Thirty years ago, in the week leading up to the 50th Masters, Jack Nicklaus was pronounced dead before arrival at Augusta National.
A respected golf writer in Atlanta dismissed him as a has-been, saying Nicklaus “is gone, done” and “doesn’t have the game anymore.” Other media were changing his nickname from the Golden Bear to the derisive Olden Bear. After all, Nicklaus was 46, hadn’t won a major in six years, a PGA Tour event in two years and missed the cut in three of his seven tournaments that year.
Even though Nicklaus had won five green jackets among his 17 career majors, there was no reason to give him much of a chance in the 1986 Masters.
“I kind of agreed,” he said that week. “I got to thinking: ‘Hmmm. Done; through; washed up.’”
But when one of his close friends taped that Atlanta newspaper article to the refrigerator in the home he was renting in Augusta during tournament week, Nicklaus tried to use the insults to fuel his competitive fire.
Well, nice try, but he went out and shot 74-71 in the first two rounds and trailed 36-hole leader Seve Ballesteros by six shots heading into the weekend. After a respectable 69 in the third round, on a day when Nick Price shot a course-record 63, Nicklaus was tied for ninth – four shots behind leader Greg Norman, who was trying to hold off serious contenders such as Ballesteros, Price, Tom Kite, Tom Watson and Bernhard Langer. Nicklaus seemed even more of an afterthought after he missed two 4-foot putts on the front nine Sunday and fell five shots behind Norman through eight holes.
All of this is being remembered this month, which marks the 30th anniversary of Nicklaus’ stunning, historic and heart-pounding upset victory in the ’86 Masters. It was one for the ages (or aged?) and one of the greatest feats in golf history, ranking with Bobby Jones’ grand slam in 1930, the Tiger Slam in 2000-2001 and 20-year-old amateur Frances Ouimet’s shocking win in the 1913 U.S. Open.
If you were an avid golf fan, you know where you were when Nicklaus made his famous back-nine charge on the way to winning his record sixth Masters and record 18th major. All he had to do to become the oldest Masters winner was go 7 under over his final 10 holes to finish one shot ahead of Norman and Kite.
Thirty years later, Nicklaus is still being asked about that day – and he doesn’t mind one bit. I went to Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks last month, where Nicklaus was hitting the ceremonial first tee shot at the course he designed and recently redesigned to hear him reminisce about another milestone anniversary of his most memorable achievement in golf.
“Every year is an anniversary,” he said, laughing. “You can make whatever you want out of an anniversary – whether it’s 20 or 30 years ago. It seems like they just did the 25-year (anniversary) yesterday.”
And, once again, he’s being inundated by questions everywhere he goes.
“I think that’s very flattering and kind of nice to have people say, ‘I remember where I was’ and have me talk about what I did,” Nicklaus said. “I think it keeps me relevant to what’s going on.”
Does he have a favorite story related to that Sunday comeback?
“I know one of my best friends was staying with us (in Augusta) that year, and he left about 3 o’clock (on Sunday, just after the leaders teed off) and he got on the airplane not knowing what had happened,” Nicklaus recalled. “So he wasn’t real happy.”
Because his comeback began so late in the round, I asked Nicklaus when he started to believe he had a chance to win.
“I was four shots back starting the round, even par for the first eight holes and then birdied (No.) 9,” he said. “I felt like I was in a pretty decent position if I played a good back nine. Of course, I wasn’t expecting to shoot 30.”
He smirked, still reveling in the memories three decades later – especially the roars that reverberated through the pines after every birdie he made down the stretch.
“Started my run by making birdie at 9 (downhill 11-footer), then birdied 10 (25-footer), birdied 11 (20-footer), then birdied 13 (two putts from 40 feet), then the eagle at 15 (4-iron from 202 yards to 12 feet), birdied 16 (a 3-footer after a near ace) and birdied 17 (18-footer),” he said, ticking off his back-nine highlights as if they had just happened. “You know, it adds up pretty quickly.”
“It was a fun experience,” he continued. “It was a really neat day.”
Fun for us, too, and a day we’ll always remember.
