name	Jack Nicklaus
fullname	Jack William Nicklaus
nickname	The Golden Bear
birth date	January 21, 1940
birth place	Columbus, Ohio
death date
height
nationality
residence	North Palm Beach, Florida
spouse	Barbara Nicklaus
children	Jack (1961), Steven (1963), Nancy (1965), Gary (1969), Michael (1973)
college	Ohio State University
yearpro	1961
retired
tour	PGA TourChampions Tour
prowins	115
pgawins	73 (2nd all time)
eurowins
auswins
champwins	10
otherwins	22 (regular)11 (other)
majorwins	18
masters	Won: 1963, 1965, 1966, 1972, 1975, 1986
usopen	Won: 1962, 1967, 1972, 1980
open	Won: 1966, 1970, 1978
pga	Won: 1963, 1971, 1973, 1975, 1980,
wghofid	1086
wghofyear	1974
award1	PGA Tourleading money winner
year1	1964, 1965, 1967, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1976
award2	PGA Player of the Year
year2	1967, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1976
award3	Bob Jones Award
year3	1975
award4	Payne Stewart Award
year4	2000
award5	PGA Tour LifetimeAchievement Award
year5	2008
awardssection	List of career achievements by Jack Nicklaus#Awards }}

Jack William Nicklaus (born January 21, 1940), also known as "The Golden Bear", is an American professional golfer. He won 18 career major championships on the PGA Tour over a span of 24 years and is widely regarded as one of the greatest professional golfers of all time.

After winning two U.S. Amateurs in 1959 and 1961, and challenging for the 1960 U.S. Open, Nicklaus turned professional toward the end of 1961. The 1962 U.S. Open was both Nicklaus' first major championship victory and his first professional win. This win over Arnold Palmer began the on-course rivalry between the two. In 1966, Nicklaus won the Masters Tournament for the second year in a row, becoming the first golfer to achieve this, and also won The Open Championship, completing his career slam of major championships; at 26, he became the youngest to do so at the time. After failing to win a major in 1968 and 1969, Nicklaus won another Open Championship in 1970.

Between 1971 and 1980, he would win a further nine major championships, overtake 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. At the age of 46, Nicklaus claimed his 18th and final major championship at the 1986 Masters Tournament, becoming that championship's oldest winner. Nicklaus joined the Senior PGA Tour (now known as the Champions Tour) in January 1990, when he became eligible, and by April 1996 had won 10 of the tour's tournaments, including eight of that tour's major championships, despite playing a very limited schedule. He continued to play at least some of the four regular Tour majors until 2005, when he made his final appearances at The Open Championship and the Masters Tournament.

Nicklaus has also taken part in various off-course activities, including golf course design, charity work and book writing. Nicklaus also runs his own tournament on the PGA Tour, the Memorial Tournament. His golf course design company is one of the largest in the world. Nicklaus' books vary from instructional to autobiographical, with his ''Golf My Way'' considered one of the best instructional golf books of all time; the video of the same name is the best-selling golf instructional to date.

Amateur and college golf career

Nicklaus was born in Columbus, Ohio and is of German descent, the son of pharmacist Charlie Nicklaus and his wife Helen. Charlie was a skilled all-round athlete, who had played college football for The Ohio State University Buckeyes, and had gone on to play semi-professional football under an assumed name for the Portsmouth Spartans. Charlie had also been a scratch golfer and local tennis champion in his youth. Jack was raised in the suburb of Upper Arlington, and attended Upper Arlington High School, whose nickname and mascot are called the Golden Bears. Jack was an honorable mention All-Ohio selection in basketball as a shooting guard his senior year, and received some recruiting interest from college basketball programs. Jack also competed successfully during his youth in football, baseball, tennis, and track and field.;

Jack Nicklaus took up golf at the age of ten, scoring a 51 at Scioto Country Club for his first nine holes ever played. Charlie Nicklaus had joined Scioto that same year, returning to golf to help heal a volleyball injury. Jack was coached at Scioto by club pro Jack Grout, a Texas-developed contemporary of golf greats Byron Nelson and Ben Hogan; Grout would become Nicklaus's lifelong golf instructor. Nicklaus overcame a mild case of polio as a 13-year-old.

Nicklaus won the first of five straight Ohio State Junior titles at the age of 12. At 13, he broke 70 at Scioto Country Club for the first time, and became that year's youngest qualifier into the U.S. Junior Amateur, where he survived three match-play rounds. He had earned a handicap of +3 at age 13, the lowest in the Columbus area.; Nicklaus won the Tri-State High School Championship (Ohio/Kentucky/Indiana) at the age of 14 with a round of 68, and also recorded his first hole-in-one in tournament play the same year. At 15, Nicklaus shot a 66 at Scioto Country Club, which was the amateur course record, and qualified for his first U.S. Amateur. He won the Ohio Open in 1956 at age 16, highlighted by a phenomenal third round of 64, competing against professionals. In all, Nicklaus won 27 events in the Ohio area from age 10 to age 17.

In 1957, Nicklaus won the U.S. National Jaycees Championship, having lost the previous year in a playoff. Nicklaus also competed in his first of 44 consecutive U.S. Opens that year, but missed the cut. In 1958 at age 18, he competed in his first PGA Tour event, the Rubber City Open, at Akron, Ohio, tying for 12th place, and made the cut in the U.S. Open, tying for 41st place. Nicklaus also won two Trans-Mississippi Amateurs – in 1958 at Prairie Dunes Country Club and 1959 at Woodhill Country Club, with final match victories of 9 & 8 and 3 & 2, respectively. Also in 1959, Nicklaus won the North and South Amateur at Pinehurst, North Carolina and competed in three additional PGA Tour events, with his best finish being another 12th place showing at the Buick Open.

While attending Ohio State University, he won the U.S. Amateur twice (1959, 1961), and an NCAA Championship (1961). In the 1959 U.S. Amateur, Nicklaus defeated two-time winner and defending champion Charles Coe in the final 36-hole match 1-up, with a birdie on the final hole. This was significant because of Coe's proven ability as a player, but because Nicklaus became the then-youngest champion in the modern era, and second only to Robert A. Gardner, who won in 1909. In 1961, Nicklaus became the first player to win the individual title at the NCAA Championship and the U.S. Amateur in the same year. He was followed by Phil Mickelson (1990), Tiger Woods (1996), and Ryan Moore (2004). Nicklaus also won the NCAA Big Ten Conference Championship that year with a 72-hole aggregate of 283, while earlier claiming the Western Amateur in New Orleans. In his second and last U.S. Amateur win in 1961, Nicklaus convincingly defeated Dudley Wysong 8 & 6 at Pebble Beach in the 36-hole championship match. For the week, Nicklaus was 20 strokes under par, including 34 birdies and two eagles.

At the 1960 U.S. Open, Nicklaus shot a two-under par 282, finishing second by two strokes to Arnold Palmer, who won the tournament with a final round charge of six-under-par 65. This score remains the lowest ever shot by an amateur in the U.S. Open. Nicklaus played the final 36 holes with Ben Hogan, who later remarked he had just played 36 holes with a kid who should have won by 10 shots. During the final 36 holes, Nicklaus was two-under-par, and never shot a single round above par during the entire tournament, the only entrant to do so. Nicklaus had led by two shots with six holes to play. In 1960, Nicklaus also tied for 13th in the Masters Tournament. He tied for fourth in the 1961 U.S. Open, three shots behind champion Gene Littler, having played the final 54 holes one under par. Each of these three major championship finishes designated Nicklaus as Low Amateur. However, Nicklaus' one-under-par 287 tied for seventh in the 1961 Masters Tournament, and was second that year only to Charles Coe's low amateur placing, when he tied for second with Arnold Palmer at seven-under par 281, one shot behind champion Gary Player.

Nicklaus represented the United States against Great Britain and Ireland on winning Walker Cup teams in both 1959 and 1961, decisively winning both of his matches in each contest. He was also a member of the victorious 1960 U.S. Eisenhower Trophy team, winning the unofficial individual title by 13 shots over teammate Deane Beman with a four-round score of 269, a record which still stands; this score was 18 shots lower than Ben Hogan's earlier U.S. Open aggregate of 287 at the same site (which had, however, been scored under much tougher conditions).; Nicklaus was named the world's top amateur golfer by ''Golf Digest'' magazine for three straight years, 1959–1961.

College studies

Nicklaus attended Ohio State from 1957 to 1961. He majored in pre-pharmacy his first three years, with good grades, and intended to follow his father into that profession after graduation. As his golf achievements mounted, Nicklaus changed his mind on his career path, switching programs to study insurance, as he planned at that stage to remain a career amateur in golf, and to make his living by selling insurance. For a time he worked in the insurance field while also attending college. However, after having married Barbara Bash in July 1960, and with their first child (Jack Jr.) born in September 1961, Nicklaus then decided to become a professional golfer in late 1961, to best support his family. He wound up a few course hours short of graduating from college. Ohio State granted him an honorary doctorate in 1972.

PGA Tour career

Professional breakthrough 1962–63

Nicklaus began his professional career on the PGA Tour in 1962. While Nicklaus officially turned professional in late 1961, he debated heavily the idea of remaining an amateur in order to further emulate his idol, Bobby Jones. However, Nicklaus realized in order to be regarded the best, he would have to compete against the best and in greater frequency. Shortly after turning professional, Nicklaus' future agent, Mark McCormack was interviewed by ''Melbourne Age'' writer, Don Lawrence who inquired about the American golf scene. When McCormack described Nicklaus, Lawrence referred to the "large, strong, and blond" player as "the Golden Bear," a nickname that would become synonymous with Nicklaus throughout his professional life. However, another possible origination of the name derives from the high school that Nicklaus attended in Upper Arlington, Ohio, which uses the mascot the Golden Bears for its sports teams. As mentioned above, Nicklaus played on several Golden Bear athletic teams, including captaining its 1956 state-champion golf squad, suggesting that McCormack may have adopted the name through Nicklaus' high school affiliation. Regardless, by 1963, the nickname had stuck.

His first professional win came in his 17th start, defeating the heavily-favored Arnold Palmer in a Sunday playoff at Oakmont for the 1962 U.S. Open. While the galleries were more than vocal in their support for Palmer, who had grown up in the area, Nicklaus won the playoff by three shots (71 to 74). In 90 holes, Nicklaus had only one three-putt green. The U.S. Open victory made Nicklaus the reigning U.S. Open and U.S. Amateur champion. In addition, at age 22, Nicklaus was the youngest U.S. Open champion since Bobby Jones won at age 21 in 1923, and he has remained the youngest winner since. The U.S. Open win placed Nicklaus on the cover of ''Time'' magazine. This was also the beginning of the Nicklaus-Palmer rivalry, which attracted viewers to the new technology of television.

By the end of the year Nicklaus had picked up two more wins, those being the Seattle Open and the Portland Open back-to-back. In addition, he tied for third in his first attempt at the PGA Championship. Nicklaus completed 1962 with over $60,000 in prize-money, made 26 of 26 cuts with 16 top-10 finishes, placed third on the PGA Tour money list, and was named Rookie of the Year. He also won the inaugural staging of the World Series of Golf, a select-field event for the year's major champions, and collected another $50,000 (unofficial money) for that win.

In 1963 Nicklaus won two of the four major championships—the Masters and the PGA Championship. These victories made him the then-youngest winner of the Masters and third-youngest winner of the PGA Championship, and each win came in just his second year as a professional. Earlier in 1963, Nicklaus injured his left hip playing an approach shot from the rough—an injury that would manifest itself years later. Ironically, Nicklaus credits this injury with assisting him in altering his swing heading into the 1963 Masters, thus allowing him to play a draw more easily. Along with three other wins including the Tournament of Champions, he placed second to Arnold Palmer on the PGA Tour money list with just over $100,000. He also teamed with Palmer to win the Canada Cup (now the World Cup of Golf) in France, representing the United States (this event was shortened to 63 holes due to heavy fog). Nicklaus also finished as low individual scorer for that event.

Business success

Nicklaus's rise to fame so soon after turning professional brought him significant endorsement income off the golf course. These business opportunities were facilitated by Mark McCormack, who also managed Palmer and Gary Player. Golf was growing rapidly in popularity and media coverage during the early 1960s, led by the performances of these three star players, with Palmer's charging style and personal popularity making him the world's most marketable sports figure. This association was the start of the agency which became known as International Management Group, and IMG, after building a base in golf management, eventually expanded into other sports. The Palmer-Nicklaus-Player association developed into the so-called "Big Three" of Golf. McCormack set up a series of televised golf matches around the world amongst the three stars, known as Big Three Golf, in the early 1960s. Nicklaus left IMG in the early 1970s, to set up his own management agency, Golden Bear Inc.

1964–67: continued excellence

Despite winning no majors in 1964 (he had three runner-up finishes), Nicklaus led the PGA Tour money list for the first time in his career by a slim margin of $81.13 over Palmer. At The Open Championship at St Andrews, Nicklaus set a new record for the lowest score in the final 36 holes with 66–68 in high winds (the first time in the championship's history that 70 had been broken in each of the last two rounds). This was not enough, however, to win the event; Nicklaus placed second to Tony Lema. Nicklaus also set a record for the lowest final round score in the PGA Championship with a 64 (since broken by Brad Faxon in 1995 with a 63), but fell three shots short of champion Bobby Nichols and his record-setting 271 score. In 31 official worldwide events in 1964, Nicklaus achieved six victories, seven runners-up, placed in the top-five 21 times, the top-10 21 times, and had only missed cut. Nicklaus and Palmer also defended their team title at the World Cup in Hawaii, with Nicklaus again finishing as low individual scorer.

Nicklaus won the Masters in 1965 and 1966, becoming the first consecutive winner of this event, and the youngest two-time and three-time winner. He broke Ben Hogan's 72-hole scoring record of 274 from 1953 by compiling a new aggregate of 271 in the 1965 Masters Tournament, which while tied by Raymond Floyd in 1976, lasted until Tiger Woods shot 270 in 1997; Woods's score of 270 was achieved with significantly improved golf equipment on essentially the same-length golf course over which Nicklaus and Floyd scored 271. During this 1965 tournament, Nicklaus hit 62 of 72 greens in regulation, and had 123 putts, inclusive of just one three-putt green. This was good enough to win by nine shots over Arnold Palmer and Gary Player; this margin of victory was a record at the time, and it lasted until Woods won by 12 shots in 1997. The week's performance was highlighted by a third-round 64 that consisted of eight birdies and no bogeys. It was of this round that Nicklaus said, "I had never before and have never since played quite as fine a complete round of golf in a major championship as I did in the third round of the 1965 Masters". This round tied Lloyd Mangrum's record set in 1940 at Augusta National and remained in place until Nick Price shot 63 during the third round in 1986. It was at this time that Bobby Jones stated Nicklaus played a game with which he was unfamiliar; Jones called Nicklaus' result "the greatest performance in all of golfing history." After Nicklaus' record in 1965, some minor changes were made to Augusta National to toughen the course. Between these modifications and the difficult 1966 weather, Nicklaus successfully defended his title with an even par aggregate of 288, 17 shots higher. He won in an 18-hole playoff over Gay Brewer and Tommy Jacobs by shooting a two-under-par 70. Nicklaus led the PGA Tour money list again in 1965 by a healthy margin over Tony Lema. Nicklaus and Lema formed the U.S. team for the World Cup, held in Madrid, Spain, but could not defend the title, as South Africa won. In all, Nicklaus competed in 28 official worldwide events in 1965, accumulating five victories, seven runners-up, 19 top-five finishes, 23 top-10 finishes, and zero missed cuts.

In 1966, Nicklaus also won The Open Championship at Muirfield in Scotland under difficult weather conditions, using his driver just 17 times, because of very heavy rough. This was the only major he had failed to win up to that point. This win made him the youngest player, age 26 (his fifth year on Tour), and the only one after Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, and Gary Player (until Tiger Woods at age 24 in 2000, also during his fifth year on Tour) to win all four major championships, now known as the Career Slam. Nicklaus eventually accomplished the double career slam in 1971 and the triple career slam in 1978, winning all four majors two and three times, respectively. Nicklaus was part of another title for the U.S. in the World Cup in Japan. Nicklaus concluded 1966 playing 22 official worldwide events, with four victories, four runners-up, 14 top-five finishes, 16 top-10 finishes, and zero missed cuts.

The following year, he won his second U.S. Open title at Baltusrol, breaking Hogan's 72-hole record by one shot with a 275. During the four rounds, Nicklaus hit 61 of 72 greens in regulation. Nicklaus finished this record win with a dramatic 238-yard 1-iron shot, uphill into a breeze and light rain, to the 72nd green (an approximate 260-yard equivalent) and holing a birdie putt to close out a final nine of 30 and final round of 65 to beat Arnold Palmer by four shots. Nicklaus and Palmer were the only two players to break par for the week. He also finished runner up in The Open Championship and third in the PGA Championship, one shot out of a playoff between Don January and Don Massengale. For a third time, Nicklaus led the PGA Tour money list for 1967. Later that year, Nicklaus and Palmer teamed up for a 13-shot wire-to-wire World Cup victory in Mexico City. Nicklaus competed in 24 official worldwide events in 1967, with five victories, four runners-up, 14 top-five finishes, 16 top-10 finishes, and one missed cut.

Career downturn (1968–1970)

After Nicklaus won the 1967 U.S. Open, he did not win another major championship until the 1970 Open Championship at the Old Course at St Andrews. Moreover, his highest finish on the Tour money list for the years 1968–70 was second; his lowest was fourth, his worst ranking on the list since turning professional. However, it should be noted that his fourth-place ranking in 1970 would have been elevated to second if The Open Championship winnings were included during that period in the official PGA Tour money list, as they are today. Nicklaus finished runner-up in both the 1968 U.S. Open (to new rival Lee Trevino) and the 1968 Open Championship (to old rival Gary Player).

Nicklaus did not make his inaugural appearance in the Ryder Cup until 1969 at age 29; eligibility rules at the time required a minimum five-year PGA Tour membership before points could be counted for team qualification; rules have been relaxed significantly since. In the 1969 Ryder Cup, Nicklaus was the anchor singles match on the final day, and both his and the team matches were tied as he and opponent Tony Jacklin played the final hole. With the entire competition outcome riding on his match, Nicklaus made a five-foot par put on the last hole, and then conceded Jacklin's three-foot par putt to halve the individual match and the overall team results. This concession was considered by many as one of the greatest displays of sportsmanship in the game's history. As defending champions, the Americans retained possession of the Ryder Cup.

During this period, Nicklaus also let his physical condition decline somewhat, putting on excess weight, which affected his stamina. He significantly improved his condition in the fall of 1969 by losing 25 pounds in one month, and his game started to return to top form. In February 1970, Nicklaus' father, Charlie Nicklaus, died. Soon after this Nicklaus won the 1970 Open Championship under difficult scoring conditions where the wind howled up to 56 MPH, defeating fellow American Doug Sanders in an 18-hole playoff round in emotional fashion. On the 18th hole of the playoff, Nicklaus drove about 380 yards, through the par-4 green with a three-wood, and was forced to pitch back to the hole. His eagle pitch finished approximately eight feet short of the hole. Nicklaus threw his putter into the air after sinking the winning putt, as he was thrilled to have won the Open at the home of golf, St Andrews. He describes this period in his life:

"I was playing good golf, but it really wasn't that big a deal to me one way or the other. And then my father passed away and I sort of realized that he had certainly lived his life through my golf game. I really hadn't probably given him the best of that. So I sort of got myself back to work. So '70 was an emotional one for me from that standpoint. ... It was a big boost."

Nicklaus also went on to capture the Piccadilly World Match Play Championship in 1970 with a 2 & 1 win over Lee Trevino in the championship match. In all for the year, Nicklaus competed in 23 official worldwide events, won four, placed in the top five 10 times, and the top 10 in 14.

Although Nicklaus' performance had declined somewhat during this period, he was still ranked as the #1 player in the world, for ten straight years, beginning in 1968, on the McCormack's World Golf Rankings, which were introduced that year by sports agent Mark McCormack. These rankings, the first attempt to take into account results from professional tours around the world, were not official during that era, but they eventually evolved into the current Official World Golf Rankings, starting in 1986.

