I have anymore," Nicklaus said that day. "I don't have anything to look forward to as it relates to (tournament) golf. I'm spending most of my time answering questions, looking back, not looking forward. So, I enjoy it. I don't think there's any question about enjoying it."
Reach David Westin at (706) 724-0851 or david.westin @augustachronicle.com.
