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GRAND SLAM

Career Slam: Jack Nicklaus

No player has won more majors than the Golden Bear, the leader of the career Grand Slam club

April 07, 2015
By PGATOUR.COM staff

Don Morley/Getty Images

April 07, 2015
By PGATOUR.COM staff,

Having won three legs of the career Grand Slam by age 23, Jack Nicklaus seemed destined to complete the task. Who knew he would do it three times, eventually ending his legendary career with a record 18 major victories. Amazingly, that number could've been higher, as he finished runner-up a record 19 times in majors.

JACK NICKLAUS GRAND SLAM FACTS

Order of career Grand Slam: 1962 U.S. Open, 1963 Masters, 1963 PGA Championship, 1966 Open Championship
Age when completing the career Grand Slam: 26
Total majors won: 18
Total majors played: 164
Major starts needed to complete the career Grand Slam: 27
Starts needed to win the final leg: Won Open Championship on his fifth attempt overall (third attempt at completing the career Slam). After getting the third leg in 1963 at the PGA, Nicklaus finished second at the Open the next season, five strokes behind Tony Lema. The next year, he tied for 12th before completing the career Slam in 1966.
Closest to single-season Grand Slam: 1975. Won the Masters and PGA Championship, tied for third at The Open Championship and tied for seventh at the U.S. Open. It was the fourth time in Nicklaus' career that he finished top-10 in all four majors in a single season (he also did it a fifth time in 1977). Nicklaus also won two majors in same season in 1963, 1966, 1972, and 1980.

OTHER CAREER GRAND SLAM MEMBERS

Gary Player | Tiger Woods | Ben Hogan | Gene Sarazen

JACK NICKLAUS: MAJOR VICTORIES

1962 U.S. OPEN - At Oakmont, the 22-year-old Nicklaus shot a final-round 69 to force an 18-hole playoff with Arnold Palmer. In front of a pro-Palmer crowd, Nicklaus seized the early lead, going up four strokes after six holes. Palmer charged in the middle of the round, but Nicklaus held on to win by three, becoming the youngest U.S. Open since Bobby Jones in 1923.

1963 MASTERS - At Augusta National, Nicklaus' second-round 66 set him up for the weekend, and he held off Tony Lema in the final round, shooting a 72 to beat Lema by a stroke.

1963 PGA CHAMPIONSHIP - At Dallas Athletic Club, Nicklaus rallied from three shots down entering the final round, shooting a 68 to beat Dave Ragan by two shots. At the trophy presentation, Nicklaus needed a towel to grasp the Wanamaker Trophy, which was hot to the touch in the 100-degree weather.

1965 MASTERS - At Augusta National, Nicklaus shot 64-69 on the weekend to finish at 17 under 271 for the tournament, bettering Ben Hogan's tournament record by three shots. His winning margin of nine strokes -- over Palmer and Gary Player -- was also a tournament record at the time.

1966 MASTERS - At Augusta National, Nicklaus became the first Masters champ to successfully defend his title, beating Tommy Jacobs and Gay Brewer in an 18-hole playoff on Monday. Nicklaus shot 70 to Jacobs' 72 and Brewer's 78.

1966 OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP - At Muirfield, Nicklaus completed the career Grand Slam, winning the first of three Open titles. He trailed Phil Rodgers by two shots after 54 holes but his final-round 70 was good enough to beat Doug Sanders and Dave Thomas by a stroke.

1967 U.S. OPEN - At Baltusrol, Nicklaus rolled in a 22-foot birdie putt on the final hole to put the exclamation mark on a final-rond 65, winning by four strokes over Palmer. His total of 275 was a new tournament record.

1970 OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP - At St. Andrews, Nicklaus beat Sanders, 72 to 73, in the first 18-hole playoff in Open Championship history. Previous playoffs had been 36 holes. Sanders had led by a stroke going into the 72nd hole in regulation but missed a 3-foot par putt to drop into a tie with Nicklaus.

1971 PGA CHAMPIONSHIP - At the original PGA National, Nicklaus led wire-to-wire, opening up a four-stroke lead after 54 holes at the tournament, which was played in late February to avoid the Florida heat. His final-round 73 was good enough to beat Billy Casper by two strokes.

1972 MASTERS - At Augusta National, Nicklaus grabbed the lead with a first-round 68 en route to finishing as the only player under par with a 2-under total of 286. He won by three strokes over Bruce Crampton, Weiskopf and Bobby Mitchell.