Resurgence

With a wire-to-wire two-shot win at the 1971 PGA Championship in February over Billy Casper, Nicklaus became the first golfer to win all four majors twice in a career. In this championship, Nicklaus was the only player to break 70 consecutively in the first two rounds under windy conditions and finished at seven-under par 281. Nicklaus finished second twice and fifth in the remaining three major championships for the year. While he finished tied for second in the Masters with Johnny Miller, Nicklaus made a big enough impression on a young Nick Faldo (watching on TV in England) in order for Faldo to take up the game seriously. By the end of the year, he had won four additional PGA tournaments including the Tournament of Champions by eight shots and the National Team Championship with Arnold Palmer by six shots. With $244,490 in official PGA Tour earnings, Nicklaus established a new single season money record during the year. Nicklaus also claimed his third World Cup individual title in 1971, with help from a 63 in the third round. He also won the team competition with partner Lee Trevino by 12 shots. The year 1971 brought Nicklaus a victory in the Australian Dunlop International as well, punctuated by a course record 62 (his career low score in competition; one of three) in the second round. For the record, Nicklaus played in 23 official worldwide events in 1971, won eight, had 17 top-five finishes, 20 top-10 finishes, and compiled a 5–1–0 record in that year's Ryder Cup competition.

Nicklaus won the first two major championships of 1972 by three shots each in wire-to-wire fashion. He won the Masters and the U.S. Open, creating talk of a calendar-year Grand Slam. Nicklaus opened with a four-under par 68 at Augusta National and never looked back. He was the only player under par for the week as he and the field battled difficult scoring conditions. In the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach again under severe scoring conditions, Nicklaus struck a one-iron on the 218-yard par-three 17th hole during the final round into a stiff, gusty ocean breeze that hit the flagstick and ended up three inches from the cup. The U.S. Open was Nicklaus' 13th career major and tied him with Bobby Jones for career majors (although a different group of tournaments had been considered majors in Jones's time). This victory was also Nicklaus' 11th professional major, tying him with Walter Hagen, and made him the first player to win the U.S. Amateur and U.S. Open championships on the same golf course. He won a total of seven tournaments during the year, and was runner-up in a further three PGA Tour events. Nicklaus did not win the Grand Slam in 1972, however, as Lee Trevino repeated as the Open Championship winner (Nicklaus finished second, one shot behind), and Gary Player prevailed in the PGA Championship. He closed out this remarkable year with a second of three consecutive Walt Disney World Golf Classic victories by shooting a 21-under par 267 to win by nine shots. Nicklaus concluded 1972 by competing in 20 official worldwide events winning seven, placing second in four, and compiling 15 top-10 finishes.

Jones' record of majors was soon broken when Nicklaus won the PGA Championship in August 1973 by four shots over Bruce Crampton for his 12th professional major (surpassing Hagen's mark of 11) and 14th overall when using the old-style configuration of Jones' day. In that year he won another six tournaments. When he won the 1973 Ohio King's Island Open, he became the first PGA Tour player to win a Tour event over a course which he designed himself. The PGA Player of the Year was awarded to Nicklaus for the third time, and the second year in a row. Nicklaus was also the first player to win over $300,000.00 in official money for a single season in 1972 at $320,542; he eclipsed that threshold again the following year with $308,362. The former total was $106,137 more than runner-up Lee Trevino. The latter total for the year 1973 catapulted Nicklaus over the $2 million career PGA Tour earnings mark, making him the first player to reach that milestone. Nicklaus teamed with Johnny Miller for another team title in the World Cup of Golf, held in Spain. For the year, Nicklaus competed in 20 official worldwide events and claimed seven victories, 14 top-five finishes, 17 top-10s, and compiled a 4–1–1 record in that year's Ryder Cup competition.

Nicklaus' failure to win a major in 1974 was offset somewhat by winning the inaugural Tournament Players Championship and being named one of the 13 original inductees into the World Golf Hall of Fame. Nicklaus said this honor was a "nice memento" after a "disappointing season". Although he had no major championship victories in 1974, Nicklaus still achieved four top-ten finishes in the four events, three of which were in the top four, and placed second on the official money list behind Johnny Miller. While less than a stellar year, Nicklaus was able to claim two victories and 13 top-10 finishes in 20 official worldwide events.

Nicklaus started off well in 1975: he won the Doral-Eastern Open, the Sea Pines Heritage Classic, and the Masters in consecutive starts. His Masters win was his fifth, a record he was to break eleven years later. In this tournament, Nicklaus made a putt on the 16th hole of the final round to all but secure his victory over Tom Weiskopf and Johnny Miller in a riveting final-round battle. He also won the PGA Championship in August at Firestone Country Club by two shots over Bruce Crampton for his fourth win. Having won the Masters and PGA Championship, Nicklaus missed a playoff for the U.S. Open by two shots and a playoff for Open Championship by one shot. His performance in 1975 resulted in his being named PGA Player of the Year for the fourth time, tying Ben Hogan, and he was also named ABC's Wide World of Sports Athlete of the Year. Nicklaus also captured his fourth Australian Open during the year. The year 1975 yielded Nicklaus six wins, 12 top-five finishes, and 16 top-10 finishes in 18 official worldwide events.

Nicklaus placed first on the PGA Tour money list again in 1976, despite competing in only 16 events, winning just two (Tournament Players Championship and World Series of Golf) – neither of them majors – and playing what he called "hang-back-and-hope golf". The 1976 Tournament Players Championship saw Nicklaus set a championship record of 19-under par 269 for his second win in this event which remained in place until Greg Norman's 24-under-par 264 assault in 1994. He also won the PGA Player of the Year award for a record fifth time. Between 1972 and 1976 the only time he failed to win this award was 1974. The year 1976 also concluded an official streak of 105 consecutive cuts made on the PGA Tour (ending at the World Open), which began for Nicklaus in 1970. At the time this streak was second only to Byron Nelson's record of 113.

The following year, 1977, was also majorless for Nicklaus, but he did achieve four top-10 finishes in the four events inclusive of two second and one third place finish – this being one shot out of the PGA Championship playoff between Lanny Wadkins and Gene Littler. Despite a brilliant final round 66 at the Masters, he finished second by two shots to Tom Watson. But his subsequent second-place finish behind Watson at the Open Championship at Turnberry created headlines around the world. In a one-on-one battle dubbed the "Duel in the Sun," Nicklaus shot 65–66 in the final two rounds, only to be beaten by Watson, who scored 65–65. This event marked the first time 270 was broken in a major championship, and the third-place finisher Hubert Green scored 279. Nicklaus would later say:

"There are those in golf who would argue into next month that the final two rounds of the 1977 British Open were the greatest head-to-head golf match ever played. Not having been around for the first five hundred or so years of the game, I'm not qualified to speak on such matters. What's for sure, however, is that it was the most thrilling one-on-one battle of my career."

In 1977, Nicklaus won his 63rd tour event, passing Ben Hogan to take second place on the career wins list, behind only Sam Snead. He also became the first player to amass over $3 million in official PGA Tour earnings. The year also saw Nicklaus win for the first time his own Memorial Tournament, where he described the victory as the most emotional moment of his entire career, and nearly decided to retire from competitive golf.

Proposes Ryder Cup modifications

During the 1977 Ryder Cup at Royal Lytham & St Annes, Nicklaus approached the PGA of Great Britain about the urgency to improve the competitive level of the contest. The issue had been discussed earlier the same day by both past PGA of America President Henry Poe and British PGA President Lord Derby. Nicklaus pitched his ideas, adding: "It is vital to widen the selection procedures if the Ryder Cup is to continue to enjoy its past prestige." The changes in team selection procedure were approved by descendants of the Samuel Ryder family, along with The PGA of America. The major change was expanding selection procedures to include players from the European Tournament Players' Division, and "that European Members be entitled to play on the team." This meant that professional players on the European Tournament Players' Division, the forerunner to the European Tour we have today, from continental Europe would be eligible to play in the Ryder Cup.

Achieves triple career grand slam

Nicklaus won the 1978 Open Championship at St. Andrews to become the only player to have won each major championship three times. This record has since been tied by Tiger Woods, by winning the 2008 U.S. Open. Nicklaus and Woods are the only two players to win three "Career Grand Slams". Nicklaus considered his performance in the 1978 Open as the finest four days of tee-to-green golf he had ever produced, and was most proud that the win came at St. Andrews, his favorite place to play golf. The victory was also his most emotional to date. Nicklaus won three other tournaments that year on the PGA Tour, including the Jackie Gleason-Inverrary Classic, where he played the final 36 holes 13 under par; he scored five consecutive birdies over the closing holes in the final round. He also won his third Tournament Players Championship in difficult weather conditions; he had won three of the first five stagings of that tournament, and remains the championship's only three-time winner. He was named Sportsman of the Year by ''Sports Illustrated''. The year 1978 also marked Nicklaus' sixth and final Australian Open victory.

Short slump and revamping

After that year he suffered a lapse of form, not winning another tournament until June 1980. The year of 1979 was the first since turning professional in which he failed to win a tournament; he had only one runner-up finish, plus a tied-for-second with Ben Crenshaw behind 22-year-old Seve Ballesteros at The Open Championship. Previously, Nicklaus won at least one PGA Tour tournament per year (a record he shares with Arnold Palmer), and a minimum of two tournaments per year for 17 consecutive years, and this is another PGA Tour record.

During the offseason, Nicklaus addressed two problems which had hurt his performance. His lifelong teacher Jack Grout noticed that he had become much too upright with his full swing, causing a steep, oblique approach into the ball, compared with a more direct hit; this was corrected by slightly flattening his backswing. Then Nicklaus' short game, never a career strength, was further developed with the help of Phil Rodgers, a friend for more than 20 years, and earlier PGA Tour rival, who had become a fine coach. Rodgers lived for a time at the Nicklaus home while this work was going on.

Wins 4th U.S. Open, 5th PGA Championship

In 1980, Nicklaus recorded only four top-10 finishes in 14 events, but two of these were record-setting victories in majors (the U.S. Open and the PGA Championship); the other two were a tie for fourth in The Open Championship and a runner-up finish in the Doral-Eastern Open to Raymond Floyd via his chip-in birdie on the second hole of a sudden-death playoff. These victories and placements more than justified the work Nicklaus put in toward his game during the off-season.

Nicklaus set a new scoring record for the 1980 U.S. Open with an aggregate of 272, eclipsing his earlier record of 275 from 1967 over the same golf course. That record, while since having been tied by three other players, stood until Rory McIllroy's 268 in winning the 2011 US Open. This was Nicklaus's second major win at Baltusrol Golf Club. Nicklaus opened with a record-tying 63 in round one and fought off his playing partner of all four rounds, 1978 Colgate World Match Play Championship winner, Isao Aoki. Entering the final round, Aoki had caught Nicklaus after three consecutive rounds of 68, but over the course of the last day, Nicklaus pulled away by two shots. Each player birdied the final two holes for a dramatic finish. Aoki's aggregate of 274 was the lowest score for a U.S. Open runner-up, and would have been the winning total any other year. Nicklaus' win was his fourth and final victory in the championship, tying him with Willie Anderson, Bobby Jones, and Ben Hogan. Nicklaus referred to this win as "by far the most emotional and warmest reaction to any of my wins in my own country".

In the 1980 PGA Championship, Nicklaus set another record in winning the championship by seven shots over Andy Bean at the Oak Hill Country Club, largely due to exceptional putting. Nicklaus shot an even-par 70 in the first round followed by three successive rounds in the 60s over the difficult course, and was the only player to break par for the 72 holes. For the week, the field averaged 74.60 strokes while Nicklaus averaged 68.50. This was Nicklaus' fifth and final victory in the PGA Championship, which elevated him to record-holder for the most wins in the stroke-play era, and which tied him with Walter Hagen for the most wins overall, since Hagen's victories were all during the match-play era. Nicklaus' seven-shot winning margin remains the largest for the championship since it was converted from match play to stroke play in 1958. His victory also made Nicklaus the only player since Gene Sarazen in 1922 and Ben Hogan in 1948 to win the U.S. Open and PGA Championship the same year (subsequently equaled by Tiger Woods in 2000).

Over the next five years Nicklaus won only twice on the PGA Tour, including his own Memorial Tournament in 1984 for the second time, to become that tournament's first repeat champion. He accumulated seven more top-10 placements in major championships, including three runner-up performances. Nicklaus also finished second in the 1985 Canadian Open to Curtis Strange, which marked his seventh and final second place finish in that tournament; this is a record for that event. These seven runner-up finishes came over the course of 21 events—or one second place finish for every three tournaments played—and does not include a third place finish in 1983, one shot out of the playoff between John Cook and Johnny Miller. Also in 1983, Nicklaus closed out the PGA Championship and World Series of Golf with brilliant final rounds of 65, and passed many players to move into contention, but finished runner-up in each to Player of the Year Hal Sutton and red-hot Nick Price, respectively, who dominated the tournaments from start to finish. Despite not winning a PGA Tour event in 1983, Nicklaus finished 10th on the PGA Tour money list, and passed a significant milestone by becoming the first player to eclipse the $4 million level in career earnings.

During this five-year period, the Ryder Cup matches provided Nicklaus with two bright spots. He completed his competition as a player in style by contributing a perfect 4–0–0 record (inclusive of a 5 & 3 anchor singles match win over Eamonn Darcy) in 1981, and captained the United States team in 1983 to a one-point win over Europe.

Wins 6th Masters at 46

In 1986, Nicklaus capped his major championship career by recording his sixth Masters victory under incredible circumstances, posting a six-under par 30 on the back nine at Augusta for a final round of seven-under-par 65. At the 17th hole, Nicklaus hit his second shot to within and rolled it in for birdie, raising his putter in celebration and completing an eagle-birdie-birdie run. Nicklaus made a solid par-4 at the 72nd hole, and waited for the succeeding players, several of whom (Tom Kite, Greg Norman) were still in contention, to fall short. Nicklaus played the final ten holes seven under par, with six birdies and an eagle. 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 U.S. 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.

Before the 1986 Masters Tournament, Tom McCollister, writing in the ''Atlanta Journal-Constitution'', said that Nicklaus was "done, washed up, through," and this spurred him on. He said:

"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, and was described at the time by noted golf historian and writer Herbert Warren Wind as "nothing less than the most important accomplishment in golf since Bobby Jones' Grand Slam in 1930".

Author Ken Bowden would write after the win:

"There have been prettier swingers of the club than Jack Nicklaus. There may have been better ball-strikers than Jack Nicklaus. There have definitely been better short-game exponents than Jack Nicklaus. Other golfers have putted as well as Jack Nicklaus. There may have been golfers as dedicated and fiercely competitive as Jack Nicklaus. But no individual has been able to develop, combine and sustain all of the complex physical skills and the immense mental and emotional resources the game demands at its highest level as well as Jack Nicklaus has for as long as he has."

At the age of 58, Nicklaus made another valiant run at the 1998 Masters, where he tied for sixth despite being hampered by an ever-increasing painful left hip. Nicklaus' five-under par 283 is the lowest 72-hole score by a player over 50 in the Masters.

Over the course of his 25-year span (1962–1986) of winning 18 major championships, Nicklaus finished second an astounding 18 times (excludes the second place finish at the 1960 U.S. Open as an amateur). He also placed third nine times and fourth seven times in this span and was one stroke out of a playoff on five of those occasions (1963 Open Championship, 1967 PGA Championship, 1975 Open Championship, 1977 PGA Championship, and 1979 Masters Tournament). His total span of 73 top-10 finishes was 39 years (1960–1998) which is a record in total number as well as longevity among the four major championships and encompassed his tenure from an amateur through the majority of his Champions Tour career.

Champions Tour career

Nicklaus became eligible to join the Senior PGA Tour, now known as the Champions Tour, when he turned 50 in January 1990, at which point he declared, "I'm never satisfied. Trouble is, I want to play like me—and I can't play like me anymore." He then quickly won in his first start on the Tour, The Tradition, also a Senior Tour major championship. Nicklaus would go on to win another three Traditions—the final two in succession—while the most anyone else has won is two. Later in the year, Nicklaus won the Senior Players Championship by six shots over Lee Trevino for his second win of the year, and also his second major of the year by shooting a record 27-under par 261. The next year, in 1991, Nicklaus won three of the five events he started in, those being the U.S. Senior Open at Oakland Hills by firing a 65 in a playoff against Chi Chi Rodriguez and his fine round of 69, the PGA Seniors Championship and The Tradition for the second year straight. These, again, were all majors on the Champions Tour.

Nicklaus has won all the Champions Tour majors with the exception of the Senior British Open. However, he never played in the Senior British Open until after he turned 60; this event was only elevated to a major in 2003. After a winless year in 1992, Nicklaus came back to win the U.S. Senior Open for the second time in 1993 by one shot over Tom Weiskopf. Also in that year he teamed up with Chi Chi Rodriguez and Raymond Floyd to win the Wendy's Three Tour Challenge for the Senior Tour team. In 1994 he won the Senior Tour's version of the Mercedes Championship for his only win of the year. The Tradition was his again in 1995, in a year where he made the top 10 in all of the seven tournaments he entered in. His 100th career win came the next year, when he won the Tradition for the fourth time, and second time in succession. He made a double eagle in the final round. Nicklaus closed the final 36 holes with back-to-back seven-under par rounds of 65 to shoot a 16-under par 272 and win by three shots over Hale Irwin. This was to be his last win on the Champions Tour, and the last official win of his career.

Close of playing career

Nicklaus' final U.S. Open was held at Pebble Beach Golf Links in 2000, where he shot 73–82 to miss the cut. Later in the year, he was paired with Tiger Woods and Vijay Singh in his final PGA Championship only a few days after the death of his mother, where he also missed the cut by one shot. In both tournaments, Nicklaus provided last minute heroics by reaching the par-5 18th in two shots in the U.S. Open and nearly holing his wedge shot for eagle at the par-5 18th in the PGA Championship.

Nicklaus played without much preparation in the 2005 Masters, a month after the drowning death of his 17-month-old grandson Jake (child of his son, Steve) on March 1, 2005. He and Steve played golf as therapy for their grief following the death. After days of playing, it was Steve who suggested his dad return to The Masters. He made that his last appearance in the tournament. Later in 2005, Nicklaus finished his professional career at The Open Championship played at St Andrews on July 15, 2005. Nicklaus turned 65 in January that year, which was the last year he could enter The Open Championship as an exempt player. He played with Luke Donald and Tom Watson in his final round. After hitting his tee shot off the 18th tee in the second round, Nicklaus received a ten-minute standing ovation from the crowd. Soon afterwards, Nicklaus ended his career with a fitting birdie, holing a fifteen-foot birdie putt on the 18th green. Nicklaus missed the 36-hole cut with a score of +3 (147).

The last competitive tournament in which Nicklaus played in the United States was the Champions Tour's Bayer Advantage Classic in Overland Park, Kansas on June 13, 2005.

Off-the-course career

Golf course design

Nicklaus devotes much of his time to golf course design and operates one of the largest golf design practices in the world. In the mid-1960s, Pete Dye initially requested Nicklaus' opinion in the architecture process of The Golf Club in suburban Columbus, Ohio, and the input increased from that point forward. Nicklaus considered golf course design another facet of the game that kept him involved and offered a challenge. His first design Harbour Town Golf Links, co-credited with Dye, was opened for play in 1969. A subsequent early, yet more prominent design was Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, OH which opened in 1974 and has hosted the Memorial Tournament since its inception in 1976. This course has also hosted the 1987 Ryder Cup and the 1998 Solheim Cup matches. For the first few years, all of his projects were co-designs with either Pete Dye or Desmond Muirhead, who were two of the leading golf course architects of that era.

His first solo design, Glen Abbey Golf Course in Oakville, Ontario, opened for play in 1976. This course served as the host site for the Canadian Open for many years, the first being in 1977. In 2000, the King & Bear opened in St. Augustine, Florida, as a joint collaboration between Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer. In 2006, the Concession Golf Club opened in Sarasota, Florida, as a joint collaboration between Nicklaus and Tony Jacklin, to commemorate their historic Ryder Cup singles match in 1969.

