A solid 70 for the Golden Bear

The 'Golden Bear' turns 70 tomorrow and no amount of column inches would do justice to the man whose amazing longevity and consistency had him in the public eye for almost half a century.Jack William Nicklaus was born on January 21, 1940 and, after winning two US Amateur Championships in 1959 and 1961 and strongly challenging for the 1960 US Open won by Arnold Palmer, he turned professional toward the end of 1961. The 1962 US Open was both Nicklaus' first Major championship victory and his first professional win. This win over Palmer continued the on-course rivalry between the two throughout the 1960s, with South African Gary Player as perhaps the only persistent threat to the two Americans' dominance. In 1966, Nicklaus won the Masters for the second year in a row, becoming the first golfer to achieve this, and he also won his first British Open, completing his career slam of Majors. After failing to win a Major in 1968 and 1969, Nicklaus won another Open Championship in 1970 (remember Doug Sanders' heartbreak?) Between 1971 and 1980, he would win a further nine Major championships, overtaking Bobby Jones' record of 13 Majors, and become the first player to complete double and triple career slams of golf's four professional Major championships.His Majors' roll of honour is as follows: Masters (six): 1963, 1965, 1966, 1972, 1975, 1986; US Open (four): 1962, 1967, 1972, 1980; British Open (three): 1966, 1970, 1978; PGA Championship (five): 1963, 1971, 1973, 1975, 1980. He continued to play the four regular Tour Majors until 2005, when he made his final appearances at the Open in St. Andrews. To my dying day, I will treasure being seated behind the 18th green on the famous Scottish course on Friday 15th July, 2005 as the great man sank a memorable 12-footer with his last shot ever at the Open. What a thrill! Of course, that figure of 18 Majors could so easily have been significantly more as Nicklaus seldom failed to compete at the top of the leader board in the big four tournaments. While Tiger Woods is threatening to break the Bear's record (assuming he, ahem, concentrates on his golf from now on), Nicklaus' place in the history books is well secured. While in one breath he opined that "I like trying to win - that's what golf is all about," his theory that "professional golf is the only sport where, if you win 20% of the time, you're the best" rings true, given the enormous number of top class pros in the game then, as now.It is an interesting exercise to trawl through sports books and get a picture of what drove J.W. Nicklaus to such incredibly high standards. Back in 1972, he wrote: " I never hit a shot, even in practice, without having a very sharp, in-focus picture of it in my head. It's like a colour movie. First, I 'see' the ball where I want it to finish. Then the scene changes quickly and I 'see' the ball going there. Then there's a sort of fade-out and the next scene shows me making the kind of swing that will turn the previous images into reality." One can only imagine the endless hours of practice Nicklaus put in to perfecting his game. "Confidence is the most important single factor in this game, and no matter how great your natural talent, there is only one way to obtain and sustain it - work," was one of his mantras. "Resolve never to quit, never to give up, no matter what the situation," was another favourite. "Sometimes the biggest problem is in your head. You've got to believe you can play a shot instead of wondering where your next bad shot is coming from. Success depends almost entirely on how effectively you learn to manage the game's two ultimate adversaries: the course and yourself." Good advice, indeed. "Don't be too proud to take lessons. I'm not." Even better advice.I overheard a witty friend of mine recently talking to a fellow run-of-the-mill golfer where my pal spoke of playing a particularly exasperating round the previous day: " And you know the wife thinks I'm out having fun when I play golf," he joked. Of course, golf is a sport and Jack was "a firm believer in the theory that people only do their best at things they truly enjoy; it is difficult to excel at something you don't enjoy. The game is meant to be fun."Back in 1979, 39-year-old Jack Nicklaus was quoted as saying: "What is too old? I've been playing on a national basis since 13. If you believe everyone can play and compete for only so long, then I'm old. Hogan didn't start playing well till he was 40. Sure, I kid around a lot and say, 'I'm getting too old.' I don't really believe that." And, of course, he was still winning Majors seven years later. Yes, 70 is well past it as a sportsman, but thanks for the memories and happy birthday, Jack. Especially, in the flesh, on that beautiful day in St. Andrews four and a half years ago. The greatest compliment I can pay to where that moment stood in my own sporting hall of fame is that my roar when he sank that putt rivalled similar shrieks in Croke Park 356 days earlier.