Countdown To The 2009 Masters . . .

21/03/2009 04:45
Countdown To The 2009 Masters . . .

In an ongoing daily series leading up to the 2009 Masters, which will take place at the fabled Augusta National Golf Club from April 6-12, 2009, St. Albert’s Place brings you Countdown to the 2009 Masters . . . We'll reprise classic reporting and articles from earlier Masters, photo galleries, daily updates of current qualifiers, press releases from Augusta National and coverage of significant Masters 2009 anniversaries.

We hope you enjoy.

Countdown To The Masters – Part 3 – Jack Nicklaus’ Improbable Win At The 1986 Masters

In 1986, Jack Nicklaus capped his career by recording his sixth Masters victory under incredible circumstances, posting a six-under 30 on the back nine at Augusta for a final round of seven-under 65. At the 17th hole, Nicklaus hit it to within 18 feet and rolled it in for birdie, raising his putter in celebration and completing an eagle-birdie-birdie run. Nicklaus made a victory-sealing par-4 at the 72nd hole, and waited for the succeeding players to falter. At age 46, Nicklaus became the oldest Masters winner in history, a record which still stands. On the feat, sports columnist Thomas Boswell remarked,

"Some things cannot possibly happen, because they are both too improbable and too imperfect. The US hockey team cannot beat the Russians in the 1980 Olympics. Jack Nicklaus cannot shoot 65 to win the Masters at age 46. Nothing else comes immediately to mind."

This victory was his 18th major title as a professional.

Nicklaus won the 1986 Masters using the Response ZT putter. Its manufacturer, MacGregor Golf, received 5,000 orders the next day; it had planned to sell only 6,000 copies of this model for the entire year. Before the tournament, Tom McCollister, writing in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, said that Nicklaus was "done, washed up, through," and this spurred him on, as he says:

"I kept thinking all week, 'Through, washed up, huh?' I sizzled for a while. But then I said to myself, 'I'm not going to quit now, playing the way I'm playing. I've played too well, too long to let a shorter period of bad golf be my last."

This victory was to be his last in his long career on the PGA Tour. At the age of 58, Nicklaus made another valiant run at the 1998 Masters, where he tied for sixth.

SWIVEL HIPS SAYS:

Sitting in front of my television set that Sunday in April 1986, there were tears running down my cheeks as the Golden Bear, with son Jackie on the bag, walked up the 18th fairway at Augusta National with the lead in the Masters for the last time in his storied career. St. Albert’s Place has dug out the videotape highlights of that final round and we have posted them below. Enjoy the trip down memory lane!