Jack Nicklaus Could Have Supposedly Ended His Golf Career Even Before Turning Professional After a Major Disease Plagued His Family in His Childhood

Jack Nicklaus had a keen interest in the game of golf when he was just a kid. The golf star has made millions of fans with his spectacular gameplay on the field. And all of it started when he was 11 years old. He once shared details about the time when he was still learning to play but had to go through tests. And they were not golf related.

When Jack Nicklaus went through a challenging phase as a kid

Nicklaus highly credits his father, Charlie, for supporting him throughout his career. The golfer talked about how his old man used to teach him numerous sports on “an empty lot next to our house”. Being a good student at school, Nicklaus never had to worry about his studies either. And so his mother, Helen, also extended all her support for his golfing adventures.

However, siblings can sometimes have issues with their parents spending too much time with the other kid. But in Nicklaus’ case, it was not so, his younger sister Marilyn had no problem with Charlie and Nicklaus spending hours playing together.

A ‘quick learner’, as he calls himself, Nicklaus would wake up every morning at 11. And his motivation was simply playing a few rounds with his dad. “I’d get up early each morning, put a golf bag on my shoulder, walk through a park, slip between two houses and wind up at Scioto’s fourth tee,” he said. “I’d play the fourth hole and the ninth and then go to the driving range and hit a few balls. I was a quick learner.”

After breaking 70 for the first time at the age of 13 in 1953, Nicklaus proved that he had something special in him. But it all went upside down when the golf legend came down with flu-like symptoms. “I came down with flu-like symptoms that lasted two weeks. I lost about 20 pounds,” he said.

But little did he know that his sister was dealing with something even worse. “One day after I recovered, my father came to the golf course to tell me that he and my mom had taken Marilyn to the hospital. “She has polio,”” he stated. “They tested me, too. Luckily, I had only the flu-like symptoms. My sister had some paralysis.”

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It’s hard to imagine how one can continue to play with a sibling in the hospital struggling with such a serious health disaster. However, as things settled later, Nicklaus continued to practice until he became the best golfer to ever have played professionally. Some of his unachievable records haven’t been touched by any golfer yet. But who could have thought that an 11-year-old kid playing in the backyard, would write history in the sport one day?

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