John Boyette - The 1986 Masters

To my lovely wife, Kathy, who always believed in me.

To Mom, Dad, and Angela, the best parents and sister anyone could hope for.

Copyright 2011 by John Boyette

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, except as may be expressly permitted in writing from the publisher. Requests for permission should be addressed to Globe Pequot Press, Attn: Rights and Permissions Department, P.O. Box 480, Guilford, CT 06437.

Lyons Press is an imprint of Globe Pequot Press.

Photography Augusta Chronicle

Text design: Sheryl Kober

Layout artist: Melissa Evarts

Project editor: Kristen Mellitt

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.

ISBN 978-0-7627-9764-6

Printed in the United States of America

An Interview with Jack Nicklaus

Arriving at the Nicklaus Companies in North Palm Beach, Florida, for an appointment with Jack Nicklaus to talk about the 1986 Masters Tournament, I found myself walking through an inspiring gallery of mementos and tributes to the career of the games greatest player.

With seventy-three PGA Tour wins and victories in eighteen professional majors and two U.S. Amateurs, Jack Nicklaus has plenty of triumphant moments on display. The 1986 Masters is well represented with photos of Nicklaus and his caddie and son Jackie from that week. A few depictions of Nicklaus sinking his famous putt on the 17th hole, with his oversized putter thrust into the air, also line the hallways leading to his private sanctuary.

But inside his corner office, there arent any mementos from his playing days.

Instead, Nicklaus has personalized his space with family photos and keepsakes from his travels around the globe. Family is what has always driven Jack Nicklaus. And talk of family is what permeates our conversation about that memorable week.

Nicklaus is now seventy-one, and twenty-five years removed from what many consider his greatest triumph. He took time out from his busy schedulehe plays hardly any competitive golf, but his golf course design firm and other business pursuits keep him activeto sit down and recall how he shocked the sports world at the age of forty-six.

Coming into the 1986 Masters, Nicklaus was not among the favorites. He hadnt won anything in two years, and his last major title was a distant memory. He still enjoyed the competition, but it wasnt his primary focus.

Jack Nicklaus, with a sterling replica of the Masters Trophy that is given to all winners by Augusta National Golf Club. Nicklaus is wearing a yellow shirt that commemorates his 1986 Masters victory.

Golf was not a number one priority in my life, never was actually, Nicklaus says. My family always was number one.

And 1986 was all about family. His eldest son Jackie was his caddie, his mother and sister were in the gallery, and his wife and close friends surrounded Nicklaus as he roared back to win. The only person missing was Nicklauss father, Charlie, who had passed away in 1970.

The two were extremely close, and Nicklaus interrupts the remembrance of 86 to tell a story of how they came to an understanding at the 1959 U.S. Amateur at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

We were having dinner that night. And he said to me, That 14th hole, out there you hit this shot and dont you think it might have been better to... I went [motions for a timeout]. I said Dad, youre my best friend, I love having you here, I want to have you here, but Ive got to do this myself.

Nicklaus went on to win that U.S. Amateur with a 1-up victory over Charlie Coe in the 36-hole finale. It was the first major championship of his career, and the last time his father tried to give him advice on how to play golf.

He was smart enough to know that, Nicklaus says.

The victory launched a career that saw Nicklaus win another U.S. Amateur, seventeen professional major championships, and seventy-two PGA Tour tournaments through the end of 1984. But he freely admits that by that point in his career, he was not putting the same effort into his game.

Through the 60s and 70s, I used to start thinking about the Masters in January and start preparing in January to get ready for the Masters, he said. Around the 80s, I started thinking about it in January and started preparing for it in the latter part of March. And thats sort of about where I was in 86.

That year, however, Nicklaus rolled back the clock to score perhaps the most unexpected, and most rewarding, victory of his career. Nicklaus played the final ten holes at Augusta National in 7-under par to beat some of the worlds top players.

A lifetime of excellence in golfs biggest events had prepared Nicklaus to handle the emotions he felt that day.

Ive always felt like people have looked at me as calm and not very emotional when I played, he says. Well, early in my career I got kind of emotional when I got into it and got excited, and I found I lost my concentration of playing. I tried very hard when I was younger to pull myself back and be able to be calm and be very controlled under the situations of pressure. And I think thats why I handled pressure well, because I learned to do that at a young age.

Nicklaus believes he was too caught up playing his game at the 86 Masters to realize the enormity of what he was achieving.

No, Im just a golfer playing a golf tournament, trying to do my best, he explains. I hadnt won in two years, the last tournament Id won was the Memorial Tournament in 84, and I didnt have any grandiose thoughts about lets win number eighteen type of thing. I found myself with an opportunity to win another golf tournament, and I sort of seized the moment and I kept my composure, and I played well and I got some putts in and I won. After its over, yeah, then you think about it.

The victory is still a fan favorite, Nicklaus says.

I get so many people who come up to me and go, Oh Jack, I was in this restaurant and I stopped everything and watched television and never even finished my meal. Or, I was in an airport and I was waiting on an airplane and I couldnt get on the airplane and I let the plane go. People tell me all kinds of stories. Oh yeah, its kind of neat. I still get them.

Not that Nicklaus dwelled on the accomplishment. He flew back home late that Sunday night and went back to his normal schedule the next day. I probably came home and went to watch a golf match the next day or a baseball game, he says.

Once I left the golf course the tournament was over. Thats one of the reasons Id say I went to the practice tee 98 percent of the time after I played. Not only to fix what I did wrong but to solidify what I did right. But also, you have a peace of mind, so when I went home at night I didnt have to carry golf with me. Maybe thats why Ive been married fifty years.

INTRODUCTION

Chalk it up to perfect timing.

An interest in golf. A love of the Masters Tournament and Augusta National Golf Club. A desire to see Jack Nicklaus. A budding journalism career. A promise kept.

All of those factors came together April 13, 1986 and put me in the middle of one of the most exciting days in the history of golf, or sports for that matter. Twenty-five years later, were still talking and writing about it. I expect people will for as long as golf is played.