Nicklaus is in partnership with his four sons and his son-in-law through their company, ''Nicklaus Design''. The company had 299 courses open for play at the end of 2005, which was nearly 1% of all the courses in the world (In 2005 ''Golf Digest'' calculated that there were nearly 32,000 golf courses in the world, approximately half of them in the United States.). While the majority of Nicklaus-designed courses reside in the United States, a significant presence also occupies Asia, Australia, Canada, Europe, and Mexico. For 2009, Nicklaus Design had 12 courses in ''Golf Digest''’s "75 Best Golf Resorts in North America".

Writings and media

Nicklaus has written several golf instructional books, an autobiography (''My Story''), a book on his golf course design methods and philosophy, and has produced several golf videos. The writer Ken Bowden often assisted him with this work. His book ''Golf My Way'' is one of the all-time classics of golf instruction, and has been reissued several times since the initial printing in 1974. Nicklaus has also written golf instructional columns for ''Golf Magazine'' and for ''Golf Digest'' magazine, with which he is currently associated. He also appeared as a television analyst and commentator with ABC Sports on golf broadcasts. Several of the books have been reissued, sometimes under different titles, and "My Story" as a special high-quality limited edition for the 2000 Memorial Tournament.

Golf computer games

Between 1988 and 1998, Nicklaus also gave his name to promote the successful Jack Nicklaus Golf computer game series developed by Accolade. Several of the golf courses he designed were incorporated into the fourth incarnation of the game Jack Nicklaus 4 published in 1997. In addition, "Jack Nicklaus 6: Golden Bear Challenge" by Activision was published in 1999.

Other interests

Nicklaus continues to manage the Memorial Tournament he created in his home state of Ohio, which is played at Muirfield Village, a course which he designed and opened in 1974. The course was officially dedicated on Memorial Day, May 27, 1974, with an exhibition match between Nicklaus and Tom Weiskopf. Nicklaus scored a six-under par 66, which stood as the course record until 1979. The forerunner to this tournament, the Columbus Pro-Am, had its final year in 1975, and the inaugural Memorial Tournament was held the following year. The tournament is one of the more prestigious events on the PGA Tour.

Each year, the tournament selects one or more individuals as honorees who have made a significant impact to the game. The inaugural tournament in 1976 paid tribute to the late Bobby Jones, while the 25th edition in 2000 honored Nicklaus, himself. This concept was Nicklaus' idea as a contribution to perpetuating achievements of the game's greatest individuals. The honoree is selected by the Captain's Club, a group that acts independently of the tournament organization, but also advises on player invitations and the general conduct of the event. Members of the Captain's Club include Peter Alliss, Peggy Kirk Bell, George H.W. Bush, Sean Connery, Arnold Palmer, and Gary Player among others.

The Memorial Tournament continues the PGA Tour's philanthropic focus through its relationships with Central Ohio charities. The most significant of which is its relationship with Nationwide Children's Hospital since 1976. Contributions generated through the support of over 2,600 volunteers are distributed each year to the Hospital's unrestricted giving fund. This fund assists in ensuring Central Ohio continues to have one of the best children's hospitals in the United States. The Memorial Tournament has raised more than $5.7 million to support the programs and services at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in those 30-plus years. In 2005 the Memorial made a pledge that will elevate its level of giving to more than $11 million in the coming years. Unique and successful relationships also exist with Fore Hope, James Cancer Hospital, Wolfe Associates, The First Tee, Central Ohio Junior Golf Association, Shriners, Lions Club and many more.

Nicklaus and wife Barbara serve as honorary chairman and active chairwoman of the Nicklaus Children’s Health Care Foundation in North Palm Beach, Florida which provides valuable programs and services to more than 4,000 hospitalized children and their families, free of charge, through Child Life programs, the Pediatric Oncology Support Team, and the Safe Kids program. The Nicklauses established "The Jake", a pro-am golf tournament played annually at The Bear's Club in Jupiter, Florida in honor of their 17-month-old grandson who drowned in a hot tub in 2005. It has become the foundation's chief fundraiser. Players like Robert Allenby, Raymond Floyd, Tom Watson, Ian Baker-Finch, Ernie Els, Jay Haas, Johnny Miller, and Gary Player have participated. No one accepts a fee. Everything goes to the foundation, more than $3 million over the past three years.

Nicklaus and retired General John Shalikashvili, who served as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 1993–97, are serving as honorary chairs for the American Lake Veterans Golf Course capital campaign in Tacoma, WA. The $4.5 million campaign in 2009 was established to complete the nation's only golf course designed for the rehabilitation of wounded and disabled veterans. The existing nine-hole course is operated, maintained, and managed by 160 volunteers. Funds are needed to add nine new holes and make other improvements to better accommodate demand from the growing influx of wounded veterans. A two-day event was held at Bighorn Golf Club at Palm Desert, CA featuring Nicklaus, who is donating his design services for the "Nicklaus Nine". In announcing his donation of services (valued at $500,000), Nicklaus said, "I was moved to see the amazing efforts at American Lake Veterans Golf Course where our wounded warriors learn to play golf with the help of an incredible army of volunteers." Monies raised during the campaign will be used to construct the new holes, complete the construction of the Rehabilitation and Learning Center, make improvements to the original holes to enhance accessibility, upgrade the maintenance facilities and restrooms, and help underwrite operational costs.

Nicklaus owns Nicklaus Golf Equipment, founded in 1992. Nicklaus Golf Equipment manufactures equipment in three brands: Golden Bear, Jack Nicklaus Signature, and Nicklaus Premium. These brands are designed to target golfers at different stages of golfing ability.

He has also been known to reach out to younger golfers. One notable example came in 1984, when a teenage Canadian golfer who had previously met Nicklaus at an exhibition wrote him for career advice. The young golfer was right-handed but played left-handed; although he was showing considerable promise as a left-hander, he had been told that he might be an even better player if he switched to right-handed play. He wrote Nicklaus asking for advice; Nicklaus immediately wrote back telling him not to change if he was comfortable playing left-handed. The young Canadian, Mike Weir, decided to stay with left-handed play, and eventually became a Masters champion. He still keeps Nicklaus' letter framed in his home.

Playing style

Nicklaus was consistently among the longest and straightest hitters on the PGA Tour during his prime. One early example was winning the official long drive contest at the 1963 PGA Championship with a belt of 341 yards, 17 inches (312 meters). This record lasted more than 20 years. He preferred the fade (left-to-right shape) for his ball flight, since this allowed the ball to stop quickly on hard and fast greens. Another factor in this decision was his distance capabilities, which were developed enough to allow him to play a fade and still reach long par fours and par fives in two shots. Nicklaus considers his longest drive in competition to be during the final round of the 1964 Masters on the 15th hole, where he had less than 160 yards left to the 500 yard par five. He hit an eight-iron slightly over the green for his second shot.

As his career matured, he also developed the ability to hit the right-to-left controlled draw when needed. Nicklaus debuted as a young pro who hit the ball very high, but he could also hit lower-trajectory shots when needed, after gaining pro experience.

In 1968, IBM kept PGA Tour statistics for the first time, but did not continue this practice in the immediately subsequent years. Nicklaus led two categories for the 1968 season: he had an average driving distance of 275 yards, and hit 75 per cent of greens in regulation; both marks were significantly ahead of rivals.

Even though official PGA Tour statistics did not begin until 1980, Nicklaus was consistently the leader in greens hit in regulation through that year, displaying great command of the long and middle irons. Indeed, Nicklaus remained in the top six of this category through 1985 – far past his best playing years. Nicklaus also finished 10th in driving distance and 13th in driving accuracy in 1980 at age 40, which equated to a "Total Driving" composite of 23 – a statistical level not attained since, by a comfortable margin. Nicklaus led this category through 1982. One key to Nicklaus' ball-striking ability and overall power was his exceptional swing tempo. Of this Tom Watson referred to it as Nicklaus' greatest strength in its ability to remain smooth. This proved an asset, especially under pressure, which allowed him to obtain great distance control with his irons.

Nicklaus was also known for his course management skills. He would plan to hit each full shot to the optimal position, to best set up his next shot, usually aiming for level lies and clear approach lines, while favoring his preferred shot shapes. He would often hold back on power to achieve this, but had a power advantage over most rivals through the set, so that he could hit a 3-wood or 1-iron from the tee with increased accuracy to avoid trouble, with sufficient length to keep up with the drivers hit by most rivals. An exceptional example of this came in the final round of the 1966 Open Championship at Muirfield, on the 17th hole, a 530-yard par 5 hole. Nicklaus needed a birdie, but the hole was framed by tall fescue rough, and was playing downwind with very firm turf conditions. He used a 3-iron from the tee and hit the shot 290 yards, then hit a 5-iron 240 yards onto the green, two-putted for birdie, and parred the final hole to win the title. Nicklaus was the first professional player to chart and document yardages on the course on a consistent, planned basis. For most of his career, Nicklaus was not known for his skill on touch shots with the wedges, so he would often play to avoid wedge shots which needed less-than-full swings. Gary Player states that Nicklaus had "the greatest mind the game has ever known".

While not a great putter, he was often able to make the important putts when he needed them. Nicklaus's putting was highly regarded by his rivals. He was also known as a conservative player at times, going for broke only when he needed to. This was especially apparent on the green, where he would often choose to be less aggressive and make sure of an easy two-putt. Nicklaus spoke about this in his autobiography. "I was a fine two-putter, but sometimes too defensive—too concerned about three-putting—to go for putts that I probably should have gone for."

Awards and recognition

After his first year on the PGA Tour in 1962, Nicklaus received the PGA Tour Rookie of the Year award. As well as receiving the PGA Tour Player of the Year five times and topping the PGA Tour money list eight times, he has also attained the Bob Jones Award and the Payne Stewart Award, among others.

Nicklaus was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in the inaugural class of 1974 and the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame in 1995. His likeness was featured on a special commemorative issue five-pound note issued by the Royal Bank of Scotland, making him the first living person outside the Royal Family to appear on a British banknote.

There is a Jack Nicklaus Museum on the campus of The Ohio State University in his home town of Columbus, Ohio. The museum was opened in 2002 and is a state-of-the-art , facility offering a comprehensive view of Nicklaus' life and career in and out of golf as well as exhibits celebrating the history and legends of the game.

Nicklaus had the rare privilege of "dotting the 'i'" of "Script Ohio", the signature formation of the Ohio State University Marching Band, at the Ohio State homecoming game on October 28, 2006 when the Buckeyes played Minnesota; this is considered the greatest honor that can be bestowed on a non-band member. Nicklaus was the fifth non-band member to receive this award. Other recipients include Bob Hope and Woody Hayes. While at Ohio State University, Nicklaus became a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta.

Along with Annika Sörenstam, Nicklaus was named a Global Ambassador for the International Golf Federation in 2008 and was instrumental in bringing golf to the Olympics for the 2016 and 2020 games. Golf was last an Olympic sport at the 1904 Games in St. Louis, Mo. when the United States and Canada were the only two competing countries. The International Olympic Committee approved the inclusion by a vote of 63–27, with two abstentions.

In August 2009, Augusta National announced that Nicklaus will join Arnold Palmer as an honorary starter for the 2010 Masters. Nicklaus will become the eighth honorary starter since the tradition began in 1963 when Nicklaus won his first green jacket. It will be Palmer's fourth year to hit the ceremonial opening tee shot.

Nicklaus, through his global reach in design and development, as well as the worldwide marketing and licensing of his golf and lifestyle brand, is atop ''Golf Inc.'' magazine’s coveted list of the "Most Powerful People in Golf" for a record-extending sixth consecutive year. He is the only golf industry figure who has ever been named to the No. 1 spot for more than three years. Nicklaus topped the 2009 worldwide list of 35 individuals who were selected by a panel of editors for their ability to influence and impact the business of golf, be it the development of courses and communities, the operation of courses, the equipment used by golfers, or the rules and regulations of the game. ''Golf Inc.'' wrote that while the Golden Bear’s reign at No. 1 is unprecedented, "the fact is that he keeps adding to his legend, at the design table and in the business world. Despite a worldwide course development slowdown, Nicklaus’s design firm has over 40 courses in development around the globe...And he remains perhaps golf’s most respected spokesperson on a wide range of issues."

Career achievements

During his career on the PGA Tour, Nicklaus accumulated 18 major championships, which is a record, and 73 PGA Tour victories, second only to Sam Snead. He also holds the outright record for the most wins at The Masters with six, and The Players Championship with three. He played on six Ryder Cup teams, captained the team twice and the Presidents Cup team four times, and topped the PGA Tour money list and scoring average eight times each. For 24 straight seasons, from 1960 to 1983 inclusive, he made at least one top ten finish in a major championship, and this is a record.

PGA Tour wins (73)

Other wins (22)

Senior Tour wins (10)

Other senior wins (11)

Major championships

Wins (18)

{|class="sortable wikitable" !Year!!Championship!!54 Holes!!Winning Score!!Margin!!Runner(s)-up |-bgcolor="#FBCEB1" | 1962 ||U.S. Open ||2 shot deficit ||−1 (72–70–72–69=283) ||Playoff ¹ || Arnold Palmer |-bgcolor="#D0F0C0" | 1963 ||Masters Tournament ||1 shot lead ||−2 (74–66–74–72=286) ||1 stroke || Tony Lema |-bgcolor="#D8BFD8" | 1963 ||PGA Championship ||3 shot deficit ||−5 (69–73–69–68=279) ||2 strokes || Dave Ragan |-bgcolor="#D0F0C0" | 1965 ||Masters Tournament (2) ||5 shot lead ||−17 (67–71–64–69=271) ||9 strokes || Arnold Palmer, Gary Player |-bgcolor="#D0F0C0" | 1966 ||Masters Tournament (3) ||Tied for lead ||E (68–76–72–72=288) ||Playoff ²|| Gay Brewer, Tommy Jacobs |-bgcolor="#ABCDEF" | 1966 ||The Open Championship ||2 shot deficit ||−2 (70–67–75–70=282) ||1 stroke|| Doug Sanders, Dave Thomas |-bgcolor="#FBCEB1" | 1967 ||U.S. Open (2)||1 shot deficit ||−9 (71–67–72–65=275) ||4 strokes || Arnold Palmer |-bgcolor="#ABCDEF" | 1970 ||The Open Championship (2)||2 shot deficit ||−5 (68–69–73–73=283) ||Playoff ³|| Doug Sanders |-bgcolor="#D8BFD8" | 1971 ||PGA Championship (2)||4 shot lead ||−7 (69–69–70–73=281) ||2 strokes || Billy Casper |-bgcolor="#D0F0C0" | 1972 ||Masters Tournament (4)||1 shot lead ||−2 (68–71–73–74=286) ||3 strokes || Bruce Crampton, Bobby Mitchell, Tom Weiskopf |-bgcolor="#FBCEB1" | 1972 ||U.S. Open (3)||1 shot lead ||+2 (71–73–72–74=290) ||3 strokes || Bruce Crampton |-bgcolor="#D8BFD8" | 1973 ||PGA Championship (3)||1 shot lead ||−7 (72–68–68–69=277) ||4 strokes || Bruce Crampton |-bgcolor="#D0F0C0" | 1975 ||Masters Tournament (5)||1 shot deficit ||−12 (68–67–73–68=276) ||1 stroke || Tom Weiskopf, Johnny Miller |-bgcolor="#D8BFD8" | 1975 ||PGA Championship (4)||4 shot lead ||−4 (70–68–67–71=276) ||2 strokes || Bruce Crampton |-bgcolor="#ABCDEF" | 1978 ||The Open Championship (3)||1 shot deficit ||−7 (71–72–69–69=281) ||2 strokes || Ben Crenshaw, Raymond Floyd, Tom Kite, Simon Owen |-bgcolor="#FBCEB1" | 1980 ||U.S. Open (4)||Tied for lead ||−8 (63–71–70–68=272) ||2 strokes || Isao Aoki |-bgcolor="#D8BFD8" | 1980 ||PGA Championship (5)||3 shot lead ||−6 (70–69–66–69=274) ||7 strokes || Andy Bean |-bgcolor="#D0F0C0" | 1986 ||Masters Tournament (6)||4 shot deficit ||−9 (74–71–69–65=279) ||1 stroke || Tom Kite, Greg Norman |}

¹ Defeated Arnold Palmer in 18-hole playoff – Nicklaus 71 (E), Palmer 74 (+3). ² Defeated Tommy Jacobs & Gay Brewer in 18-hole playoff – Nicklaus 70 (−2), Jacobs 72 (E), Brewer 78 (+6). ³ Defeated Doug Sanders in 18-hole playoff – Nicklaus 72 (E), Sanders 73 (+1).

Results timeline

{| cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" border="1" style="font-size: 95%; border: #aaa solid 1px; border-collapse: collapse;" |- bgcolor="#eeeeee" !align="left"|Tournament !! 1957 !! 1958 !! 1959 |- |The Masters |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|CUT |- |U.S. Open |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|T41 |align="center"|CUT |- |The Open Championship |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |- |PGA Championship |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |}

{| cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" border="1" style="font-size: 95%; border: #aaa solid 1px; border-collapse: collapse;" |- bgcolor="#eeeeee" !align="left"|Tournament !!1960 !! 1961 !! 1962 !! 1963 !! 1964 !! 1965 !! 1966 !! 1967 !! 1968 !! 1969 |- |The Masters |align="center"|T13 ^LA |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T7 |align="center"|T15 |align="center" style="background:#00ff00;"|1 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T2 |align="center" style="background:#00ff00;"|1 |align="center" style="background:#00ff00;"|1 |align="center"|CUT |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T5 |align="center"|T24 |- |U.S. Open |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|2 ^LA |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T4 ^LA |align="center" style="background:#00ff00;"|1 |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|T23 |align="center"|T31 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|3 |align="center" style="background:#00ff00;"|1 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|2 |align="center"|T25 |- |The Open Championship |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|T32 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|3 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|2 |align="center"|T12 |align="center" style="background:#00ff00;"|1 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|2 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T2 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T6 |- |PGA Championship |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T3 |align="center" style="background:#00ff00;"|1 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T2 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T2 |align="center"|T22 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T3 |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|T11 |}

{| cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" border="1" style="font-size: 95%; border: #aaa solid 1px; border-collapse: collapse;" |- bgcolor="#eeeeee" !align="left"|Tournament !!1970 !! 1971 !! 1972 !! 1973 !! 1974 !! 1975 !! 1976 !! 1977 !! 1978 !! 1979 |- |The Masters |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|8 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T2 |align="center" style="background:#00ff00;"|1 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T3 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T4 |align="center" style="background:#00ff00;"|1 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T3 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|2 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|7 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|4 |- |U.S. Open |align="center"|T49 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|2 |align="center" style="background:#00ff00;"|1 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T4 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T10 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T7 |align="center"|T11 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T10 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T6 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T9 |- |The Open Championship |align="center" style="background:#00ff00;"|1 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T5 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|2 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|4 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|3 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T3 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T2 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|2 |align="center" style="background:#00ff00;"|1 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T2 |- |PGA Championship |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T6 |align="center" style="background:#00ff00;"|1 |align="center"|T13 |align="center" style="background:#00ff00;"|1 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|2 |align="center" style="background:#00ff00;"|1 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T4 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|3 |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|T65 |}

{| cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" border="1" style="font-size: 95%; border: #aaa solid 1px; border-collapse: collapse;" |- bgcolor="#eeeeee" !align="left"|Tournament !!1980 !! 1981 !! 1982 !! 1983 !! 1984 !! 1985 !! 1986 !! 1987 !! 1988 !! 1989 |- |The Masters |align="center"|T33 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T2 |align="center"|T15 |align="center"|WD |align="center"|T18 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T6 |align="center" style="background:#00ff00;"|1 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T7 |align="center"|T21 |align="center"|18 |- |U.S. Open |align="center" style="background:#00ff00;"|1 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T6 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|2 |align="center"|T43 |align="center"|T21 |align="center"|CUT |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T8 |align="center"|T46 |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|T43 |- |The Open Championship |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T4 |align="center"|T23 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T10 |align="center"|T29 |align="center"|T31 |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|T46 |align="center"|T72 |align="center"|T25 |align="center"|T30 |- |PGA Championship |align="center" style="background:#00ff00;"|1 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T4 |align="center"|T16 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|2 |align="center"|T25 |align="center"|T32 |align="center"|T16 |align="center"|T24 |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|T27 |}

{| cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" border="1" style="font-size: 95%; border: #aaa solid 1px; border-collapse: collapse;" |- bgcolor="#eeeeee" !align="left"|Tournament !!1990 !! 1991 !! 1992 !! 1993 !! 1994 !! 1995 !! 1996 !! 1997 !! 1998 !! 1999 |- |The Masters |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|6 |align="center"|T35 |align="center"|T42 |align="center"|T27 |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|T35 |align="center"|T41 |align="center"|T39 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T6 |align="center"|DNP |- |U.S. Open |align="center"|T33 |align="center"|T46 |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|T72 |align="center"|T28 |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|T27 |align="center"|T52 |align="center"|T43 |align="center"|CUT |- |The Open Championship |align="center"|T63 |align="center"|T44 |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|T79 |align="center"|T45 |align="center"|60 |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |- |PGA Championship |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|T23 |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|T67 |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |}

{| cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" border="1" style="font-size: 95%; border: #aaa solid 1px; border-collapse: collapse;" |- bgcolor="#eeeeee" !align="left"|Tournament !! 2000 !! 2001 !! 2002 !! 2003 !! 2004 !! 2005 |- |The Masters |align="center"|T54 |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |- |U.S. Open |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |- |The Open Championship |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|CUT |- |PGA Championship |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |}

^LA = low amateur DNP = did not play WD = withdrew due to injury CUT = missed the half way cut "T" indicates a tie for a place. Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.

