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Raymond J. de Souza: Jack Nicklaus, not Tiger Woods, still defines greatness at Augusta

Forty years after his magical 1986 victory, the Golden Bear returns as both supreme athlete and man of character

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The Masters opens this week at Augusta National golf course, as pure a collaboration of God and man as exists anywhere on earth. You don’t realize that pine needles can be beautiful until you see what Augusta’s groundskeepers do with them, or that azaleas bloom on schedule if their roots are chilled or warmed as necessary. They do that for the Masters, because at Augusta perfection is the standard and excellence is merely acceptable.

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Forty years ago, Augusta gave sports the most perfect afternoon of golf ever played, perhaps the most perfect moment in professional sports. Jack Nicklaus, at the surely-impossible age of 46, won his record sixth Masters, his record 18th major, commencing four decades as both the beloved grandfather and guardian angel of the game.

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He will be there this Thursday at age 86, honorary starter, the fortieth anniversary of 1986 enthusiastically feted. He will then be featured as a venerable commentator as Amazon Prime launches the Masters into the streaming age.

Tiger Woods, in contrast, is currently hiding out somewhere to “recover” yet again for whatever time is required to minimize the consequences of his latest DUI arrest. Reporters quickly recycled fifteen years’ worth of stories about Woods’ “demons,” as if they were the foursome he golfed with every week at the local club.

At age 50, Tiger’s body is rapidly approaching the compromised state of his character. Great athletes do not have to be good men, but the angels of Augusta prefer it that way, which is why its crowning moment belongs to Nicklaus and not Woods.

In 1986, Nicklaus was six years removed from his last major championship. He could still play, but no one thought he could win. Then he shot 7-under par over the last 10 holes on Sunday to pass eight players and win his last and sweetest major victory. The golf world cried tears of joy. A good man had done a great thing.

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His status as the greatest golfer ever was already established by 1986 and has not been challenged since. In major championships, Nicklaus finished first 18 times, second 19 times and third 9 times. With four majors per year, that is the equivalent of playing for 12 straight years and only missing the top three twice. As an encore, Nicklaus finished sixth at the Masters in 1998 — at age 58.

Nicklaus’ achievement in 1986 was all the greater for whom he beat. Five of the eight players he overtook on Sunday — Seve Ballesteros, Nick Price, Bernhard Langer, Tom Kite and Greg Norman — went on to win majors, nine in the subsequent seven years. The legendary Tom Watson was in the hunt too. Fans witnessed not a walkover, but an epic Sunday afternoon with a veritable constellation of stars shining as the Georgia sun began to set.

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Tiger, for his part, has 15 major championships, but only 7 second-place finishes.

The magic of 1986 was that the greatest had one last great moment in him, and also that goodness was marvelously manifest. In contrast to so many professional athletes, Nicklaus was a devoted husband and father. In 1986, his eldest son Jack Jr. served as caddy for his most beautiful round.

The defining moment was not the eagle on 15 or the birdie on 17 (“Yes sir!”), but the embrace of father and son on 18, walking off together, a proud father and an even prouder son. Nicklaus’ mother was at Augusta for the first time since 1959; she had not been on hand for his previous five Masters victories. Her guardian angel must have known.

Nineteen years later, when at age 65 Nicklaus bid farewell to competitive championship golf at the 2005 British Open, his son Steve was on the bag. He played the last round with his fierce competitor and faithful friend, Tom Watson, and they stood together on the Swilcan Bridge of the Old Course at St. Andrew’s, the ancestral home of golf, tears in their eyes as generations of golf lovers cheered themselves hoarse. The angels of St. Andrew’s preferred it that way too. Of course, Nicklaus birdied his last hole that Friday afternoon.

This week, with abundant attention on the fortieth anniversary of golf’s most golden day, Nicklaus was asked about his greatest shots at Augusta. He took greater delight in being a grandfather than a golfer.

“The most memorable shots to me were made by my family. Everyone saw GT’s hole in one at 9 in the Par-3 Contest,” he said about his grandson in 2018. Tom Watson was also on hand.

“Jack III, the oldest of my 24 grandchildren, made an albatross at 15 on May 21, 2022,” Nicklaus revealed, perhaps the first person to do that since Gene Sarazen in 1935 — the “shot heard around the world” that contributed to making the Masters what it would become.

Nicklaus himself provided delights in his old age, none more fantastic than a putt that didn’t even count, a demonstration attempt that he holed from more than 100 feet at the 2016 Senior PGA Championship. Tom Watson was on hand again — and Arnold Palmer for good measure.

This year’s anniversary commemorations of Augusta’s angelic afternoon may be the last with the Golden Bear still able to amble around. At the fiftieth in 2036, Nicklaus would be 96 years old. Revel then in the glories of 1986 while the principal character is still present — precisely a man whose sterling character has become still more evident since.

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