Jack Nicklaus

1217 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Golf psychology essay

Jack Nicklaus
For the past 30 years, Jack Nicklaus has been considered by many to be the greatest golfer of all time(1). His stamina has matched that of Arnold Palmer, and only the likes of Ben Hogan, Byron Nelson, Bobby Jones, and Tiger Woods are to be considered players in Nicklaus' league. In numbers of major tournaments won, Nicklaus stands alone with 18 victories(1), a number that does not include major titles won on the Champions Tour. He has won 73 times on the PGA Tour and has 58 second-place and 36 third-place finishes, as well as a total of 113 victories worldwide.(1) Nicklaus has finished top PGA Tour money winner 8 times and has also held the tour's low-scoring average eight times.(1) He was named the PGA's Player of the Year in 1967, 1972, 1973, 1975, and 1976, and Golf magazine in 1988 named him the "Player of the Century."(1) In his career on the PGA Tour, Jack Nicklaus has proven to be one of the best golfers in the history of the game, and has shown a true love for the sport since childhood on until his old age.
Nicklaus began playing golf at the age of 10 in his hometown of Columbus, Ohio(7). He shot a 51 on the first nine holes he ever played.(2) At the age of 13, he broke 70 and held a three handicap.(2) Tutored by club pro Jack Grout, Nicklaus showed real
Page 1 potential early on for tournament play and he dominated local and national junior golf events as well as going on to capture two U.S. Amateur Championships in 1959 and 1961.(1) By the time he turned pro in November, 1961, he had established himself as the country's greatest amateur golfer while at the same time giving the professionals a scare. He finished runner-up to Arnold Palmer by only two strokes in the 1960 U.S. Open, and was a fourth-place finisher in the 1961 U.S. Open(1).
In 1962, at the Oakmont Country Club outside of Pittsburgh, Nicklaus beat Arnold Palmer in a playoff to win the U.S. Open(1). Palmer's millions of diehard fans and the huge crowd of gallery members, called Arnie's Army(9), that followed their hero from tee to green, were crushed by their hero's loss. The Nicklaus victory went down as one of the most unpopular the world of golf had ever known(9).
Nicklaus's mind, even more than his great natural talent and long-ball swing, was the key to his success. He rarely made a poor decision in a tournament and never second-guessed himself. One of t...

... middle of paper ...

...Woods, who claims Jack is his
Page 4

“idol”.(4) Jack Nicklaus doesn’t play the kind of golf he was once able to, but he still never fails to disappoint his fans, such as when he recorded a hole-in-one in 2003 at the Senior British Open. (1) The mark he has left on the game of golf is undeniable and indisputable, and he will certainly be remembered as one of the greatest to ever play the game for generations to come.

Page 5

Works Cited
1. www.pgatour.com
2. www.nicklaus.com/nicklausfacts/
3. The Volume Library, Book II. Copyright 1999, Southwestern Company, Nashville, TN
4. Woods, Tiger. Tiger Woods: How I Play Golf Time Warner Publishing, 2001
5. www.encarta.com
6. www.nicklausmuseum.org
7. www.golfeurope.com
8. www.golf.about.com
9. Sportscentury: Jack Nicklaus; ESPN documentary

Page 6

Show More
Related

  • Cal Ripken Jr.

    548 Words  | 2 Pages

    Cal Ripken, Jr., was the perfect baseball player. He would play when he had the flu and even when he had a sprained ankle.

    Read More

  • Wayne Gretzky

    647 Words  | 2 Pages

    He has set just about every record in the NHL, or gave the holder a good fight, and has skills in every aspect of the game, not just those of a forward. Wayne has received countless amounts of awards from most goals scored in a season, to the most gentlemanly player award, which no other player has even come close to obtaining, and he has won more championships and Stanley Cups than anyone has ever needed to. He is, and always will be, "The Great One", Wayne Gretzky.

    Read More

  • Dayton Country Clubs

    1272 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Dayton Country Club was established in 1897 as the Dayton Golf Club. It is the reported as the oldest continuously operating club west of the Alleghenies. The clubhouse is said to be the “poshest” buildings among all the clubs in Dayton after 1929 when it was rebuilt. In that year, the Dayton Country Clubhouse was greatly damaged by a fire after the boiler in the building overheated. The golf course was the first one designed by Donald Ross in Dayton, Ohio. In 1948, the course was remodeled by William Diddel of Indianapoli...

    Read More

  • Arnold Palmer Research Paper

    891 Words  | 2 Pages

    In 1955 he won his first big tournament, the Canadian Open, earning $2,400 as the top prize. He continued to add wins over the next few years, winning three in 1956 and then adding four more victories in 1957. But he would have to wait for the major that he wanted until the 1958 Masters Tournament in Augusta, Georgia. A victory in this tournament gets your name in golf's book of legends, but Palmer was just getting

    Read More

  • Ted Williams

    1389 Words  | 3 Pages

    He had one of the game's most glorious seasons in 1941, hitting for an average of .406 at the age of twenty three. He is the last player to accomplish this feat. Nevertheless, he lost out on the most valuable player award that year to Joe DiMaggio, who had posted his 56 game hitting streak that same year. He most likely lost this MVP award because of his lack of respect and his arrogance to many of the sports writers and media, who are the ones who vote for the winner ( Nightingale).

    Read More

  • Pete Rose

    1969 Words  | 4 Pages

    He spent most of his 24-year career playing with the Reds, Rose also played with the Phillies and the Expos. In 1985, Rose broke one of the most “unbreakable” records of all time, by passing out Ty Cobb for the most career hits ever (Sports Illustrated). Rose holds many records, some of which are: most games played, most at bats, and most singles by a major league baseball player.... ... middle of paper ...