Summary of performances

Starts – 163

Wins – 18

2nd place finishes – 19

Top-three finishes – 46

Top-five finishes – 56

Top-10 finishes – 73

Longest streak of top-10s in majors – 13

Longest streak of consecutive cuts made in majors – 39

All of the above figures are stand-alone records with the exception of the longest streak of consecutive cuts made in majors at 39 which was equalled by Tiger Woods.

Champions Tour major championships

Wins (8)

{|class="sortable wikitable" !Year!!Championship!!Winning Score!!Margin!!Runner(s)-up |-bgcolor="#D0F0C0" | 1990 ||The Tradition at Desert Mountain ||−10 (71–67–68=206) ||4 strokes || Gary Player |-bgcolor="#FFFF99" | 1990 ||Mazda Senior Tournament Players Championship ||−27 (65–68–64–64=261) ||6 strokes || Lee Trevino |-bgcolor="#D0F0C0" | 1991 ||The Tradition at Desert Mountain (2) ||−11 (71–73–66–67=277) ||1 stroke || Jim Colbert, Jim Dent, Phil Rodgers |-bgcolor="#D8BFD8" | 1991 ||PGA Seniors' Championship ||−17 (66–66–69–70=271) ||6 strokes || Bruce Crampton |-bgcolor="#FBCEB1" | 1991 ||U.S. Senior Open ||+2 (72–69–70–71=282) ||Playoff¹|| Chi-Chi Rodríguez |-bgcolor="#FBCEB1" | 1993 ||U.S. Senior Open (2) ||−6 (68–73–67–70=278) ||1 stroke || Tom Weiskopf |-bgcolor="#D0F0C0" | 1995 ||The Tradition (3) ||−12 (69–71–69–67=276) ||Playoff²|| Isao Aoki |-bgcolor="#D0F0C0" | 1996 ||The Tradition (4) ||−16 (68–74–65–65=272) ||3 strokes || Hale Irwin |} ¹ In an 18-hole playoff, Nicklaus shot a (65) to Rodríguez's (69).

Results timeline

{| cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" border="1" style="font-size: 95%; border: #aaa solid 1px; border-collapse: collapse;" |- bgcolor="#eeeeee" !align="left"|Tournament !1990 !1991 !1992 !1993 !1994 !1995 !1996 !1997 !1998 !1999 |- |The Tradition |align="center" style="background:#00ff00;"|1 |align="center" style="background:#00ff00;"|1 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|2 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T9 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T4 |align="center" style="background:#00ff00;"|1 |align="center" style="background:#00ff00;"|1 |align="center"|T25 |align="center"|T25 |align="center"|DNP |- |Senior PGA Championship |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T3 |align="center" style="background:#00ff00;"|1 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T10 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T9 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|9 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|8 |align="center"|T22 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T2 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T6 |align="center"|DNP |- |Senior Players Championship |align="center" style="background:#00ff00;"|1 |align="center"|T22 |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|T22 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T6 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|2 |align="center"|T24 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T8 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|6 |align="center"|DNP |- |U.S. Senior Open |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T2 |align="center" style="background:#00ff00;"|1 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T3 |align="center" style="background:#00ff00;"|1 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T7 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|2 |align="center"|16 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T5 |align="center"|T13 |align="center"|DNP |}

{| cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" border="1" style="font-size: 95%; border: #aaa solid 1px; border-collapse: collapse;" |- bgcolor="#eeeeee" !align="left"|Tournament !2000 !2001 !2002 !2003 !2004 |- |The Tradition |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T9 |align="center"|T29 |align="center"|69 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T10 |align="center"|DNP |- |Senior PGA Championship |align="center"|T12 |align="center"|12 |align="center"|WD |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|WD |- |Senior Players Championship |align="center"|T34 |align="center"|WD |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|T40 |align="center"|DNP |- |U.S. Senior Open |align="center"|T21 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|4 |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|T25 |align="center"|DNP |- |Senior British Open |align="center"|-¹ |align="center"|-¹ |align="center"|-¹ |align="center"|T14 |align="center"|DNP |}

¹The Senior British Open was not a Champions Tour event until 2003.

DNP = Did not play CUT = Missed the half-way cut WD = Withdrew "T" = tied Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.

Summary of performances

Starts – 50

Cuts made – 46 (cut once, withdrew 3 times)

Wins – 8

Second place finishes – 5

Top-three finishes – 15

Top-five finishes – 18

Top-10 finishes – 30

Longest streak of top-10s – 10

See also

Career Grand Slam Champions

Golfers with most PGA Tour wins

List of men's major championships winning golfers

Golfers with most Champions Tour wins

Golfers with most Champions Tour major championship wins

Most wins in one PGA Tour event

Notes and references

External links

Nicklaus.com Official site and portal to other official Nicklaus-related websites

* PGA Tour career summary

* Nicklaus Design

Nicklaus Travel

Nicklaus Golf Equipment

Nicklaus Museum

Jack Nicklaus at golfmajorchampionships.com

HeadlineSports.net All Jack Nicklaus Sports Illustrated Covers

Jack Nicklaus Profile, trivia, quotes and other resources from About.com.

Jack Nicklaus Profile at Golf Legends

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Category:American golfers Category:Ohio State Buckeyes men's golfers Category:PGA Tour golfers Category:Champions Tour golfers Category:Winners of men's major golf championships Category:Men's Career Grand Slam champion golfers Category:Winners of senior major golf championships Category:World Golf Hall of Fame inductees Category:Golf course architects Category:Golf writers and broadcasters Category:Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients Category:American philanthropists Category:People illustrated on sterling banknotes Category:American people of German descent Category:People from Columbus, Ohio Category:1940 births Category:Living people

ca:Jack Nicklaus cy:Jack Nicklaus da:Jack Nicklaus de:Jack Nicklaus es:Jack Nicklaus fr:Jack Nicklaus ko:잭 니클라우스 id:Jack Nicklaus it:Jack Nicklaus lv:Džeks Nikleuss nl:Jack Nicklaus ja:ジャック・ニクラス no:Jack Nicklaus pl:Jack Nicklaus pt:Jack Nicklaus simple:Jack Nicklaus fi:Jack Nicklaus sv:Jack Nicklaus ta:ஜக் நிக்லோஸ் zh:傑克·尼克勞斯

name	Arnold Palmer
fullname	Arnold Daniel Palmer
nickname	The King
birth date	September 10, 1929
birth place	Latrobe, Pennsylvania
death date
height
weight
nationality
residence	Latrobe, PennsylvaniaOrlando, Florida
spouse	Winifred Walzer (m. 1954-1999)Kathleen Gawthrop (m. 2005)
college	Wake Forest University
yearpro	1954
retired
extour	PGA TourChampions Tour
prowins	94
pgawins	62 (5th all time)
eurowins	2
auswins	2
champwins	10
otherwins
majorwins	7
masters	Won: 1958, 1960, 1962, 1964
usopen	Won: 1960
open	Won: 1961, 1962
pga	T2: 1964, 1968, 1970
wghofid	1001
wghofyear	1974
award1	PGA Tourleading money winner
year1	1958, 1960, 1962, 1963
award2	PGA Player of the Year
year2	1960, 1962
award3	Vardon Trophy
year3	1961, 1962, 1964, 1967
award4	Bob Jones Award
year4	1971
award5	Old Tom Morris Award
year5	1983
award6	PGA Tour LifetimeAchievement Award
year6	1998
award7	Payne Stewart Award
year7	2000
award8	Sports IllustratedSportsman of the Year
year8	1960
awardssection	}}

Arnold Daniel Palmer (born September 10, 1929) is an American professional golfer, who is generally regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of men's professional golf. He has won numerous events on both the PGA Tour and Champions Tour, dating back to 1955. Nicknamed "The King," he is one of golf's most popular stars and its most important trailblazer, because he was the first superstar of the sport's television age, which began in the 1950s. He is part of "The Big Three" in golf, along with Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player, who are widely credited with popularizing and commercialising the sport around the world.

Palmer won the PGA Tour Lifetime Achievement Award in 1998, and in 1974 was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame.

Career outline

Early life

Palmer was born in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. He learned golf from his father, Deacon Palmer, who was head professional and greenskeeper at Latrobe Country Club, allowing young Arnold to accompany his father as he maintained the course. He attended Wake Forest University, on a golf scholarship. He left upon the death of close friend Bud Worsham and enlisted in the United States Coast Guard, where he served for three years and had some time to continue to hone his golf skills. Palmer returned to college and competitive golf. His win in the 1954 U.S. Amateur made him decide to try the pro tour for a while, and he and new bride Winifred Walzer (whom he had met at a Pennsylvania tournament) traveled the circuit for 1955.

Rise to superstardom

Palmer won the 1955 Canadian Open in his rookie season, and raised his game status for the next several seasons. Palmer's charisma was a major factor in establishing golf as a compelling television event in the 1950s and 1960s, setting the stage for the popularity it enjoys today. His first major championship win at the 1958 Masters Tournament cemented his position as one of the leading stars in golf, and by 1960 he had signed up as pioneering sports agent Mark McCormack's first client. In later interviews, McCormack listed five attributes that made Palmer especially marketable: his good looks; his relatively modest background (his father was a greenskeeper before rising to be club professional and Latrobe was a humble club); the way he played golf, taking risks and wearing his emotions on his sleeve; his involvement in a string of exciting finishes in early televised tournaments; and his affability.

Palmer is also credited by many for securing the status of The Open Championship (British Open) among U.S. players. After Ben Hogan won that championship in 1953, few American professionals had travelled to play in The Open, due to its travel requirements, relatively small prize purses, and the style of its links courses (radically different from most American courses). Palmer was convinced by his business partner Mark McCormack that success in the Open -– to emulate the feats of Bobby Jones, Walter Hagen, Sam Snead and Hogan before him –- would truly make him a global sporting star, not simply a leading American golfer. In particular, Palmer travelled to Scotland in 1960, having already won both the Masters and U.S. Open, to try to emulate Hogan's feat of 1953, of winning all three in a single year. He failed, losing out to Kel Nagle by a single shot, but his subsequent Open wins in the early 1960s convinced many American pros that a trip to Britain would be worth the effort, and certainly secured Palmer's popularity among British and European fans, not just American ones.

Palmer won seven major championships:

The Masters: 1958, 1960, 1962, 1964

U.S. Open: 1960

The Open Championship: 1961, 1962

Palmer's most prolific years were 1960–1963, when he won 29 PGA Tour events in four seasons. In 1960, he won the Hickok Belt as the top professional athlete of the year and ''Sports Illustrated'' magazine's "Sportsman of the Year" award. He built up a wide fan base, often referred to as "Arnie's Army", and in 1967 he became the first man to reach one million dollars in career earnings on the PGA Tour. By the late 1960s Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player had both acquired clear ascendancy in their rivalry, but Palmer won a PGA Tour event every year from 1955 to 1971 inclusive, and in 1971 he enjoyed a revival, winning four events.

Palmer won the Vardon Trophy for lowest scoring average four times: 1961, 1962, 1964, and 1967. He played on six Ryder Cup teams: 1961, 1963, 1965, 1967, 1971, and 1973. He was the last playing captain in 1963, and captained the team again in 1975.

Palmer was eligible for the Senior PGA Tour (now the Champions Tour) from its first season in 1980, and he was one of the marquee names who helped it to become successful. He won ten events on the tour, including five senior majors.

Palmer won the first World Match Play Championship in England, an event which was originally organized by McCormack to showcase his stable of players. Their partnership was one of the most significant in the history of sports marketing. Long after he ceased to win tournaments, Palmer remained one of the highest earners in golf due to his appeal to sponsors and the public.

In 2004, he competed in The Masters for the last time, marking his 50th consecutive appearance in that event. After missing the cut at the 2005 U.S. Senior Open by 21 shots, he announced that he would not enter any more senior majors. Since 2007, Palmer has served as the honorary starter for the Masters. He retired from tournament golf on October 13, 2006, when he withdrew from the Champions Tours' Administaff Small Business Classic after four holes due to dissatisfaction with his own play. He played the remaining holes but did not keep score. Palmer's legacy was reaffirmed by an electrifying moment during the 2004 Bay Hill Invitational. Standing over 200 yards from the water-guarded 18th green, Palmer, who is known for his aggressive play, lashed his second shot onto the green with a driver. The shot thrilled his loyal gallery and energized the excitable Palmer. He turned to his grandson and caddie, Sam Saunders, and gave him a prolonged shimmy and playful jeering in celebration of the moment.

Golf businesses

Palmer has had a diverse golf-related business career, including owning the Bay Hill Club and Lodge, which is the venue for the PGA Tour's Arnold Palmer Invitational (renamed from the Bay Hill Invitational in 2007), helping to found The Golf Channel, and negotiating the deal to build the first golf course in the People's Republic of China. This led to the formation of Palmer Course Design in 1972, which was renamed Arnold Palmer Design Company when the company moved to Orlando Florida in 2006. Palmer's design partner was Ed Seay. The Palmer-Seay team has designed over 200 courses around the world. Since 1971 he has owned Latrobe Country Club, where his father used to be the club professional.

Legacy

In 2000, Palmer was ranked the sixth greatest player of all time in ''Golf Digest'' magazine's rankings.

According to ''Golf Digest'', Palmer made $1,861,857 in 734 PGA Tour career starts over 53 years; he earned an estimated $30 million off the course in 2008.

He now resides near his golf course, Arnold Palmer's Bay Hill Country Club and Lodge, in Orlando, Florida which was originally designed by Dick Wilson.

Palmer's grandson, Sam Saunders, is a professional golfer, currently a member of the Nationwide Tour. Saunders grew up playing at Bay Hill, and won the Club Championship there at age 15. He attended Clemson University on a golf scholarship and turned pro in 2008. Saunders stated that Palmer's family nickname is "Dumpy".

An avid pilot for over 50 years, Palmer thought he would pilot a plane for the last time on January 31, 2011. He flew from Palm Springs, California to Orlando, Florida in his Cessna Citation X. His pilot's medical certificate expired that day and he chose not to renew it. However, public FAA records show he was issued a new third class medical in May of 2011.

Amateur wins (26)

1946 WPIAL Championship, PIAA Championship

1947 WPIAL Championship, PIAA Championship, Western Pennsylvania Junior, Western Pennsylvania Amateur

1948 Southern Conference Championship, Sunnehanna Invitational, Western Pennsylvania Junior

1950 Southern Intercollegiate, Western Pennsylvania Amateur, Greensburg Invitational

1951 Western Pennsylvania Amateur, Worsharn Memorial

1952 Western Pennsylvania Amateur, Greensburg Invitational

1953 Ohio Amateur, Cleveland Amateur, Greensburg Invitational, Mayfield Heights Open, Evergreen Pitch and Putt Invitational

1954 U.S. Amateur, Ohio Amateur, All-American Amateur, Atlantic Coast Conference Championship, Bill Waite Memorial

Amateur major wins (1)

{|class="wikitable" !Year!!Championship!!Winning Score!!Runner-up |- | 1954 || U.S. Amateur || align=center|1 up || Robert Sweeny Jr. |}

Results timeline

{| cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" border="1" style="font-size: 95%; border: #aaa solid 1px; border-collapse: collapse;" |- bgcolor="#eeeeee" !align="left"|Tournament !1948 !1949 !1950 !1951 !1952 !1953 !1954 |- |U.S. Amateur |align="center"|R256 |align="center"|R64 |align="center"|R256 |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|R16 |align="center" style="background:#00ff00;"|1 |}

DNP = Did not play R256, R128, R64, R32, R16, QF, SF = Round in which player lost in match play Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10

Source:

Professional wins (94)

PGA Tour wins (62)

