‘He Knows…’: PGA Tour Veteran Once Spilled Beans on the Intriguing Facts About Jack Nicklaus, According to a 1994 Feature

Published 01/27/2023, 12:29 PM EST

What makes Jack Nicklaus different from other golfers? Of course, the unbeatable 18 major tournament victories and 100+ worldwide championship wins! But, in spite of these achievements, the golfer can never be counted in the same group as his peers because of one unique fact. The fact that he believed he could win anything, and he had actually won them by beating his colleagues mercilessly.

It took Nicklaus years to find out he was colorblind his whole life. However, it took him no time to understand that he is a good golfer. That and his father’s teachings led Nicklaus to be extremely confident in his game.

In an article titled, ’20 Jack Nicklaus,’ published in 1994 in Sports Illustrated, the author Rick Riley explained how he built his name despite having too many competitions. Byron Nelson, Sam Snead, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Lee Trevino, Tom Watson, and Seve Ballesteros… All these players were there when Nicklaus was winning major championship after major championship. However, nobody could stop him from becoming the GOAT. And his colleague, J. C. Snead, who finished runner-up at the 1974 and 1976 PLAYERS Championship in which Nicklaus was first, revealed the reason behind it.

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“When you go head-to-head against Nicklaus,” Snead said, according to the SI article. “He knows he’s going to beat you, you know he’s going to beat you.” Furthermore, he stated, “and he knows you know he’s going to beat you.”

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Jack Nicklaus, his career records in major events

After turning professional in 1961, Jack Nicklaus never had to second guess his career choice ever again. He won his first major in his PGA Tour rookie year, and has won 17 more major championships since then. Interestingly, other than winning them, Nicklaus also has a record of finishing the most times as a runner-up for major events – 19.

Hence, it was not surprising that his colleagues felt Nicklaus knew he would win an event beforehand. After all, he had all the experience to understand them upfront. Do you feel intimidated after reading Snead’s remarks on Nicklaus? Think about how the golfers in his era would have felt when they had to go against him during tournaments!

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Written by:

Anjana Prabhakaran is a Golf content writer at EssentiallySports. She has completed her Master's degree in Public Administration and considers researching as one of her hobbies. As her family is interested in sports, Anjana grew up watching every sport on television.

Edited by:

Manaal Siddiqui

‘He Knows…’: PGA Tour Veteran Once Spilled Beans on the Intriguing Facts About Jack Nicklaus, According to a 1994 Feature

Jack Nicklaus, his career records in major events

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