1972 U.S. OPEN - At Pebble Beach, Nicklaus bested Palmer again in an U.S. Open, winning by four shots over his famous rival. The 74 that Nicklaus shot in challenging weather conditions during the final round was nearly five shots better than the field average that day.

1973 PGA CHAMPIONSHIP - At Canterbury, Nicklaus shot a pair of 68s in the middle two rounds, then stayed comfortably ahead on the final day, shooting a 69 to finish at 7 under, four strokes ahead of Bruce Crampton.

1975 MASTERS - At Augusta National, Nicklaus led by five strokes after 36 holes but surrendered the lead to Weiskopf going into the final round. A final-round 68 provided Nicklaus with a one-shot win over Weiskopf and Johnny Miller.

1975 PGA CHAMPIONSHIP - At Firestone, Nicklaus won his second major in his home state of Ohio, finishing with a 4-under total of 276, two strokes ahead of Crampton. It was the second time in Nicklaus' career he had won the Masters and PGA in the same year.

1978 OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP - At St. Andrews, Nicklaus won for the second time on the Old Course, shooting 69-69 in the final two rounds to win by two shots over Raymond Floyd, Tom Kite, Ben Crenshaw and Simon Owen.

1980 U.S. OPEN - At Baltusrol, Nicklaus opened with a 63, tying a tournament record; Weiskopf also shot 63 that day While Weiskopf faded, Nicklaus maintained at least a share of the lead the rest of the way. Tied with Isao Aoki entering the final round, Nicklaus shot 68 to Aoki's 70.

1980 PGA CHAMPIONSHIP - At Oak Hill, Nicklaus won his fifth PGA, tying Walter Hagen's record. Nicklaus trailed Gil Morgan by one stroke after 36 holes, but shot 66-69 on the weekend, leaving him at 6 under for the tournament, the only player under par. Andy Bean was second, seven shots off the pace.

1986 MASTERS - At Augusta National, the 46-year-old Nicklaus turned back the clock, shooting a final-round 65 -- including a back-nine 6-under 30 -- that goes down as arguably the most memorable win in Masters history. In becoming the oldest Masters winner and the second-oldest winner in majors history behind Julius Boros, who was 48 when he won the 1968 PGA Championship, Nicklaus claimed a record sixth green jacket.

JACK NICKLAUS: ALL-TIME MAJORS RESULTS
Year	Masters	U.S. Open	The Open	PGA
1957		MC
1958		T-41
1959	MC	MC
1960	T-13	2
1961	T-7	T-4
1962	T-15	Won	T-34	T-3
1963	Won	MC	3	Won
1964	T-2	T-23	2	T-2
1965	Won	T-31	T-12	T-2
1966	Won	3	Won	T-22
1967	MC	Won	2	T-3
1968	T-5	2	T-2	MC
1969	T-24	T-25	T-6	T-11
1970	8	T-49	Won	T-6
1971	T-2	2	T-5	Won
1972	Won	Won	2	T-13
1973	T-3	T-4	4	Won
1974	T-4	T-10	3	2
1975	Won	T-7	T-3	Won
1976	T-3	T-11	T-2	T-4
1977	2	T-10	2	3
1978	7	T-6	Won	MC
1979	4	T-9	T-2	T-65
1980	T-33	Won	T-4	Won
1981	T-2	T-6	T-23	T-4
1982	T-15	2	T-10	T-16
1983	WD	T-43	T-29	2
1984	T-18	T-21	T-31	T-25
1985	T-6	MC	MC	T-32
1986	Won	T-8	T-46	T-16
1987	T-7	T-46	T-72	T-24
1988	T-21	MC	T-25	MC
1989	T-8	T-43	T-30	T-27
1990	6	T-33	T-63	MC
1991	T-35	T-46	T-44	T-23
1992	T-42	MC	MC	MC
1993	T-27	T-72	MC	MC
1994	MC	T-28	MC	MC
1995	T-35	MC	T-79	T-67
1996	T-41	T-27	T-45	MC
1997	T-39	T-52	60	MC
1998	T-6	T-43
1999		MC
2000	T-54	MC	MC	MC
2001	MC
2002
2003	MC
2004	MC
2005	MC		MC

JACK NICKLAUS: MAJORS AT A GLANCE
Major	Starts (Made cuts)	Wins	2nd	Top 10
MASTERS	45 (37)	6	4	22
U.S. OPEN	44 (35)	4	4	18
OPEN CHAMP.	38 (32)	3	7	18
PGA	37 (27)	5	4	15
Total	164 (131)	18	19	73

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