!No.	!Date	!Tournament	!Winning Score	!Margin ofVictory	!Runner(s)-up
1	Aug 20, 1955	Canadian Open	-23 (64–67–64–70=265)	4 strokes	Jack Burke, Jr.
2	Jul 1, 1956	Insurance City Open	-10 (66–69–68–71=274)	Playoff	Ted Kroll
3	Jul 29, 1956	Eastern Open	-11 (70–66–69–72=277)	2 strokes	Dow Finsterwald
4	Feb 25, 1957	Houston Open	-9 (67–72–71–69=279)	1 stroke
5	Mar 31, 1957	Azalea Open Invitational	-6 (70–67–70–75=282)	1 stroke	Dow Finsterwald
6	Jun 9, 1957	Rubber City Open Invitational	-12 (71–66–67–68=272)	Playoff
7	Oct 30, 1957	San Diego Open Invitational	-17 (65–68–68–70=271)	1 stroke	Al Balding
8	Oct 20, 1958	St. Petersburg Open Invitational	-12 (70–69–72–65=276)	1 stroke	Al Balding, Dow Finsterwald
9	Apr 6, 1958	Masters Tournament	-4 (70–73–68–73=284)	1 stroke
10	Jun 29, 1958	Pepsi Championship	-11 (66–69–67–71=273)	5 strokes	Jay Hebert
11	Jan 25, 1959	Thunderbird Invitational	-18 (67–70–67–62=266)	Playoff	Jimmy Demaret, Ken Venturi
12	May 11, 1959	Oklahoma City Open Invitational	-15 (73–64–67–69=273)	2 strokes	Bob Goalby
13	Nov 29, 1959	West Palm Beach Open Invitational	-7 (72–67–66–76=281)	Playoff
14	Feb 7, 1960	Palm Springs Desert Golf Classic	-22 (67–73–67–66–65=338)	3 strokes	Fred Hawkins
15	Feb 28, 1960	Texas Open Invitational	-12 (69–65–67–75=276)	2 strokes
16	Mar 6, 1960	Baton Rouge Open Invitational	-9 (71–71–69–68=279)	7 strokes	Jay Hebert, Ron Reif, Doug Sanders
17	Mar 13, 1960	Pensacola Open Invitational	-15 (68–65–73–67=273)	1 stroke	Doug Sanders
18	Apr 10, 1960	Masters Tournament	-6 (67–73–72–70=282)	1 stroke	Ken Venturi
19	Jun 18, 1960		-4 (72–71–72–65=280)	2 strokes	Jack Nicklaus
20	Aug 7, 1960	Insurance City Open Invitational	-14 (70–68–66–66=270)	Playoff
21	Nov 27, 1960	Mobile Sertoma Open Invitational	-14 (68–67–74–65=274)	2 strokes	Johnny Pott
22	Jan 15, 1961	San Diego Open Invitational	-17 (69–68–69–65=271)	Playoff	Al Balding
23	Feb 12, 1961	Phoenix Open Invitational	-14 (69–65–66–70=270)	Playoff	Doug Sanders
24	Feb 26, 1961	Baton Rouge Open Invitational	-22 (65–67–68–66=266)	7 strokes	Wes Ellis
25	Apr 30, 1961	Texas Open Invitational	-10 (67–63–72–68=270)	1 stroke	Al Balding
26	Jun 25, 1961	Western Open	-13 (65–70–67–69=271)	2 strokes	Sam Snead
27	Jul 14, 1961	The Open Championship	-4 (70–73–69–72=284)	1 stroke	Dai Rees
28	Feb 4, 1962	Palm Springs Golf Classic	-18 (69–67–66–71–69=342)	3 strokes	Jay Hebert, Gene Littler
29	Feb 11, 1962	Phoenix Open Invitational	-15 (64–68–71–66=269)	12 strokes	Billy Casper, Don Fairfield, Bob McCallister
30	Apr 9, 1962	Masters Tournament	-8 (70–66–69–75–68=280)	Playoff	Dow Finsterwald, Gary Player
31	Apr 29, 1962	Texas Open Invitational	-1 (72–70–72–69=273)	1 stroke
32	May 6, 1962		-12 (69–70–69–68=276)	1 stroke	Billy Casper
33	May 13, 1962	Colonial National Invitation	+1 (67–72–66–76=281)	Playoff	Johnny Pott
34	Jul 13, 1962	The Open Championship	-12 (71–69–67–69=276)	6 strokes	Kel Nagle
35	Aug 12, 1962	American Golf Classic	-4 (67–69–70–70=276)	5 strokes	Mason Rudolph
36	Jan 7, 1963	Los Angeles Open	-10 (69–69–70–66=274)	3 strokes	Al Balding, Gary Player
37	Feb 12, 1963	Phoenix Open Invitational	-11 (68–67–68–70=273)	1 stroke	Gary Player
38	Mar 10, 1963	Pensacola Open Invitational	-15 (69–68–69–67=273)	2 strokes	Harold Kneece, Gary Player
39	Jun 16, 1963	Thunderbird Classic Invitational	-11 (67–70–68–72=277)	Playoff	Paul Harney
40	Jul 1, 1963	Cleveland Open Invitational	-9 (68–73–65–73=279)	Playoff	Tommy Aaron, Tony Lema
41	Jul 29, 1963	Western Open	-11 (71–68–66–68=273)	Playoff	Julius Boros, Jack Nicklaus
42	Oct 6, 1963	Whitemarsh Open Invitational	-7 (70–71–66–74=281)	1 stroke	Lionel Hebert
43	Apr 12, 1964	Masters Tournament	-12 (69–68–69–70=276)	6 strokes	Dave Marr, Jack Nicklaus
44	May 18, 1964	Oklahoma City Open Invitational	-11 (72–69–69–67=277)	2 strokes	Lionel Hebert
45	Apr 25, 1965		-11 (66–69–71–71=277)	3 strokes	Chi Chi Rodriguez
46	Jan 31, 1966	Los Angeles Open	-11 (72–66–62–73=273)	3 strokes	Miller Barber, Paul Harney
47	Apr 18, 1966		-5 (74–70–70–69=283)	Playoff	Gay Brewer
48	Nov 20, 1966	Houston Champions International	-9 (70–68–68–69=275)	1 stroke	Gardner Dickinson
49	Jan 29, 1967	Los Angeles Open	-2 (70–64–67–68=269)	5 strokes	Gay Brewer
50	Feb 19, 1967	Tucson Open Invitational	-15 (66–67–67–73=273)	1 stroke
51	Aug 13, 1967	American Golf Classic	-4 (70–67–72–67=276)	3 stroke	Doug Sanders
52	Sep 24, 1967	Thunderbird Classic	-5 (71–71–72–69=283)	1 stroke	Charles Coody, Jack Nicklaus, Art Wall, Jr.
53	Feb 14, 1968	Bob Hope Desert Classic	-12 (72–70–67–71–68=348)	Playoff	Deane Beman
54	Sep 15, 1968	Kemper Open	-12 (69–70–70–67=276)	4 strokes	Bruce Crampton, Art Wall, Jr.
55	Nov 30, 1969	Heritage Golf Classic	-1 (68–71–70–74=283)	3 strokes	Dick Crawford, Bert Yancey
56	Dec 7, 1969	Danny Thomas-Diplomat Classic	-18 (68-67-70-65-270)	2 strokes	Gay Brewer
57			-25 (61–67–64–67=259)	3 strokes	Bruce Crampton & Orville Moody, Gardner Dickinson & Sam Snead, George Archer & Bobby Nichols
58		Bob Hope Desert Classic	-18 (67–71–66–68–70=342)	Playoff	Raymond Floyd
59		Florida Citrus Invitational	-18 (66–68–68–68=270)	1 stroke	Julius Boros
60		Westchester Classic	-18 (64–70–68–68=270)	5 strokes	Gibby Gilbert, Hale Irwin
61		National Team Championship(with Jack Nicklaus)	-27 (62–64–65–66=257)	6 strokes	Julius Boros & Bill Collins (golfer)
62		[[Bob Hope Desert Classic	-17 (71–66–69–68–69=343)	2 strokes	Jack Nicklaus, Johnny Miller

Source:

Other wins (17)

1955 Colombian Open

1956 Panama Open

1960 Canada Cup (with Sam Snead)

1962 Canada Cup (with Sam Snead)

1963 Australian Wills Masters Tournament, Canada Cup (with Jack Nicklaus)

1964 Piccadilly World Match Play Championship (England, but not a European Tour event at that time), Canada Cup (with Jack Nicklaus)

1966 Australian Open, Canada Cup (with Jack Nicklaus), PGA Team Championship (with Jack Nicklaus)

1967 Piccadilly World Match Play Championship (England, but not a European Tour event at that time), World Cup (with Jack Nicklaus)

1971 Lancome Trophy (France, but not a European Tour event at that time)

1975 Spanish Open (European Tour), Penfold PGA Championship (European Tour)

1980 Canadian PGA Championship

Senior PGA Tour wins (10)

1980 (1) PGA Seniors' Championship

1981 (1) U.S. Senior Open

1982 (2) Marlboro Classic, Denver Post Champions of Golf

1983 (1) Boca Grove Seniors Classic

1984 (3) General Foods PGA Seniors' Championship, Senior Tournament Players Championship, Quadel Seniors Classic

1985 (1) Senior Tournament Players Championship

1988 (1) Crestar Classic

Senior majors are shown in bold.

Other senior wins (5)

1984 Doug Sanders Celebrity Pro-Am

1986 Union Mutual Classic

1990 Senior Skins Game

1992 Senior Skins Game

1993 Senior Skins Game

Major championships

Wins (7)

{|class="sortable wikitable" !Year!!Championship!!54 Holes!!Winning Score!!Margin!!Runner(s)-up |-bgcolor="#D0F0C0" | 1958 ||Masters Tournament ||Tied for lead ||−4 (70–73–68–73=284) ||1 stroke || Doug Ford, Fred Hawkins |-bgcolor="#D0F0C0" | 1960 ||Masters Tournament (2)||1 shot lead ||−6 (67–73–72–70=282) ||1 stroke || Ken Venturi |-bgcolor="#FBCEB1" | 1960 ||U.S. Open ||7 shot deficit ||−4 (72–71–72–65=280) ||2 strokes || Jack Nicklaus |-bgcolor="#ABCDEF" | 1961 ||The Open Championship ||1 shot lead ||−8 (70–73–69–72=284) ||1 stroke || Dai Rees |-bgcolor="#D0F0C0" | 1962 ||Masters Tournament (3)||2 shot lead ||−8 (70–66–69–75=280) ||Playoff ¹|| Gary Player, Dow Finsterwald |-bgcolor="#ABCDEF" | 1962 ||The Open Championship (2)||5 shot lead ||−12 (71–69–67–69=276) ||6 strokes || Kel Nagle |-bgcolor="#D0F0C0" | 1964 ||Masters Tournament (4)||5 shot lead ||−12 (69–68–69–70=276) ||6 strokes || Dave Marr, Jack Nicklaus |} ¹ Defeated Gary Player & Dow Finsterwald in 18-hole playoff – Palmer (68), Player (71), Finsterwald (77)

Results timeline

{| cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" border="1" style="font-size: 95%; border: #aaa solid 1px; border-collapse: collapse;" |- bgcolor="#eeeeee" !align="left"|Tournament !1953 !1954 !1955 !1956 !1957 !1958 !1959 |- |The Masters |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T10 |align="center"|21 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T7 |align="center" style="background:#00ff00;"|1 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|3 |- |U.S. Open |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|T21 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|7 |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|T23 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T5 |- |The Open Championship |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |- |PGA Championship |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|T40 |align="center"|T14 |}

{| cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" border="1" style="font-size: 95%; border: #aaa solid 1px; border-collapse: collapse;" |- bgcolor="#eeeeee" !align="left"|Tournament !1960 !1961 !1962 !1963 !1964 !1965 !1966 !1967 !1968 !1969 |- |The Masters |align="center" style="background:#00ff00;"|1 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T2 |align="center" style="background:#00ff00;"|1 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T9 |align="center" style="background:#00ff00;"|1 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T2 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T4 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|4 |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|27 |- |U.S. Open |align="center" style="background:#00ff00;"|1 |align="center"|T14 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|2 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T2 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T5 |align="center"|CUT |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|2 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|2 |align="center"|59 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T6 |- |The Open Championship |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|2 |align="center" style="background:#00ff00;"|1 |align="center" style="background:#00ff00;"|1 |align="center"|T26 |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|16 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T8 |align="center"|DNP |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T10 |align="center"|DNP |- |PGA Championship |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T7 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T5 |align="center"|T17 |align="center"|T40 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T2 |align="center"|T33 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T6 |align="center"|T14 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T2 |align="center"|WD |}

{| cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" border="1" style="font-size: 95%; border: #aaa solid 1px; border-collapse: collapse;" |- bgcolor="#eeeeee" !align="left"|Tournament !1970 !1971 !1972 !1973 !1974 !1975 !1976 !1977 !1978 !1979 |- |The Masters |align="center"|T36 |align="center"|T18 |align="center"|T33 |align="center"|T24 |align="center"|T11 |align="center"|T13 |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|T24 |align="center"|T37 |align="center"|CUT |- |U.S. Open |align="center"|T54 |align="center"|T24 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|3 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T4 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T5 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T9 |align="center"|T50 |align="center"|T19 |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|T59 |- |The Open Championship |align="center"|12 |align="center"|DNP |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T7 |align="center"|T14 |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|T16 |align="center"|T55 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|7 |align="center"|T34 |align="center"|DNP |- |PGA Championship |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T2 |align="center"|T18 |align="center"|T16 |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|T28 |align="center"|T33 |align="center"|T15 |align="center"|T19 |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |}

{| cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" border="1" style="font-size: 95%; border: #aaa solid 1px; border-collapse: collapse;" |- bgcolor="#eeeeee" !align="left"|Tournament !1980 !1981 !1982 !1983 !1984 !1985 !1986 !1987 !1988 !1989 |- |The Masters |align="center"|T24 |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|47 |align="center"|T36 |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |- |U.S. Open |align="center"|63 |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|T60 |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |- |The Open Championship |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|T23 |align="center"|T27 |align="center"|T56 |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|CUT |- |PGA Championship |align="center"|T72 |align="center"|76 |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|T67 |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|T65 |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|T65 |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|T63 |}

{| cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" border="1" style="font-size: 95%; border: #aaa solid 1px; border-collapse: collapse;" |- bgcolor="#eeeeee" !align="left"|Tournament !1990 !1991 !1992 !1993 !1994 !1995 !1996 !1997 !1998 !1999 |- |The Masters |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |- |U.S. Open |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |- |The Open Championship |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |- |PGA Championship |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |}

{| cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" border="1" style="font-size: 95%; border: #aaa solid 1px; border-collapse: collapse;" |- bgcolor="#eeeeee" !align="left"|Tournament !2000 !2001 !2002 !2003 !2004 |- |The Masters |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |- |U.S. Open |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |- |The Open Championship |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |- |PGA Championship |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |}

DNP = Did not play WD = Withdrew CUT = missed the half-way cut "T" indicates a tie for a place Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.

Summary of performances

Starts – 142

Wins – 7

2nd place finishes – 10

Top 3 finishes – 19

Top 5 finishes – 26

Top 10 finishes – 38

Longest streak of top-10s in majors – 6

Champions Tour major championships

Wins (5)

{|class="sortable wikitable" !Year!!Championship!!Winning Score!!Margin!!Runner(s)-up |-bgcolor="#D8BFD8" | 1980 ||PGA Seniors' Championship || +1 (72–69–73–75=289) || Playoff¹ || Paul Harney |-bgcolor="#FBCEB1" | 1981 ||U.S. Senior Open || +9 (72–76–68–73=289) || Playoff² || Billy Casper, Bob Stone |-bgcolor="#D8BFD8" | 1984^a ||General Foods PGA Seniors' Championship (2) || −6 (69–63–79–71=282) || 2 strokes || Don January |-bgcolor="#FFFF99" | 1984 ||Senior Players Championship || −12 (72–68–67–69=276) || 3 strokes || Peter Thomson |-bgcolor="#FFFF99" | 1985 ||Senior Players Championship (2) || −14 (67–71–68–68=274) || 11 strokes || Miller Barber, Lee Elder, Gene Littler, Charles Owens |} ^a This was the January edition of the tournament. ¹ Palmer won this with a birdie on the first playoff hole. ² Won in an 18-hole playoff, Palmer shot a (70) to Stone's (74) and Casper's (77).

See also

Arnold Palmer Center for Golf History

Arnold Palmer Tournament Golf (video game)

Golfers with most PGA Tour wins

Golfers with most major championship wins

Most PGA Tour wins in a year

Longest PGA Tour win streaks

Most wins in one PGA Tour event

Golfers with most Champions Tour wins

Golfers with most Champions Tour major championship wins

List of celebrities who own wineries and vineyards

Arnold Palmer (drink)

References

External links

Arnold Palmer – Profile at Golflegends

Arnold Palmer Invitational – PGA Tour event

Arnold Palmer Design Company

Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children

Bay Hill Club and Lodge – Palmer's winter home course

Latrobe Country Club – Palmer's summer home course

Arnold Palmer Tee – Palmer's namesake half iced tea and half lemonade drink

{{navboxes|title=Arnold Palmer in the major championships |list1= }} {{navboxes|title=Arnold Palmer in the senior major championships |list1= }} {{navboxes|title=Arnold Palmer in the Ryder Cup |list1= }}

Category:American golfers Category:Wake Forest Demon Deacons men's golfers Category:PGA Tour golfers Category:Champions Tour golfers Category:Winners of men's major golf championships Category:Winners of senior major golf championships Category:World Golf Hall of Fame inductees Category:Golfers from Pennsylvania Category:Golf course architects Category:Golf writers and broadcasters Category:Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients Category:United States Coast Guard personnel Category:American people of Scotch-Irish descent Category:People from Latrobe, Pennsylvania Category:1929 births Category:Living people

da:Arnold Palmer de:Arnold Palmer es:Arnold Palmer fr:Arnold Palmer it:Arnold Palmer lv:Arnolds Pālmers nl:Arnold Palmer ja:アーノルド・パーマー no:Arnold Palmer pl:Arnold Palmer pt:Arnold Palmer ru:Палмер, Арнольд fi:Arnold Palmer sv:Arnold Palmer th:อาร์โนลด์ พาล์มเมอร์ zh:阿诺德·帕尔默

name	Gary Player
fullname	Gary Player
nickname	The Black Knight
birth date	November 01, 1935
birth place	Johannesburg, South Africa
death date
height
weight
nationality
residence	Jupiter Island, Florida, U.S. Colesberg, South Africa
yearpro	1953
retired
tour	PGA Tour (joined 1957) Champions Tour (joined 1985)
extour
prowins	165
pgawins	24 (25th all time)
eurowins
japwins
asiawins
sunwins
auswins
nwidewins
chalwins
otherwins	120 (regular) 14 (senior)
champwins	19
seneurowins
otherseniorwins
majorwins	9
masters	Won: 1961, 1974, 1978
usopen	Won: 1965
open	Won: 1959, 1968, 1974
pga	Won: 1962, 1972
wghofid	1093
wghofyear	1974
award1	PGA Tour leading money winner
year1	1961
award2	Southern Africa Tour Order of Merit winner
year2	1976/77, 1979/80
awardssection	#Distinctions and honors }}

Gary Player DMS; OIG (born 1 November 1935) is a South African professional golfer. With his nine major championship victories, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of golf. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1974. Player has won 165 tournaments on six continents over six decades.

Player was born in Johannesburg, South Africa. He has logged more than 15 million miles in travel, which is claimed to be more than any other athlete. Nicknamed the Black Knight, Mr. Fitness, and the International Ambassador of Golf, Player is also a renowned golf course architect with more than 300 design projects throughout the world. He has also written several golf books.

His business interests are represented by Black Knight International, which includes Gary Player Design, Player Real Estate, and Black Knight Enterprises, aspects of which include licensing, events, publishing, wine, apparel and memorabilia.

The Gary Player Stud Farm has received worldwide acclaim for breeding top thoroughbred race horses, including 1994 Epsom Derby entry Broadway Flyer. He operates The Player Foundation, which has a primary objective of promoting underprivileged education around the world.

In 1983, The Player Foundation established the Blair Atholl Schools in Johannesburg, South Africa, which has educational facilities for more than 500 students from kindergarten through eighth grade. In 2008 it celebrated its 25th Anniversary with charity golf events in London, Palm Beach, Shanghai and Cape Town, bringing its total of funds raised to over US $35 million.

Background and family

Gary Player was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, the youngest of Harry and Muriel Player's three children. When he was eight years old his mother died from cancer. Although his father was often away from home working in the gold mines, he did manage to take a loan in order to buy a set of clubs for his son Gary to begin playing golf. The Virginia Park golf course in Johannesburg is where Player first began his love affair with golf. At the age of 14 Player played his first round of golf and parred the first three holes. At age 16 he announced that he would become number one in the world. At age 17 he became a professional golfer.

Player married wife Vivienne Verwey (sister of professional golfer Bobby Verwey) on January 19, 1957, four years after turning professional. Together they have six children: Jennifer, Marc, Wayne, Michele, Theresa and Amanda. He is also a grandfather to 21 grandchildren. During the early days of his career Player would travel from tournament to tournament with wife, six children, nanny and a tutor in tow.

Eldest son Marc Player owns and operates Black Knight International, which exclusively represents Player in all his commercial activities, including all endorsements, merchandising, golf course design and real estate development.

Gary Player is the brother of Ian Player, a notable South African environmental educator and conservationist.

Regular PGA Tour career

Player is one of the most successful golfers in the history of the sport, ranking third (behind Roberto de Vicenzo and Sam Snead) in total professional wins, with at least 166, and tied for fourth in major championship victories with nine. Along with Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus he is often referred to as one of "The Big Three" golfers of his era – from the late 1950s through the late 1970s – when golf boomed in the United States and around the world, greatly encouraged by expanded television coverage. Along with Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods, he is one of only five players to win golf’s "career Grand Slam". He completed the Grand Slam in 1965 at the age of twenty-nine. Player was the second multi-time majors winner from South Africa, following Bobby Locke, then was followed by Ernie Els, and Retief Goosen.

