All golf fans have seen the iconic photograph of Jack Nicklaus, putter outstretched towards the hole as he holed for birdie on the seventeenth at Augusta National in 1986. This was a run of eagle-birdie-birdie that saw him take the lead at the 71st hole of the tournament. Generally written off by pundits prior to the championship The Golden Bear was goaded into action by an article in Atlanta Journal-Constitution calling Nicklaus “done, washed up, through” and giving him no chance to win. A final par 4 saw Nicklaus close with a 65, 7 under for the final 10 holes, 30 for the back 9 and an ultimately winning score of -9 to win his 18th Major title and a record six green jackets. The round has gone down in history as one of the greatest of all time.
For an amazing golf shot to be considered a truly “great” shot it must have context. Tom Watson and Jack Nicklaus had some memorable tussles in Major championships of the late 1970s and early 80s and their encounter in the 1982 US Open at Pebble Beach was one of the best. Nicklaus, playing two holes ahead of Watson, fought his way into contention with a burst of 5 consecutive birdies early in the round and as he was completed at #18 Tom dropped a shot at #16 to fall to a tie with him. The 17th hole at Pebble Beach is a devilish 200 yard par 3 on the edge of the Pacific Ocean that requires a precise long iron to a shallow green protected by deep bunkers and thick rough. Watson’s 2 Iron tee shot looked good in the air but drew just too far, it hit the green but ran through into the deep wiry rough. Whilst this drama was being played out Nicklaus was watching on television and offered the opinion that Watson couldn’t get up and down. Legend has it that Tom’s caddy gave him his sand wedge and told him to “Get it close.” Watson is credited with replying “Bruce, I’m not trying to get this close. I’m going to make it”.Tom Watson was always a brisk player so after 2 quick practice stroke he popped the ball up with an open faced chop just onto the putting surface, it ran out to the hole, rattled the flag and dropped into the hole for birdie to take a one stroke lead. Watson went on the claim his only US Open title.
The “Duel in the Sun” has gone down in folklore as the all time best head-to-head contest within a major golf championship. Tom Watson and Jack Nicklaus slugged it out over the final round of the 1977 Open Championship at Turnberry, arriving at the 72nd hole with Watson leading by one. He hit a perfect 1 iron tee shot down the centre of the fairway but Nicklaus blocked his Driver down the right into an awful lie near gorse bushes. Tom played first from the fairway hitting an excellent shot to within 2 feet of the hole leaving Jack in trouble. It was doubtful he could get the ball out succesfully never mind onto the green but he smashed an incredible 8 iron onto the front corner of the green. Listen for the commentator describe it as “…one of the most powerful animalistic golf shots I have ever seen.” Of course Watson was still very much in the driving seat but somehow Nicklaus dredged up the most amazing golf shot I have ever seen as he holed the putt across the green to put the pressure back on Watson. Of course as we all know Tom knocked in the short putt to win the Claret Jug but Jack’s putt really is my favourite golf shot ever and I’m thrilled to have found footage online for it. Actually the whole video is on youtube starting here.
