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Apr. 7—Editor's note: The Aiken Standard is looking back at the 40th anniversary of the 1986 Masters, the first one John Boyette covered as a journalist.
It's widely accepted that the 1986 Masters Tournament is on a very short list of the greatest golf tournaments ever played.
It had all the elements: the best players in the world, an aging superstar, family ties galore and drama in spades.
Jack Nicklaus, 46 at the time, was widely considered the greatest golfer of all-time. He had won a record 17 professional majors, more than anyone. And he had owned the Masters, winning it five times. He had set or held many records at Augusta National Golf Club, including the youngest to win (23), the lowest 18-hole score (64), best 72-hole score (271) and margin of victory (9 strokes).
But, in the spring of 1986, those records didn't mean a thing. Nicklaus was caught between a rock and a hard place: devoting time to his family and business interests, or living up to his reputation as the game's greatest player. He didn't need to prove anything on the golf course, so the former won out.
Nicklaus was 11 years removed from his last Masters victory, six years from his previous major triumph and two years from his last win of any kind. There was nothing to suggest that he would contend, much less win, as April 1986 approached.
Who could have predicted that a newspaper article, taped to the refrigerator of Nicklaus's rental home in Augusta, would spur him to one of the most stunning victories?
The article
It was really nothing more than four sentences in a notebook-style article previewing the 1986 Masters.
The author was Tom McCollister, golf writer for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
"Nicklaus is gone, done. He just doesn't have the game anymore," he wrote in the April 6, 1986 edition. "It's rusted from lack of use. He's 46, and nobody that old wins the Masters."
McCollister wasn't wrong in his analysis of Nicklaus's play so far in 1986. His best showing was a tie for 39th at the Hawaiian Open, and he had earned just $4,403.75 that year.
It's doubtful Nicklaus would have even seen the article had it not been for his good friend John Montgomery. An old friend of the Nicklaus clan, Montgomery and his wife Nancy shared a rental home with them in Augusta that week.
Montgomery got wind of the Atlanta article and arranged for a copy to be delivered via his son. Then he put it in a place he knew Nicklaus would see it: the refrigerator door.
While Montgomery denied it, he had a long history of playing practical jokes on his famous friend. Nicklaus knew who was behind the scheme.
"I can't imagine an article motivating me," he said. "It was fun, it was a good joke."
And he acknowledged that his play had been lousy up to that point.
"The article could have been there the year before, two years before that, any time before that," he said. "It just happened to fall on that year."
Aftermath
Nicklaus progressively got better with each round at Augusta National in 1986, shooting 74-71-69-65. He finished at 9-under-par 279, and then had to wait as his challengers failed to match his total.
First it was Seve Ballesteros who crumbled, then Tom Kite. Finally, Greg Norman made bogey on the final hole when a par would have forced a sudden-death playoff.
"It began to sizzle on Saturday and Sunday it came to a boil when he got on the back nine," said Furman Bisher, the late Atlanta Journal-Constitution sports columnist. "If you're of my age and class, to see an old guy of 46 slipping into that green jacket on Sunday afternoon, that made your spine tingle."
When Nicklaus came to the press building after the green jacket ceremony, he inquired about the whereabouts of a certain golf writer.
"The first thing he said when he walked in was, 'Where's Tom McCollister?'" Bisher remembered. "Tom started hiding. (Nicklaus) said 'No, no, I just want to thank you. You helped me win this thing and I appreciate it.'"
Forty years later, Nicklaus still holds the record as oldest Masters champion. Even if his clubs were "rusted from lack of use."
Raymond Floyd, Fred Couples and Kenny Perry have all had flirtations with winning at an older age than Nicklaus, but couldn't pull it off.
"That won't stand long. The way these guys play at older age these days, it'll pass," Nicklaus said earlier this year of his record. "All records are made to be broken. You've got some guys playing, not too many old that are playing well, but it will happen."
Continue reading...
It's widely accepted that the 1986 Masters Tournament is on a very short list of the greatest golf tournaments ever played.
It had all the elements: the best players in the world, an aging superstar, family ties galore and drama in spades.
Jack Nicklaus, 46 at the time, was widely considered the greatest golfer of all-time. He had won a record 17 professional majors, more than anyone. And he had owned the Masters, winning it five times. He had set or held many records at Augusta National Golf Club, including the youngest to win (23), the lowest 18-hole score (64), best 72-hole score (271) and margin of victory (9 strokes).
But, in the spring of 1986, those records didn't mean a thing. Nicklaus was caught between a rock and a hard place: devoting time to his family and business interests, or living up to his reputation as the game's greatest player. He didn't need to prove anything on the golf course, so the former won out.
Nicklaus was 11 years removed from his last Masters victory, six years from his previous major triumph and two years from his last win of any kind. There was nothing to suggest that he would contend, much less win, as April 1986 approached.
Who could have predicted that a newspaper article, taped to the refrigerator of Nicklaus's rental home in Augusta, would spur him to one of the most stunning victories?
The article
It was really nothing more than four sentences in a notebook-style article previewing the 1986 Masters.
The author was Tom McCollister, golf writer for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
"Nicklaus is gone, done. He just doesn't have the game anymore," he wrote in the April 6, 1986 edition. "It's rusted from lack of use. He's 46, and nobody that old wins the Masters."
McCollister wasn't wrong in his analysis of Nicklaus's play so far in 1986. His best showing was a tie for 39th at the Hawaiian Open, and he had earned just $4,403.75 that year.
It's doubtful Nicklaus would have even seen the article had it not been for his good friend John Montgomery. An old friend of the Nicklaus clan, Montgomery and his wife Nancy shared a rental home with them in Augusta that week.
Montgomery got wind of the Atlanta article and arranged for a copy to be delivered via his son. Then he put it in a place he knew Nicklaus would see it: the refrigerator door.
While Montgomery denied it, he had a long history of playing practical jokes on his famous friend. Nicklaus knew who was behind the scheme.
"I can't imagine an article motivating me," he said. "It was fun, it was a good joke."
And he acknowledged that his play had been lousy up to that point.
"The article could have been there the year before, two years before that, any time before that," he said. "It just happened to fall on that year."
Aftermath
Nicklaus progressively got better with each round at Augusta National in 1986, shooting 74-71-69-65. He finished at 9-under-par 279, and then had to wait as his challengers failed to match his total.
First it was Seve Ballesteros who crumbled, then Tom Kite. Finally, Greg Norman made bogey on the final hole when a par would have forced a sudden-death playoff.
"It began to sizzle on Saturday and Sunday it came to a boil when he got on the back nine," said Furman Bisher, the late Atlanta Journal-Constitution sports columnist. "If you're of my age and class, to see an old guy of 46 slipping into that green jacket on Sunday afternoon, that made your spine tingle."
When Nicklaus came to the press building after the green jacket ceremony, he inquired about the whereabouts of a certain golf writer.
"The first thing he said when he walked in was, 'Where's Tom McCollister?'" Bisher remembered. "Tom started hiding. (Nicklaus) said 'No, no, I just want to thank you. You helped me win this thing and I appreciate it.'"
Forty years later, Nicklaus still holds the record as oldest Masters champion. Even if his clubs were "rusted from lack of use."
Raymond Floyd, Fred Couples and Kenny Perry have all had flirtations with winning at an older age than Nicklaus, but couldn't pull it off.
"That won't stand long. The way these guys play at older age these days, it'll pass," Nicklaus said earlier this year of his record. "All records are made to be broken. You've got some guys playing, not too many old that are playing well, but it will happen."
Continue reading...