Player played regularly on the U.S. based PGA Tour from the late 1950s. He led the money list in 1961, and went on to accumulate 24 career titles. He also played an exceptionally busy schedule all over the world, and he has been called the world's most traveled athlete, clocking up more than 15 million miles. He has more victories than anyone else in the South African Open (13) and the Australian Open (7). He held the record for most victories in the World Match Play Championship, with five wins, from 1973 until 1991 when this feat was equaled by Seve Ballesteros, finally losing his share of the record in 2004, when Ernie Els won the event for a sixth time. Player was ever-present in the top ten of Mark McCormack's world golf rankings from their inception in 1968 until 1981; he was ranked second on those rankings in 1969, 1970 and 1972, each time behind Jack Nicklaus, and had those rankings been based on just the most recent two seasons (like their modern counterpart), Player would have been number one several times.

He was the only player in the 20th century to win the British Open in three different decades. His first win, as a 23-year-old in 1959 at Muirfield, came after he double-bogeyed the last hole, and broke down in tears thinking he had lost his chance, but none of the remaining players on the course could match the clubhouse lead he had set. In 1974, he became one of the few golfers in history to win two major championships in the same season. Player last won the U.S. Masters in 1978, when he started seven strokes behind the leaders entering the final round, and won by one shot with birdies at seven of the last 10 holes for a back nine 30 and a final round 64. One week later, Player came from seven strokes back in the final round to win the Tournament of Champions. In 1984, at the age of 48, Player nearly became the oldest ever major champion, finishing just behind Lee Trevino at the PGA Championship. And in gusty winds at the 1998 Masters, he became the oldest golfer ever to make to the cut, breaking the 25-year-old record set by Sam Snead. Player credited this feat to his dedication to the concept of diet, health, practise and golf fitness.

Being South African, Player never played in the Ryder Cup in which American and European golfers compete against each other. Regarding the event, Player remarked, "The things I have seen in the Ryder Cup have disappointed me. You are hearing about hatred and war." He was no longer an eligible player when the Presidents Cup was established to give international players the opportunity to compete in a similar event, but he was non-playing captain of the International Team for the Presidents Cup in 2003, which was held on a course he designed, The Links at Fancourt, in George, South Africa. After 2003 ended in a tie, he was reappointed as captain for the 2005 Presidents Cup, and his team lost to the Americans 15.5 to 18.5. Both Player and Jack Nicklaus were appointed to captain their respective teams again in 2007 in Canada; the United States won.

In 2000 he was voted "Sportsman of the Century" in South Africa. In 1966, Gary Player was awarded the Bob Jones Award, the highest honor given by the United States Golf Association in recognition of distinguished sportsmanship in golf. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1974. The "Gary Player – A Global Journey" exhibition was launched by the Hall of Fame as of March, 2006.

In 2000, Player was ranked as the eighth greatest golfer of all time by ''Golf Digest'' magazine.

In 2002, Player was voted as the second greatest global golfer of all time by a panel of international media, golf magazines and fellow professionals conducted by the leading Golf Asia Magazine.

On 10 April 2009, he played for the last time in The Masters, where he was playing for his record 52nd time. He was the last of The Big Three (Nicklaus, Player & Palmer) to retire from this tournament, a testament to his longevity.

On 23 July 2009, at the age of 73, Player competed in the Senior British Open Championship at Sunningdale Golf Club, 53 years after capturing his maiden European Tour victory at the Berkshire venue.

Augusta National Golf Club and The Masters announced on 5 April 2011, that Player had been asked to join Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer as an honorary starter. The Big Three will be reunited in this capacity starting with the 2012 tournament.

Professional wins

PGA Tour wins (24)

1958 (1) Kentucky Derby Open

1959 (1) The Open Championship

1961 (3) Lucky International Open, Sunshine Open Invitational, Masters Tournament

1962 (1) PGA Championship

1963 (1) San Diego Open Invitational

1964 (2) Pensacola Open, 500 Festival Open Invitation

1965 (1) U.S. Open

1968 (1) The Open Championship

1969 (1) Tournament of Champions

1970 (1) Greater Greensboro Open

1971 (2) Greater Jacksonville Open, National Airlines Open Invitational

1972 (2) Greater New Orleans Open, PGA Championship

1973 (1) Southern Open

1974 (3) Masters Tournament, Danny Thomas Memphis Classic, The Open Championship

1978 (3) Masters Tournament, MONY Tournament of Champions, Houston Open

Major championships are shown in bold.

European Tour and other international wins

In addition to his wins on the PGA Tour, Player won more than 120 other tournaments in "regular", that is non-senior golf.

South Africa Tour (now the Sunshine Tour) 73 wins between 1955 and 1981 including:

South African Open: 13 times between 1956 and 1983

South African Masters: 10 times between 1959 and 1976

South African PGA Championship: 5 times between 1959 and 1976

PGA Tour of Australasia 18 wins between 1956 and 1981 including:

Australian Open: A record 7 times between 1958 and 1974. Jack Nicklaus won 6 and Greg Norman 5 times.

Other At least 20 other wins between 1955 and 1984, including:

World Cup: individual title in 1965 and 1977

Piccadilly World Match Play Championship: 5 times between 1965 and 1974 (played in England, but not an official European Tour event at that time)

World Series of Golf: 1965, 1968 and 1972 (U.S. – not a PGA Tour event at that time)

Trophée Lancôme: 1975

Player also collected wins in Australia, Brazil, North Africa, West Africa, Canada, Japan and Latin America.

Champions Tour wins (19)

1985 (1) Quadel Seniors Classic

1986 (3) General Foods PGA Seniors' Championship, United Hospitals Senior Golf Championship, Denver Post Champions of Golf

1987 (3) Mazda Senior Tournament Players Championship, U.S. Senior Open, PaineWebber World Seniors Invitational

1988 (5) General Foods PGA Seniors' Championship, Aetna Challenge, Southwestern Bell Classic, U.S. Senior Open, GTE North Classic

1989 (2) GTE North Classic, RJR Championship

1990 (1) PGA Seniors' Championship

1991 (1) Royal Caribbean Classic

1993 (1) Bank One Senior Classic

1995 (1) Bank One Classic

1998 (1) Northville Long Island Classic

Senior majors are shown in bold. See "Other senior wins" below for Player's wins in the Senior British Open.

Other senior wins (15)

1986 Senior Skins Game (South Africa)

1987 Northville Invitational (United States), German PGA Team Championship

1988 Senior British Open (European Seniors Tour), Nissan Senior Skins (South Africa)

1990 Senior British Open (European Seniors Tour)

1991 Nissan Senior Skins (South Africa)

1993 Irish Senior Masters (European Seniors Tour)

1997 Dai-ichi Seimei Cup (Japan), Senior British Open (European Seniors Tour), Shell Wentworth Senior Masters (European Seniors Tour),

2000 Senior Skins Game (U.S. – unofficial event)

2005 Nelson Mandela Invitational (Sunshine Tour – unofficial event)

2009 Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf – Demaret Division (with Bob Charles)

2010 Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf – Demaret Division (with Bob Charles)

The Senior British Open is shown in bold as it is generally recognized as a major and it is now an official Champions Tour event and major. However, it was not an official Champions Tour event as recognized by the US PGA Tour when Player achieved his wins, and in contrast to early wins in regular British Opens by PGA Tour members, which are now included in their official PGA Tour win tallies, wins in early Senior British Opens by Champions Tour members have not been retrospectively designated as Champions Tour wins by the PGA Tour at this time. The Senior British Open is however recognized as a major by all other international bodies, such as the European Tour. It is widely believed the Americans will eventually designate these as majors just as they have the regular tour's British Open

Major championships

Wins (9)

{|class="sortable wikitable" !Year!!Championship!!54 Holes!!Winning Score!!Margin!!Runner(s)-up |-bgcolor="#ABCDEF" | 1959 ||The Open Championship ||4 shot deficit ||E (75–71–70–68=284) ||2 strokes || Fred Bullock, Flory Van Donck |-bgcolor="D0F0C0" | 1961 ||Masters Tournament ||3 shot lead ||−8 (69–68–69–74=280) ||1 stroke || Charles Coe, Arnold Palmer |-bgcolor="#D8BFD8" | 1962 ||PGA Championship ||2 shot lead ||−2 (72–67–69–70=278) ||1 stroke || Bob Goalby |-bgcolor="#FBCEB1" | 1965 ||U.S. Open ||2 shot lead ||+2 (70–70–71–71=282) ||Playoff ¹|| Kel Nagle |-bgcolor="#ABCDEF" | 1968 ||The Open Championship (2)||2 shot deficit ||+1 (74–71–71–73=289) ||2 strokes || Bob Charles, Jack Nicklaus |-bgcolor="#D8BFD8" | 1972 ||PGA Championship (2)||1 shot lead ||+1 (71–71–67–72=281) ||2 strokes || Tommy Aaron, Jim Jamieson |-bgcolor="#D0F0C0" | 1974 ||Masters Tournament (2)||1 shot deficit ||−10 (71–71–66–70=278) ||2 strokes || Dave Stockton, Tom Weiskopf |-bgcolor="#ABCDEF" | 1974 ||The Open Championship (3)||3 shot lead ||−2 (69–68–75–70=282) ||4 strokes || Peter Oosterhuis |-bgcolor="#D0F0C0" | 1978 ||Masters Tournament (3)||7 shot deficit ||−11 (72–72–69–64=277) ||1 stroke || Rod Funseth, Hubert Green, Tom Watson |} ¹ Defeated Kel Nagle in 18-hole playoff – Player 71 (+1), Nagle 74 (+4).

Results timeline

{| cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" border="1" style="font-size: 95%; border: #aaa solid 1px; border-collapse: collapse;" |- bgcolor="#eeeeee" !align="left"|Tournament !1956 !1957 !1958 !1959 |- |The Masters |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|T24 |align="center"|CUT |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T8 |- |U.S. Open |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|2 |align="center"|T15 |- |The Open Championship |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|4 |align="center"|T24 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|7 |align="center" style="background:#00ff00;"|1 |- |PGA Championship |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |}

{| cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" border="1" style="font-size: 95%; border: #aaa solid 1px; border-collapse: collapse;" |- bgcolor="#eeeeee" !align="left"|Tournament !1960 !1961 !1962 !1963 !1964 !1965 !1966 !1967 !1968 !1969 |- |The Masters |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T6 |align="center" style="background:#00ff00;"|1 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|2 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T5 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T5 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T2 |align="center"|T28 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T6 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T7 |align="center"|T33 |- |U.S. Open |align="center"|T19 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T9 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T6 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T8 |align="center"|T23 |align="center" style="background:#00ff00;"|1 |align="center"|T15 |align="center"|T12 |align="center"|T16 |align="center"|T48 |- |The Open Championship |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|7 |align="center"|WD |align="center"|CUT |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T7 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T8 |align="center"|WD |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T4 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T3 |align="center" style="background:#00ff00;"|1 |align="center"|T23 |- |PGA Championship |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|T29 |align="center" style="background:#00ff00;"|1 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T8 |align="center"|T13 |align="center"|T33 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T3 |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|2 |}

{| cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" border="1" style="font-size: 95%; border: #aaa solid 1px; border-collapse: collapse;" |- bgcolor="#eeeeee" !align="left"|Tournament !1970 !1971 !1972 !1973 !1974 !1975 !1976 !1977 !1978 !1979 |- |The Masters |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|3 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T6 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T10 |align="center"|DNP |align="center" style="background:#00ff00;"|1 |align="center"|T30 |align="center"|T28 |align="center"|T19 |align="center" style="background:#00ff00;"|1 |align="center"|T17 |- |U.S. Open |align="center"|T44 |align="center"|T27 |align="center"|T15 |align="center"|12 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T8 |align="center"|T43 |align="center"|T23 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T10 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T6 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T2 |- |The Open Championship |align="center"|CUT |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|7 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|6 |align="center"|T14 |align="center" style="background:#00ff00;"|1 |align="center"|T32 |align="center"|T28 |align="center"|T22 |align="center"|T34 |align="center"|T19 |- |PGA Championship |align="center"|T12 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T4 |align="center" style="background:#00ff00;"|1 |align="center"|T51 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|7 |align="center"|T33 |align="center"|T13 |align="center"|T31 |align="center"|T26 |align="center"|T23 |}

{| cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" border="1" style="font-size: 95%; border: #aaa solid 1px; border-collapse: collapse;" |- bgcolor="#eeeeee" !align="left"|Tournament !1980 !1981 !1982 !1983 !1984 !1985 !1986 !1987 !1988 !1989 |- |The Masters |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T6 |align="center"|T15 |align="center"|T15 |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|T21 |align="center"|T36 |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|T35 |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |- |U.S. Open |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|T26 |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|T20 |align="center"|T43 |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |- |The Open Championship |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|T42 |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|T35 |align="center"|T66 |align="center"|T60 |align="center"|CUT |- |PGA Championship |align="center"|T26 |align="center"|T49 |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|T42 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T2 |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |}

{| cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" border="1" style="font-size: 95%; border: #aaa solid 1px; border-collapse: collapse;" |- bgcolor="#eeeeee" !align="left"|Tournament !1990 !1991 !1992 !1993 !1994 !1995 !1996 !1997 !1998 !1999 |- |The Masters |align="center"|T24 |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|60 |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|46 |align="center"|CUT |- |U.S. Open |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |- |The Open Championship |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|T57 |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|T68 |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |- |PGA Championship |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |}

{| cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" border="1" style="font-size: 95%; border: #aaa solid 1px; border-collapse: collapse;" |- bgcolor="#eeeeee" !align="left"|Tournament !2000 !2001 !2002 !2003 !2004 !2005 !2006 !2007 !2008 !2009 |- |The Masters |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |- |U.S. Open |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |- |The Open Championship |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |- |PGA Championship |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |}

DNP = Did not play WD = Withdrew CUT = missed the half-way cut "T" indicates a tie for a place Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10

Summary

Starts – 150

Wins – 9

2nd place finishes – 6

Top 3 finishes – 18

Top 5 finishes – 23

Top 10 finishes – 44

Longest streak of top-10s in majors – 7

Champions Tour major championships

Wins (6)

{|class="sortable wikitable" !Year!!Championship!!Winning Score!!Margin!!Runner(s)-up |-bgcolor="#D8BFD8" | 1986 ||General Foods PGA Seniors' Championship || −7 (68–68–73–72=281) || 2 strokes || Lee Elder |-bgcolor="#FBCEB1" | 1987 ||U.S. Senior Open || −14 (69–68–67–66=270) || 6 strokes || Doug Sanders |-bgcolor="#FFFF99" | 1987 ||Mazda Senior Tournament Players Championship || −8 (69–73–69–69=280) || 1 stroke || Bruce Crampton Chi-Chi Rodríguez |-bgcolor="#D8BFD8" | 1988 ||General Foods PGA Seniors' Championship (2) || −4 (69–73–72–70=284) || 3 strokes || Chi-Chi Rodríguez |-bgcolor="#FBCEB1" | 1988 ||U.S. Senior Open (2)|| E (74–70–71–73=288) || Playoff¹ || Bob Charles |-bgcolor="#D8BFD8" | 1990 ||PGA Seniors' Championship (3) || −7 (74–69–65–73=281) || 2 strokes || Chi-Chi Rodríguez |} ¹ Won in an 18-hole playoff, Player (68) to Charles (70).

Results timeline

{| cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" border="1" style="font-size: 95%; border: #aaa solid 1px; border-collapse: collapse;" |- bgcolor="#eeeeee" !align="left"|Tournament !1986 !1987 !1988 !1989 |- |Senior PGA Championship |align="center" style="background:#00ff00;"|1 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T8 |align="center" style="background:#00ff00;"|1 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T8 |- |U.S. Senior Open |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|2 |align="center" style="background:#00ff00;"|1 |align="center" style="background:#00ff00;"|1 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T9 |- |The Tradition |align="center"|NYF |align="center"|NYF |align="center"|NYF |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|2 |- |Senior Players Championship |align="center"|T14 |align="center" style="background:#00ff00;"|1 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T3 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|3 |}

{| cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" border="1" style="font-size: 95%; border: #aaa solid 1px; border-collapse: collapse;" |- bgcolor="#eeeeee" !align="left"|Tournament !1990 !1991 !1992 !1993 !1994 !1995 !1996 !1997 !1998 !1999 |- |Senior PGA Championship |align="center" style="background:#00ff00;"|1 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T8 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|5 |align="center"|T16 |align="center"|T19 |align="center"|T60 |align="center"|T31 |align="center"|T20 |align="center"|T39 |align="center"|T43 |- |U.S. Senior Open |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T3 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T8 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T3 |align="center"|T17 |align="center"|T13 |align="center"|T19 |align="center"|T60 |align="center"|T21 |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |- |The Tradition |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|2 |align="center"|T15 |align="center"|T20 |align="center"|T17 |align="center"|T27 |align="center"|T17 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T9 |align="center"|T51 |align="center"|T17 |align="center"|T50 |- |Senior Players Championship |align="center"|T18 |align="center"|T43 |align="center"|T18 |align="center"|T33 |align="center"|T42 |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|T49 |align="center"|T49 |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|T29 |}

{| cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" border="1" style="font-size: 95%; border: #aaa solid 1px; border-collapse: collapse;" |- bgcolor="#eeeeee" !align="left"|Tournament !2000 !2001 !2002 !2003 !2004 !2005 !2006 !2007 !2008 !2009 |- |Senior PGA Championship |align="center"|T46 |align="center" style="background:yellow;"|T8 |align="center"|T45 |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |- |The Senior Open Championship |align="center"|-¹ |align="center"|-¹ |align="center"|-¹ |align="center"|T51 |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|T61 |align="center"|T65 |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|CUT |- |U.S. Senior Open |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|57 |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|T54 |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|CUT |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |- |The Tradition |align="center"|T34 |align="center"|T19 |align="center"|T62 |align="center"|75 |align="center"|T64 |align="center"|T73 |align="center"|T76 |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|67 |- |Senior Players Championship |align="center"|T57 |align="center"|T56 |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|T58 |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|T74 |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |align="center"|DNP |} ¹The Senior Open Championship was not a Champions Tour major until 2003, though it was on the European Seniors Tour. Player won the event three times prior to this recognition.

DNP = Did not play CUT = Missed the half-way cut NYF = Tournament not yet founded "T" = tied Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.

Equipment

Callaway is Gary Player's preference, and it is all that is in his bag.

Driver: FT-5 Callaway

Fairway Woods: Strong 4, 5 and 9 Callaway Steelhead Woods

Hybrid: Callaway Heavenwood 4H

Irons: 5-PW X-Tour Callaway

Sand wedges: 56 Degree and 64 Degree X-Tour Callaway

Putter: Odyssey Whitehot #1

Ball: Callaway HX Tour

Glove: Callaway

Shoes: Gary Player Collection

Putter Grip: Odyssey

Apparel: Gary Player Collection

Belt: Gary Player Collection

Golf course design

Through the years, Player and Gary Player Design have executed a portfolio of over 300 projects in 35 countries on five continents. The mission of Gary Player Design is to conduct their business in the same manner in which Gary Player has conducted himself as a golfer and gentleman during his 50-year career. Their services revolve around building long-term mutually rewarding relationships with clients by displaying integrity and credibility in a business setting. From project conceptualization through planning, design, construction, marketing and opening, the group takes a proactive role in providing experienced solutions throughout the intricate development process.

The company offers three different design brands: Gary Player Design, Player Design and Black Knight Design. The marketing advantages of each of these brands vary according to the personal participation of Player, as well as the access to different levels of intellectual property.

Gary Player Design also upholds a strict environmental policy, which includes minimizing site disturbance, promoting organic applications, and specifying environmentally-sensitive building materials in their golf course design approach. They continue to refine efforts in these areas and stay current on related state of the art industry methods.

Their primary focus, however, is on one of earth’s most precious resources and one of Gary Player's greatest concerns – water. According to Player, "Water conservation techniques are not only our fundamental responsibility, but are important to the industry of golf and the global growth of the wonderful game of golf, as real water-savings also mean real cost-savings."

Controversy

In July 2007, a media controversy emerged over his statements at The Open Championship golf tournament about the use of performance enhancing drugs in golf. Subsequently, the PGA Tour introduced a formal policy.