    Read More

  • The Accomplishments Of Jack Nicklaus

    953 Words  | 2 Pages

    Golf is a sport of fun shots, and frustration shots. One of the best players ever to play the sport was Jack Nicklaus. Nicklaus had many accomplishments in golf and even though I will not mention all of his accomplishments I will mention some of the most important. Jack won six Masters Tournaments, the Masters is the biggest golf tournament of the whole year, and he won his sixth Masters at the age of forty-six! He won seventy-three PGA tour wins and eighteen majors, meaning that he won either the U.S. open, the Open Championship, the Masters Tournament, or the PGA Championship eighteen times! Jack even won PGA tour player of the year five times! Jack’s accomplishments are very good but we have to start at the beginning.

    Read More

  • Augusta National Golf Course

    400 Words  | 1 Pages

    The main reason Augusta National is the greatest American golf course comes from its natural beginnings. Originally the property the golf course stands on was Fruitland Nurseries. From 1858 until 1918 this company imported many trees and plants from around the world to decorate the landscape. Golfing legend Bobby Jones discovered this land after retiring in 1930 and chose it as the location for his dream golf course. To pay homage to the ground’s history, every hole is named for a different plant found on each hole.

    Read More

  • Tiger Woods

    619 Words  | 2 Pages

    Tiger now lives in a new home in Isleworth, Florida. Near the west side of

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Tiger Woods

    785 Words  | 2 Pages

    One would ask the question, who is the greatest golfer of all time? The common answer would be simple, Tiger Woods. He would not compete in a tournament unless he was sure he could win it. Most people view Golf as a boring, old man’s game and

    Read More

  • The Book Sex Sells!

    1464 Words  | 3 Pages

    Advertisers use whatever they can to attract the reader. From a sexual appealing look to a word. One of the most helpful approaches is sex of course which can capture anyone's attention. The ad for Opium perfume depicts a young brunet that has nicely shaped body and wears nothing but golden slippers, necklace and bracelet. Model is laying down seeming like she is enjoying herself and maybe experiencing orgasm. Again in Dolce & Gabbana ad, we see man and woman having passionate foreplay; with one hand he is pulling her bra strap down while with other touching her breast … and she is taking her panties off. In this ad, the naked female body and idea of sex is used to get the image of their product into the reader's memory. "Newsweek…wrote: The strategy is that, while the consumer studies the picture, the designer's name melts into the brain. And a big part of the message that was melting in was sexual." (Streitmatter, pp. 123) Anyhow, both ads use sexual attention to grab reader's attention. This is exactly what Calvin Klein had intended he wanted to "make sure, first and foremost, that anyone who was thumbing through the pages of a magazine would stop and look at the ads.

    Read More

  • History of Golf

    1822 Words  | 4 Pages

    Imagine the sun bursting through the trees for the first time of the new day, the smell of freshly cut grass still potent to your nose as you tee the ball up for a round of golf in the cool mist of a spring morning. "That is what brings you back every time, the smell of the air, the coolness of the whether and the beautiful surroundings that make every shot enjoyable." (Suess, PI) This is the game of golf in its finest and most exquisite time to many people and many people it has touched in its long history. Golf is a lifestyle and not just games to people that are avid in playing. The game of golf has a history that is rich in technological advances and personal accomplishments, which through time has shown to shape the sport into what it has become today.

    Read More

  • What Is Golf Essay

    957 Words  | 2 Pages

    You work like hell. But you learn a lot.” In my experience, I have learned a lot but the most important thing that I have learned is forgiving myself on the golf course; forgiving myself on the shots I do bad on or have a bad round. I tell myself that I will do better next time. Golf is as big as a mental game as it is a physical game. For example, I was at the biggest golf match of my junior year. I started the first hole off with going straight into the woods; as a result, I had to take a stroke. This patterned seemed to continue throughout the first nine holes. As I was eating lunch in between holes I realized what I was going wrong this whole time. I was thinking about my first hit; however, all I needed to do was forget about it. ……….. In conclusion, I got second place in district continuing to sectionals. Regardless of all the thoughts in my head. Forgetting about them made it a lot easier to enjoy the game and to play a good round. As a golfer, I’m thankful to have gained this quality as a life lesson not just on the golf

    Read More

  • Hank Aaron Research Paper

    1090 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...rst all time in total accumulated bases with 6,856. He was second all time in at bats with 12,364. He was third all time in hits with 3,771. He was third all time in runs scored with 2,174. He was also third all time in games played with 3,298. He was elected into the Hall Of Fame in 1982. His autobiography, I had a Hammer, was published in 1990. In 1999, to celebrate the 25th anniversary of breaking Babe Ruth’s record, Major League announced the Hank Aaron Award, given to the best overall hitter in each league.

    Read More

  • Fragrance Advertising Essay

    1049 Words  | 3 Pages

    The absence of clothing has become omnipresent in today’s advertising. Some ads focus on the removal of clothing, while others focus on no clothing at all. This idea is ever-present in fragrance advertising, as it forces the viewer to focus on the product over the appearance of one’s clothing. The absence of clothing creates a very specific mood for the ad: sex. The ad is able to portray a meaning that is not even included in the ad just by removing pieces of clothing. Fragrance advertising, such as Gucci Guilty, uses sex as a tool to sell a product without knowing anything about it.

    Read More

More about Jack Nicklaus

Open Document