Player has almost always "spoken his mind" and been considered a controversial albeit frank and forthright professional golfer. He has been a pioneer of diet, health and fitness although he upset the Atkins Diet organization by disagreeing with their "all protein" approach. He was branded a "traitor" by South African Nationalist Government supporters for inviting and bringing both black tennis pro Arthur Ashe and golfer Lee Elder to play in South Africa. He was the first golfer to call on mandatory drug testing on all tours around the world.

In 1966, Player was quoted in a book entitled ''Grand Slam Golf'' in which he wrote:

Player has apologized profusely about this statement, saying he was a young man who never proof read the book's manuscript prior to going to print and that the quote was never made by him but rather the writer of the book.''" It is believed that Player's attitude towards the apartheid regime is very different today and has so far raised over 100 million dollars through his foundation to support under-privileged education in South Africa during apartheid.

In 2002, Player designed a golf course in Burma, named by the developers, The Pride of Myanmar, currently frequented by tourists as well as generals of the army. There are unsubstantiated accusations that the land for the courses was seized from poor farmers without compensation. Regardless, as a designer Player had nothing to do with how the land was acquired.

Player has hosted the Nelson Mandela Invitational golf tournament since 2000. In October 2007, further media controversy arose about his involvement in the 2002 design of a golf course in Burma. As a result of the recent political uprisings in Burma, the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund has withdrawn from the fundraising golf tournament because of Player's unsubstantiated business links with the country. Both Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu have however accepted Player's position and statements on Burma. Player refused to withdraw as he personally built the event from scratch and issued a statement rebutting these claims via his website. The event is now annually staged at the Fancourt Resort as the Gary Player Invitational and is South Africa's largest and most successful charity event, having raised a record amount of over R250 million for various children's charities.

Distinctions and honors

On 8 June 1961, Player was the guest on NBC's ''The Ford Show, Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford''. In a comedy skit, he gives Tennessee Ernie Ford a golf lesson.

Received the 1966 Bob Jones Award from the United States Golf Association.

Named Honorary Member of the R&A; in 1994.

Received Honorary Doctor of Laws Degree from St. Andrews in 1995.

Received Honorary Doctor of Science from the University of Ulster, Northern Ireland in 1997

The WGC-Bridgestone Invitational trophy is named the Gary Player Cup.

Named Honorary Member of Carnoustie in 1999

Received Honorary Doctorate in Law, University of Dundee, Scotland in 1999

South African Sportsman of the Century award in 2000

Received the 2003 Laureus Lifetime Achievement Award at the Laureus World Sports Awards in Monte Carlo.

Awarded the Order of Ikhamanga (in gold) by President Mbeki of South Africa for excellence in golf and contribution to non-racial sport in South Africa.

He was the world's first golfer to be featured on any country's postal stamp in South Africa.

Has designed over 300 golf courses on six continents around the world.

Coined one of the most quoted aphorisms of post-War sport: "The harder you practice, the luckier you get."

He currently plays on the U.S. Champions Tour and European Seniors Tour occasionally.

He received the 2006 Payne Stewart Award from the PGA Tour.

Played in his 52nd Masters Tournament at Augusta National in April 2009, extending his record of for most Masters appearances

Inducted into the African American Sports Hall of Fame in May 2007, with Lifetime Achievement Award

Has played in a record 46 consecutive British Open Championships, winning 3 times over 3 decades.

Stars with Camilo Villegas in a MasterCard "priceless foursome" television commercial launched during the U.S. Open in June 2009

In November, 2009 he was awarded the inaugural Breeders Cup "Sports and Racing Excellence Award" at Santa Anita Park in California which honors owners and breeders of thoroughbred race horses.

See also

Career Grand Slam Champions

Golfers with most PGA Tour wins

Golfers with most major championship wins

Golfers with most Sunshine Tour wins

Longest PGA Tour win streaks

Golfers with most Champions Tour wins

Golfers with most Champions Tour major championship wins

Golfers with most PGA Tour of Australasia wins

References

External links

Gary Player Profile at Golf Legends

Gary Player Golf Course Design

Gary Player Foundation

{{navboxes|title=Gary Player in the major championships |list1= }} {{navboxes|title=Gary Player in the senior major championships |list1= }} {{navboxes|title=Gary Player in the Presidents Cup |list1= }}

Category:South African golfers Category:Sunshine Tour golfers Category:PGA Tour golfers Category:Champions Tour golfers Category:Winners of men's major golf championships Category:Men's Career Grand Slam champion golfers Category:Winners of senior major golf championships Category:World Golf Hall of Fame inductees Category:Laureus World Sports Awards winners Category:White South African people Category:Golf course architects Category:Golf writers and broadcasters Category:People from Johannesburg Category:Old Edwardians (Johannesburg) Category:Anglo-African people Category:1935 births Category:Living people

af:Gary Player de:Gary Player es:Gary Player fr:Gary Player it:Gary Player lv:Gerijs Pleiers nl:Gary Player ja:ゲーリー・プレーヤー no:Gary Player pt:Gary Player ru:Плейер, Гари fi:Gary Player sv:Gary Player

name	Tiger Woods
fullname	Eldrick Tont Woods
nickname	Tiger
birth date	December 30, 1975
birth place	Cypress, California
death date
height
weight
nationality
residence	Jupiter Island, Florida
spouse	Elin Nordegren (2004–2010)
children	Sam Alexis (b. 2007)Charlie Axel (b. 2009)
college	Stanford University (two years)
yearpro	1996
tour	PGA Tour (joined 1996)
prowins	98
pgawins	71 (3rd all time)
eurowins	38 (3rd all time)
japwins	2
asiawins	1
auswins	1
champwins
otherwins	16
majorwins	14
masters	Won: 1997, 2001, 2002, 2005
usopen	Won: 2000, 2002, 2008
open	Won: 2000, 2005, 2006
pga	Won: 1999, 2000, 2006, 2007
wghofid
wghofyear
award1	PGA TourRookie of the Year
year1	1996
award2	PGA Player of the Year
year2	1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
award3	PGA TourPlayer of the Year
year3	1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
award4	PGA Tourleading money winner
year4	1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
award5	Vardon Trophy
year5	1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009
award6	Byron Nelson Award
year6	1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
award7	FedEx Cup Champion
year7	2007, 2009
awardssection	List of career achievements by Tiger Woods#Awards }}

Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Formerly the World No. 1, he is the highest-paid professional athlete in the world, having earned an estimated US$90.5 million from winnings and endorsements in 2010.

Woods has won 14 professional major golf championships, the second highest of any male player (Jack Nicklaus leads with 18), and 71 PGA Tour events, third all time behind Sam Snead and Nicklaus. He has more career major wins and career PGA Tour wins than any other active golfer does. He is the youngest player to achieve the career Grand Slam, and the youngest and fastest to win 50 tournaments on tour. Additionally, Woods is only the second golfer, after Jack Nicklaus, to have achieved a career Grand Slam three times. Woods has won 16 World Golf Championships, and won at least one of those events in each of the first 11 years after they began in 1999.

Woods held the number one position in the world rankings for the most consecutive weeks and for the greatest total number of weeks of any other golfer. He has been awarded PGA Player of the Year a record ten times, the Byron Nelson Award for lowest adjusted scoring average a record eight times, and has the record of leading the money list in nine different seasons.

From December 2009 to early April 2010, Woods took leave from professional golf to focus on his marriage after he admitted infidelity. His multiple infidelities were revealed by several different women, through many worldwide media sources.

In October 2010, Woods lost the world number one ranking; his ranking gradually fell to a low of #58 in November 2011. He snapped a career-long winless streak of 107 weeks when he captured the Chevron World Challenge in December 2011. As of February 27, 2012, he is ranked #21. He remains winless on the PGA Tour since September 2009.

Background and family

Woods was born Eldrick Tont Woods in Cypress, California, to Earl (1932–2006) and Kultida (Tida) Woods (born 1944). He is the only child of their marriage, but does have two half-brothers, Earl Jr. (born 1955) and Kevin (born 1957), and a half-sister, Royce (born 1958) from the 18-year marriage of Earl Woods and his first wife, Barbara Woods Gray. Earl, a retired lieutenant colonel and Vietnam War veteran, was of mixed African American, Chinese, and Native American ancestry. Kultida (née Punsawad), originally from Thailand (where Earl had met her on a tour of duty in 1968), is of mixed Thai, Chinese, and Dutch ancestry. This makes Woods himself half Asian (one-quarter Chinese and one-quarter Thai), one-quarter African American, one-eighth Native American, and one-eighth Dutch. He refers to his ethnic make-up as ''"Cablinasian"'' (a syllabic abbreviation he coined from Caucasian, Black, American Indian, and Asian).

Woods' first name, Eldrick, was coined by his mother because it began with "E" (for Earl) and ended with "K" (for Kultida). His middle name Tont is a traditional Thai name. He was nicknamed Tiger in honor of his father's friend Col. Vuong Dang Phong, who had also been known as Tiger.

Woods has a niece, Cheyenne Woods, who is an amateur golfer on Wake Forest University's golf team.

Early life and amateur golf career

Woods grew up in Orange County, California. He was a child prodigy, introduced to golf before the age of two, by his athletic father Earl, a single-figure handicap amateur golfer who had been one of the earliest African-American college baseball players at Kansas State University. In 1978, Tiger putted against comedian Bob Hope in a television appearance on ''The Mike Douglas Show''. At age three, he shot a 48 over nine holes over the Cypress Navy course, and at age five, he appeared in ''Golf Digest'' and on ABC's ''That's Incredible''. Before turning seven, Tiger won the Under Age 10 section of the Drive, Pitch, and Putt competition, held at the Navy Golf Course in Cypress, California. In 1984 at the age of eight, he won the 9–10 boys' event, the youngest age group available, at the Junior World Golf Championships. He first broke 80 at age eight. He went on to win the Junior World Championships six times, including four consecutive wins from 1988 to 1991.

Woods' father Earl wrote that Tiger first beat him when he was 11 years old, with Earl trying his best. Earl lost to Tiger every time from then on. Woods first broke 70 on a regulation golf course at age 12.

Woods' first major national junior tournament was the 1989 Big I, when he was 13 years old. Woods was paired with pro John Daly, then relatively unknown, in the final round; the event's format placed a professional with each group of juniors who had qualified. Daly birdied three of the last four holes to beat Woods by only one stroke. As a young teenager, Woods first met Jack Nicklaus in Los Angeles at the Bel-Air Country Club, when Nicklaus was performing a clinic for the club's members. Woods was part of the show, and impressed Nicklaus and the crowd with his skills and potential. Earl Woods had researched in detail the career accomplishments of Nicklaus, and had set his young son the goals of breaking those records.

While attending Western High School in Anaheim at the age of 15, Woods became the youngest ever U.S. Junior Amateur champion (a record which stood until it was broken by Jin Liu in 2010). He was named 1991's Southern California Amateur Player of the Year (for the second consecutive year) and Golf Digest Junior Amateur Player of the Year. In 1992, he defended his title at the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship, becoming the first multiple winner; competed in his first PGA Tour event, the Nissan Los Angeles Open (he missed the 36-hole cut); and was named Golf Digest Amateur Player of the Year, Golf World Player of the Year, and Golfweek National Amateur of the Year.

The following year, Woods won his third consecutive U.S. Junior Amateur Championship; he remains the event's only three-time winner. In 1994, at the TPC at Sawgrass in Florida, he became the youngest-ever winner of the U.S. Amateur Championship, a record that stood until 2008 when it was broken by Danny Lee. He was a member of the American team at the 1994 Eisenhower Trophy World Amateur Golf Team Championships (winning), and the 1995 Walker Cup (losing).

Woods graduated from Western High School in 1994 at age 18, and was voted "Most Likely to Succeed" among the graduating class. He had starred for the high school's golf team under coach Don Crosby.

College golf career

Woods was recruited very heavily by college golf powers, and chose Stanford University, the 1994 NCAA Division I champion. He enrolled at Stanford in the fall of 1994 under a golf scholarship, winning his first collegiate event, the 40th Annual William H. Tucker Invitational, that September. He declared a major in economics, and was nicknamed "Urkel" by college teammate Notah Begay III. In 1995, he successfully defended his U.S. Amateur title at the Newport Country Club in Rhode Island He participated in his first PGA Tour major, the 1995 Masters Tournament, and tied for 41st as the only amateur to make the cut. At age 20 in 1996, he became the first golfer to win three consecutive U.S. Amateur titles and won the NCAA individual golf championship. In winning the Silver Medal as leading amateur at The Open Championship, he tied the record for an amateur aggregate score of 281. He left college after two years and turned professional.

Professional career

Woods became a professional golfer in August 1996, and immediately signed deals with Nike, Inc. and Titleist that ranked as the most lucrative endorsement contracts in golf history at that time. Woods was named ''Sports Illustrated'''s 1996 Sportsman of the Year and PGA Tour Rookie of the Year. In April 1997, he won his first major, the Masters, becoming the tournament's youngest-ever winner. Two months later, he set the record for the fastest-ever ascent to #1 in the Official World Golf Rankings. After a lackluster 1998, Woods finished the 1999 season with eight wins, including the PGA Championship, a feat not achieved since 1974.

In 2000, Woods achieved six consecutive wins, the longest winning streak since 1948. One of these was the 2000 U.S. Open, where he broke or tied nine tournament records in what Sports Illustrated called "the greatest performance in golf history." At age 24, he became the youngest golfer to achieve the Career Grand Slam. At the end of 2000, Woods had won nine of the twenty PGA Tour events he entered and had broken the record for lowest scoring average in tour history. He was named the Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year, the first and only athlete to be honored twice, and was ranked by Golf Digest magazine as the twelfth-best golfer of all time.

Following a stellar 2001 and 2002 in which Woods continued to dominate the tour, Woods' career hit a "slump". He did not win a major in 2003 or 2004. In September 2004, Vijay Singh overtook Woods in the Official World Golf Rankings, breaking Woods' record streak of 264 weeks at #1. Woods rebounded in 2005, winning six official PGA Tour money events and reclaiming the top spot in July after swapping it back and forth with Singh over the first half of the year.

In 2006, Woods began dominantly, winning his first two PGA tournaments but failing to capture his fifth Masters championship in April. Following the death of his father in May, Woods took a nine-week hiatus from the tour and appeared rusty upon his return at the U.S. Open, missing the cut at Winged Foot. However, he quickly returned to form and ended the year by winning six consecutive tour events. At the season's close, with 54 wins and 12 majors wins, Woods had broken the tour records for both total wins and total majors wins over eleven seasons.

He continued to excel in 2007 and the first part of 2008. In April 2008, he underwent knee surgery and missed the next two months on the tour. Woods returned for the 2008 U.S. Open, where he struggled the first day but ultimately claimed a dramatic victory over Rocco Mediate, after which Mediate said, "This guy does things that are just not normal by any stretch of the imagination," and Kenny Perry added, "He beat everybody on one leg." Two days later, Woods announced that he would miss the remainder of the season due to further knee surgery, and that his knee was more severely damaged than previously revealed, prompting even greater praise for his U.S. Open performance. Woods called it "my greatest ever championship." In Woods' absence, TV ratings for the remainder of the season suffered a huge decline from 2007.

Upon Woods' much-anticipated return in 2009, he performed well, including a spectacular performance at the 2009 Presidents' Cup, but failed to win a major, the first year since 2004 that he failed to do so. After his marital infidelities came to light at the end of 2009 and received massive media coverage, Woods announced in December that he would be taking an indefinite break from competitive golf. In February 2010, he delivered a televised apology for his behavior. During this period, several companies ended their endorsement deals with Woods.

He returned to competition in April at the 2010 Masters Tournament, where he finished in a tie for fourth place. He followed the Masters with poor showings at the Quail Hollow Championship and the Players Championship, where he withdrew in the fourth round citing injury. Shortly afterward, Woods' coach since 2003, Hank Haney, resigned the position; he was replaced in August by Sean Foley. The rest of the season went badly for Woods, who failed to win a single event for the first time since turning professional, while nevertheless finishing the season ranked #2 in the world.

Woods' performance continued to suffer in 2011, taking its toll on his ranking. After falling to #7 in March, he rebounded to #5 with a strong showing at the 2011 Masters Tournament, where he tied for fourth place. Due to leg injuries incurred at the Masters, he missed several summer events; in July he fired his longtime caddy Steve Williams, replacing him temporarily with friend Bryon Bell. After returning to tournament play in August, Woods continued to falter, and his ranking gradually fell to a low of #58. He rose to #50 in mid-November after a third-place win at the Emirates Australian Open, and broke his winless streak with a victory at December's Chevron World Challenge.

His 2012 season started at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship on the European Tour in late January. For the first two days of play Tiger was grouped with Rory McIlroy and world No.1 Luke Donald. He shot under par rounds of 70 and 69 on Thursday and Friday respectively, which left him in joint 4th place at 5-under par. His low round of the week came on Saturday, shooting a 6-under par 66, giving him the joint lead with England's Robert Rock. Woods struggled on Sunday and couldn't mount a big enough charge, shooting a level par 72 and settling for joint 3rd place. Woods' second tournament of the year came at the AT&T; Pebble Beach National Pro-Am in early February which he had not played since 2002. His amateur partner for the week was Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo. Woods shot solid rounds of 68-68-67 on the first three days, and began Sunday in third place, four shots behind leader Charlie Wi. However, he struggled with his putting and shot a final round 75 while his playing partner Phil Mickelson shot a 64 and won the tournament. His next tournament was the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship in Arizona. Woods battled to win his first round match against Gonzalo Fernández-Castaño, 1-up, and then played Nick Watney in the second round. On the 18th hole, Woods had to make birdie to extend the match, however his 5 foot putt missed and he was knocked out of the tournament. Woods commented that his putting was hindered technically and required some work after battling with it throughout the round.

Endorsements

Woods has been called the world's most marketable athlete. Shortly after his 21st birthday in 1996, he began signing endorsement deals with numerous companies, including General Motors, Titleist, General Mills, American Express, Accenture, and Nike, Inc. In 2000, he signed a 5-year, $105 million contract extension with Nike. It was the largest endorsing deal ever signed by an athlete at that time. Woods' endorsement has been credited with playing a significant role in taking the Nike Golf brand from a "start-up" golf company earlier in the past decade, to becoming the leading golf apparel company in the world, and a major player in the equipment and golf ball market. Nike Golf is one of the fastest growing brands in the sport, with an estimated $600 million in sales. Woods has been described as the "ultimate endorser" for Nike Golf, frequently seen wearing Nike gear during tournaments, and even in advertisements for other products. Woods receives a cut from the sales of Nike Golf apparel, footwear, golf equipment, golf balls, and has a building named after him at Nike’s headquarters campus in Beaverton, Oregon.

In 2002, Woods was involved in every aspect of the launch of Buick's Rendezvous SUV. A company spokesman stated that Buick is happy with the value of Woods' endorsement, pointing out that more than 130,000 Rendezvous vehicles were sold in 2002 and 2003. "That exceeded our forecasts," he was quoted as saying, "It has to be in recognition of Tiger." In February 2004, Buick renewed Woods' endorsement contract for another five years, in a deal reportedly worth $40 million.

Woods collaborated closely with TAG Heuer to develop the world's first professional golf watch, released in April 2005. The lightweight, titanium-construction watch, designed to be worn while playing the game, incorporates numerous innovative design features to accommodate golf play. It is capable of absorbing up to 5,000 Gs of shock, far in excess of the forces generated by a normal golf swing. In 2006, the TAG Heuer ''Professional Golf Watch'' won the prestigious ''iF product design award'' in the Leisure/Lifestyle category.

Woods also endorses the Tiger Woods PGA Tour series of video games; he has done so since 1999. In 2006, he signed a six-year contract with Electronic Arts, the series' publisher.

In February 2007, along with Roger Federer and Thierry Henry, Woods became an ambassador for the "Gillette Champions" marketing campaign. Gillette did not disclose financial terms, though an expert estimated the deal could total between $10 million and $20 million.

In October 2007, Gatorade announced that Woods would have his own brand of sports drink starting in March 2008. "Gatorade Tiger" was his first U.S. deal with a beverage company and his first licensing agreement. Although no figures were officially disclosed, ''Golfweek'' magazine reported that it was for five years and could pay him as much as $100 million. The company decided in early fall 2009 to discontinue the drink due to weak sales.

According to ''Golf Digest'', Woods made $769,440,709 from 1996 to 2007, and the magazine predicted that by 2010, Woods would pass one billion dollars in earnings. In 2009, ''Forbes'' confirmed that Woods was indeed the world's first athlete to earn over a billion dollars in his career (before taxes), after accounting for the $10 million bonus Woods received for the FedEx Cup title. The same year, Forbes estimated his net worth to be $600 million, making him the second richest "African American" behind only Oprah Winfrey.

Honors

On August 20, 2007, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and First Lady Maria Shriver announced that Woods would be inducted into the California Hall of Fame. He was inducted December 5, 2007 at The California Museum for History, Women and the Arts in Sacramento.

He has been named "Athlete of the Decade" by the Associated Press in December 2009. He has been named Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year a record-tying four times, and is the only person to be named ''Sports Illustrated'''s Sportsman of the Year more than once.

Since his record-breaking win at the 1997 Masters Tournament, golf's increased popularity is commonly attributed to Woods' presence. He is credited by some sources for dramatically increasing prize money in golf, generating interest in new audiences, and for drawing the largest TV audiences in golf history.

Tiger-proofing

Early in Woods' career, a small number of golf experts expressed concern about his impact on the competitiveness of the game and the public appeal of professional golf. Sportswriter Bill Lyon of Knight-Ridder asked in a column, "Isn't Tiger Woods actually bad for golf?" (though Lyon ultimately concluded that he was not). At first, some pundits feared that Woods would drive the spirit of competition out of the game of golf by making existing courses obsolete and relegating opponents to simply competing for second place each week.

A related effect was measured by economist Jennifer Brown of the University of California, Berkeley who found that other golfers played worse when competing against Woods than when he was not in the tournament. The scores of highly skilled (exempt) golfers are nearly one stroke higher when playing against Woods. This effect was larger when he was on winning streaks and disappeared during his well-publicized slump in 2003–04. Brown explains the results by noting that competitors of similar skill can hope to win by increasing their level of effort, but that, when facing a "superstar" competitor, extra exertion does not significantly raise one's level of winning while increasing risk of injury or exhaustion, leading to reduced effort.

Many courses in the PGA Tour rotation (including Major Championship sites like Augusta National) began to add yardage to their tees in an effort to slow down long hitters like Woods, a strategy that became known as "Tiger-Proofing". Woods himself welcomed the change as he believes adding yardage to the course does not affect his ability to win.

Playing style

When Woods first joined the professional tour in 1996, his long drives had a large impact on the world of golf. However, when he did not upgrade his equipment in the following years (insisting upon the use of True Temper Dynamic Gold steel-shafted clubs and smaller steel clubheads that promoted accuracy over distance), many opponents caught up to him. Phil Mickelson even made a joke in 2003 about Woods using "inferior equipment", which did not sit well with Nike, Titleist or Woods. During 2004, Woods finally upgraded his driver technology to a larger clubhead and graphite shaft, which, coupled with his clubhead speed, made him one of the Tour's lengthier players off the tee once again.

Despite his power advantage, Woods has always focused on developing an excellent all-around game. Although in recent years he has typically been near the bottom of the Tour rankings in driving accuracy, his iron play is generally accurate, his recovery and bunker play is very strong, and his putting (especially under pressure) is possibly his greatest asset. He is largely responsible for a shift to higher standards of athleticism amongst professional golfers, and is known for putting in more hours of practice than most.

From mid-1993, while he was still an amateur, until 2004, Woods worked almost exclusively with leading swing coach Butch Harmon. From mid-1997, Harmon and Woods fashioned a major redevelopment of Woods' full swing, achieving greater consistency, better distance control, and better kinesiology. The changes began to pay off in 1999. From March 2004 to 2010, Woods was coached by Hank Haney, who worked on flattening his swing plane. Woods continued to win tournaments with Haney, but his driving accuracy dropped significantly. Haney resigned in May 2010 and was replaced by Sean Foley.

Mike "Fluff" Cowan served as Woods' caddy from the start of his professional career until March 1999. He was replaced by Steve Williams, who became a close friend of Woods and is often credited with helping him with key shots and putts. In June 2011, Woods fired Williams and replaced him with Woods' friend Bryon Bell.

Equipment

As of 2011:

Driver: Nike VR Tour Driver (8.5 degrees; Mitsubishi Diamana Whiteboard 83g shaft)

Fairway Woods: Nike VR Pro 15° 3-wood with Mitsubishi Diamana Blueboard and Nike SQ II 19° 5-Wood

Irons: Nike VR Pro Blades (2-PW) (Tiger will put his 5 Wood or 2 Iron in the bag depending upon the course setup and conditions). All irons are 1 degree upright, have D4 swingweight, standard size Tour Velvet grips and True Temper Dynamic Gold X-100 shafts.

Wedges: Nike VR 56° Sand Wedge and Nike SV 60° Lob Wedge

Putter: Nike Method 001, 35 inches long; Titleist Scotty Cameron; Nike Method 003 (switches putters depending on the greens of certain courses)

Ball: Nike ONE Tour D (with "Tiger" imprint)

Golf Glove: Nike Dri-FIT Tour glove

Golf Shoes: Nike Air Zoom TW 2011

Driver club cover: ''Frank'', a plush tiger head club cover created by his mother. Frank has appeared in several commercials.

Career achievements

Woods has won 71 official PGA Tour events including 14 majors. He is 14–1 when going into the final round of a major with at least a share of the lead. He has been heralded as "the greatest closer in history" by multiple golf experts. He owns the lowest career scoring average and the most career earnings of any player in PGA Tour history.

He has spent the most consecutive and cumulative weeks atop the world rankings. He is one of five players (along with Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, and Jack Nicklaus) to have won all four professional major championships in his career, known as the Career Grand Slam, and was the youngest to do so. Woods is the only player to have won all four professional major championships in a row, accomplishing the feat in the 2000–2001 seasons.

PGA Tour wins (71)

European Tour wins (38)

Japan Golf Tour wins (2)

Asian Tour wins (1)

PGA Tour of Australasia wins (1)

Other professional wins (15)

Amateur wins (21)

Major championships

Wins (14)

{|class="sortable wikitable" !Year!!Championship!!54 Holes!!Winning Score!!Margin!!Runner(s)-up |- style="background:#d0f0c0;" | 1997 ||Masters Tournament ||9 shot lead ||−18 (70–66–65–69=270) ||12 strokes || Tom Kite |- style="background:thistle;" | 1999 ||PGA Championship ||Tied for lead ||−11 (70–67–68–72=277) ||1 stroke || Sergio García |- style="background:#fbceb1;" | 2000 ||U.S. Open ||10 shot lead ||−12 (65–69–71–67=272) ||15 strokes || Ernie Els, Miguel Ángel Jiménez |- style="background:#abcdef;" | 2000 ||The Open Championship ||6 shot lead ||−19 (67–66–67–69=269) ||8 strokes || Thomas Bjørn, Ernie Els |- style="background:thistle;" | 2000 ||PGA Championship (2)||1 shot lead ||−18 (66–67–70–67=270) ||Playoff ¹ || Bob May |- style="background:#d0f0c0;" | 2001 ||Masters Tournament (2)||1 shot lead ||−16 (70–66–68–68=272) ||2 strokes || David Duval |- style="background:#d0f0c0;" | 2002 ||Masters Tournament (3)||Tied for lead ||−12 (70–69–66–71=276) ||3 strokes || Retief Goosen |- style="background:#fbceb1;" | 2002 ||U.S. Open (2)||4 shot lead ||−3 (67–68–70–72=277) ||3 strokes || Phil Mickelson |- style="background:#d0f0c0;" | 2005 ||Masters Tournament (4)||3 shot lead ||−12 (74–66–65–71=276) ||Playoff ² || Chris DiMarco |- style="background:#abcdef;" | 2005 ||The Open Championship (2)||2 shot lead ||−14 (66–67–71–70=274) ||5 strokes || Colin Montgomerie |- style="background:#abcdef;" | 2006 ||The Open Championship (3)||1 shot lead ||−18 (67–65–71–67=270) ||2 strokes || Chris DiMarco |- style="background:thistle;" | 2006 ||PGA Championship (3)||Tied for lead ||−18 (69–68–65–68=270) ||5 strokes || Shaun Micheel |- style="background:thistle;" | 2007 ||PGA Championship (4)||3 shot lead ||−8 (71–63–69–69=272) ||2 strokes || Woody Austin |- style="background:#fbceb1;" | 2008 ||U.S. Open (3)||1 shot lead ||−1 (72–68–70–73=283) ||Playoff ³ || Rocco Mediate |} ¹ Defeated May in three-hole playoff by 1 stroke: Woods (3–4–5=12), May (4–4–5=13) ² Defeated DiMarco with birdie on first extra hole ³ Defeated Mediate with a par on 1st sudden death hole after 18-hole playoff was tied at even par

Results timeline

{| cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" border="1" style="font-size: 95%; border: #aaa solid 1px; border-collapse: collapse; text-align:center" |- style="background:#eee;" !align="left"|Tournament !1995 !1996 !1997 !1998 !1999 !2000 !2001 !2002 !2003 !2004 !2005 !2006 !2007 !2008 !2009 !2010 !2011 |- | style="text-align:left;"|The Masters |T41 LA |CUT | style="background:lime;"|1 | style="background:yellow;"|T8 |T18 | style="background:yellow;"|5 | style="background:lime;"|1 | style="background:lime;"|1 |T15 |T22 | style="background:lime;"|1 | style="background:yellow;"|T3 | style="background:yellow;"|T2 | style="background:yellow;"|2 | style="background:yellow;"|T6 | style="background:yellow;"|T4 | style="background:yellow;"|T4 |- | style="text-align:left;"|U.S. Open |WD |T82 |T19 |T18 | style="background:yellow;"|T3 | style="background:lime;"|1 |T12 | style="background:lime;"|1 |T20 |T17 | style="background:yellow;"|2 |CUT | style="background:yellow;"|T2 | style="background:lime;"|1 | style="background:yellow;"|T6 | style="background:yellow;"|T4 |DNP |- | style="text-align:left;"|The Open Championship |T68 |T22 LA |T24 | style="background:yellow;"|3 | style="background:yellow;"|T7 | style="background:lime;"|1 |T25 |T28 | style="background:yellow;"|T4 | style="background:yellow;"|T9 | style="background:lime;"|1 | style="background:lime;"|1 |T12 |DNP |CUT |T23 |DNP |- | style="text-align:left;"|PGA Championship |DNP |DNP |T29 | style="background:yellow;"|T10 | style="background:lime;"|1 | style="background:lime;"|1 |T29 | style="background:yellow;"|2 |T39 |T24 | style="background:yellow;"|T4 | style="background:lime;"|1 | style="background:lime;"|1 |DNP | style="background:yellow;"|2 |T28 |CUT |}

LA = Low Amateur DNP = Did not play CUT = missed the half-way cut "T" indicates a tie for a place Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.

World Golf Championships

Wins (16)

¹ Won on the first extra hole of a sudden-death playoff. ² Won on the seventh extra hole of a sudden-death playoff. ³ Won on the second extra hole of a sudden-death playoff. ⁴ Won on the fourth extra hole of a sudden-death playoff.

Results timeline

!Tournament!!1999!!2000!!2001!!2002!!2003!!2004!!2005!!2006!!2007!!2008!!2009!!2010!!2011!!2012

align="left"

style="background:yellow;"

style="background:yellow;"

DNP

R64

R32

style="background:yellow;"

style="background:yellow;"

R32

DNP

R64

R32

align="left"

style="background:yellow;"

NT1

style="background:yellow;"

style="background:yellow;"

style="background:yellow;"

DNP

style="background:yellow;"

align="left"

style="background:yellow;"

style="background:yellow;"

style="background:yellow;"

DNP

T78

T37

align="left"

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

style="background:yellow;"

style="background:yellow;"

DNP

¹Cancelled due to 9/11 DNP = Did not play QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play "T" = tied NT = No Tournament Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10. Note that the HSBC Champions did not become a WGC event until 2009.

PGA Tour career summary

! Year !! Wins (Majors) !! Earnings ($) !! Money list rank
1996	2	790,594	24
1997	4 (1)	2,066,833
1998	1	1,841,117
1999	8 (1)	6,616,585
2000	9 (3)	9,188,321
2001	5 (1)	6,687,777
2002	5 (2)	6,912,625
2003	5	6,673,413
2004	1	5,365,472
2005	6 (2)	10,628,024
2006	8 (2)	9,941,563
2007	7 (1)	10,867,052
2008	4 (1)	5,775,000
2009	6	10,508,163
2010	0	1,294,765	68
2011	0	660,238	128
2012*	0	197,400	73
!Career*	!71 (14)	!95,014,942	1

: * As of February 26, 2012.

Other ventures

Tiger Woods Foundation

The Tiger Woods Foundation was established in 1996 by Woods and his father Earl, with the primary goal of promoting golf among inner-city children. The foundation has conducted junior golf clinics across the country, and sponsors the Tiger Woods Foundation National Junior Golf Team in the Junior World Golf Championships. As of December 2010, TWF employed approximately 55 people.

The foundation operates the Tiger Woods Learning Center, a $50 million, 35,000-square-foot facility in Anaheim, California, providing college-access programs for underserved youth. The TWLC opened in 2006 and features seven classrooms, extensive multi-media facilities and an outdoor golf teaching area. The center has since expanded to four additional campuses: two in Washington, DC; one in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and one in Stuart, Florida.

The foundation benefits from the annual Chevron World Challenge and AT&T; National golf tournaments hosted by Woods. In October 2011, the foundation hosted the first Tiger Woods Invitational at Pebble Beach. Other annual fundraisers have included the concert events Block Party, last held in 2009 in Anaheim, and Tiger Jam, last held in 2011 in Las Vegas after a one-year hiatus.

Tiger Woods Design

In November 2006, Woods announced his intention to begin designing golf courses around the world through a new company, Tiger Woods Design. A month later, he announced that the company's first course would be in Dubai as part of a 25.3 million-square-foot development, The Tiger Woods Dubai. The Al Ruwaya Golf Course was initially expected to finish construction in 2009. As of February 2010, only seven holes had been completed; in April 2011, the New York Times reported that the project had been shelved permanently.

Tiger Woods Design has taken on two other courses, neither of which has materialized. In August 2007, Woods announced The Cliffs at High Carolina, a private course in the Blue Ridge Mountains near Asheville, North Carolina. After a groundbreaking in November 2008, the project suffered cash flow problems and suspended construction. A third course, in Punta Brava, Mexico, was announced in October 2008, but incurred delays due to issues with permits and an environmental impact study. Construction on the Punta Brava course has not yet begun.

The problems encountered by these projects have been credited to factors including overly optimistic estimates of their value; declines throughout the global economy, particularly the U.S. crash in home prices; and decreased appeal of Woods following his 2009 infidelity scandal.

Writings

Woods wrote a golf instruction column for ''Golf Digest'' magazine from 1997 to February 2011. In 2001 he wrote a best-selling golf instruction book, ''How I Play Golf'', which had the largest print run of any golf book for its first edition, 1.5 million copies.

Personal life

Marriage and children

In November 2003, Woods became engaged to Elin Nordegren, a Swedish former model and daughter of former minister of migration Barbro Holmberg and radio journalist Thomas Nordegren. They were introduced during The Open Championship in 2001 by Swedish golfer Jesper Parnevik, who had employed her as an au pair. They married on October 5, 2004, at the Sandy Lane resort in Barbados, and lived at Isleworth, a community in Windermere, a suburb of Orlando, Florida. In 2006, they purchased a $39 million estate in Jupiter Island, Florida, and began constructing a 10,000-square-foot home; Woods moved there in 2010 following the couple's divorce.

Woods and Nordegren's first child, a daughter named Sam Alexis Woods, was born on June 18, 2007. Woods chose the name because his own father had always called him Sam. Their son, Charlie Axel Woods, was born on February 8, 2009.

Infidelity scandal and fallout

On November 25, 2009, supermarket tabloid ''The National Enquirer'' published a story claiming that Woods had an extramarital affair with New York City nightclub manager Rachel Uchitel, a claim she denied. Two days later, around 2:30 AM on November 27, Woods left home in his Cadillac Escalade SUV and, while still on his street, collided with a fire hydrant, a tree, and several hedges. He was treated for minor facial lacerations and received a ticket for careless driving. Following intense media speculation about the accident, Woods released a statement on his website taking sole responsibility for the accident, calling it a "private matter" and crediting his wife for helping him from the car. On November 30, Woods announced that he would not be appearing at his own charity golf tournament, the Chevron World Challenge, nor any other tournaments in 2009, due to his injuries.

On December 2, following the release by ''US Weekly'' of a voicemail message allegedly left by Tiger for a mistress, Woods released another statement in which he admitted "transgressions" and apologized to "all of those who have supported [him] over the years", while reiterating his and his family's right to privacy. Over the next several days, more than a dozen women claimed in various media outlets to have had affairs with Woods. On December 11, he released a third statement admitting to infidelity and apologizing again, as well as announcing that he would be taking "an indefinite break from professional golf."

In the days and months following Woods' admission of infidelity, several companies re-evaluated their relationships with him. Accenture, AT&T;, Gatorade and General Motors completely ended their sponsorship deals, while Gillette suspended advertising featuring Woods. TAG Heuer dropped Woods from advertising in December 2009 and officially ended their deal when his contract expired in August 2011. The magazine ''Golf Digest'' suspended Woods' monthly column beginning with the February 2010 issue. In contrast, Nike continued to support Woods, as did Electronic Arts, which was working with Woods on the game ''Tiger Woods PGA Tour Online''. A December 2009 study estimated the shareholder loss caused by Woods' affairs to be between $5 billion and $12 billion.

On February 19, 2010, Woods gave a televised statement in which he said he had been in a 45-day therapy program since the end of December. He again apologized for his actions. "I thought I could get away with whatever I wanted to," he said. "I felt that I had worked hard my entire life and deserved to enjoy all the temptations around me. I felt I was entitled. Thanks to money and fame, I didn't have to go far to find them. I was wrong. I was foolish." He said he did not know yet when he would be returning to golf. He announced a few weeks later on March 16 that he would be returning at the 2010 Masters Tournament on April 8.

Woods and Nordegren officially divorced on August 23, 2010.

Other

From childhood Woods was raised as a Buddhist, and actively practised this faith from childhood until well into his adult professional golf career. In a 2000 article, Woods was quoted as saying he "believes in Buddhism... Not every aspect, but most of it." He has attributed his deviations and infidelity to his losing track of Buddhism. He said that "Buddhism teaches me to stop following every impulse and to learn restraint. Obviously I lost track of what I was taught."

Tiger Woods is registered as an independent. In January 2009, Woods delivered a speech commemorating the military at the We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial. In April 2009, Woods visited the White House while in the Washington, D.C. area promoting the golf tournament he hosts, the AT&T; National.

Woods underwent laser eye surgery in 1999. Before this surgery, Woods eyesight was minus 11, meaning he was almost legally blind. He considered the surgery a big help in his career and a good alternative to the glasses and contact lenses. He immediately started winning tour events after the surgery. He received money from TLC Laser Eye Centers to endorse them. In 2007, he had a second laser eye surgery when his vision began to deteriorate again.

See also

Career Grand Slam Champions

Golfers with most European Tour wins

List of golfers with most PGA Tour wins

List of men's major championships winning golfers

List of World Number One male golfers

Longest PGA Tour win streaks

Most PGA Tour wins in a year

Most wins in one PGA Tour event

References

Further reading

External links

Tiger Woods Foundation

Tiger Woods Learning Center

Tiger Woods' Videos on mReplay

Tiger Woods Video on ESPN Video Archive

Tiger Woods Video on FoxSports Video Archive

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