From the archive
An inside look at Jack Nicklaus' game from each year he won the Masters
As the Golden Bear celebrates his 85th birthday, we pulled tips and insight from Golf Digest's Archive into Jack's game from each of the six years he won the Masters.

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Golf legend Jack Nicklaus turns 85 on Tuesday. When you think Jack, you think majors. And when it’s the dead of winter and you’re thinking about majors, the sweet promise of Augusta and springtime is right where desperate golf brains go. To celebrate the Golden Bear's Jan. 21 birthday, we went into the Golf Digest archive to find a helpful tip from Jack (or those close to him) during each year he won the Masters. The insights show not only what made his game great, but also how his mind managed the stress and expectations of tournament golf.
(Golf Digest+ members get access to the complete Golf Digest archive dating back to 1950. Sign up here.)
1963

James Drake
At age 23, Nicklaus parred the final hole to win the Masters by one shot over Tony Lema. It was his first victory at Augusta National, and his second major triumph.
A couple months before the 1963 Masters, in the February issue, Nicklaus talked about his swing in the instruction feature, “The Champions' Way… Jack Nicklaus.” In the section where he explains his pre-shot routine, he gets into the waggle and how it leads seamlessly into his takeaway.
“It would be very difficult to pick out one particular instant when the backswing starts,” Nicklaus said in the piece. “I feel that the waggle and the first movement in the actual swing are all a part of a continuous motion.
“During the waggle I feel that my weight is actually moving back and forth—perhaps I should say turning back and forth—however slightly. This keeps the legs from becoming taut and adds to the overall smoothness of movement. I feel that everything is moving together in a smooth, continuous action.”
When you think of the fluidity of Nicklaus’ swing, this explanation makes sense. The naturalness of his movement is in part due to the fact that he’s not starting from a complete standstill. The waggle leading directly into the takeaway helps generate some of the athleticism in Nicklaus’ iconic move.
1965

James Drake
Nicklaus was tied for the lead with Gary Player and Arnold Palmer after two rounds before shooting an eight-under 64 in the third round to take control. He finished the tournament with what was then a record-setting performance of 17 under, winning by nine shots, also a record at the time. (Tiger Woods went on to break both of those records.)
In the July issue of Golf Digest, Pat Ward Thomas, a British writer who had covered Nicklaus since he was an amateur, wrote a feature on Nicklaus titled, "Jack Nicklaus’ Hidden Talents."
The story explores what made Nicklaus great and argues that while his power was stunning, it was his “character” that truly tipped the scales. He was unflinchingly confident, and honest in a way one must be if they are to become the greatest version of themselves at anything.
“Every time I have discussed a round with him, he has been honest in his appraisal,” Ward Thomas writes. “This is true of most of the really great players. They cannot afford smugness and self-satisfaction. These are expensive, destroying luxuries. They must ever be seeking perfection. After a fine round, Nicklaus might say that he was hitting the ball well, but the statement would be objective rather than boastful. If he had played poorly or putted badly, he wouldn’t try to cover up by blaming outside agencies, as so many golfers are wont to do. This very objectivity of outlook is a great strength.”
Nicklaus was honest with himself about his game and performances because he had to be in order to be successful. Though the stakes are incalculably lower for average golfers, the sentiment is the same: If you’re not honest with yourself about what’s happening in your game, and why it’s happening, your progress will be stunted.
1966

Augusta National
After 72 holes at Augusta National, Nicklaus, Tommy Jacobs and Gay Brewer were all tied at even par. The three played in an 18-hole playoff on Monday, with Nicklaus winning by two over Jacobs and eight over Brewer.
In our March 1966 issue, Nicklaus’ long-time coach Jack Grout penned a feature, “Learning Golf the Nicklaus Way.” The piece is an instruction manual to becoming a golfer, with Nicklaus-centric tips sprinkled throughout. In one section, Grout talks about the fervor with which one should swing and gives insight into the restraint and control Nicklaus had over his game.
“This idea of ‘swinging within yourself’ is an extremely important phase of the learning process, especially for older beginning golfers. If I note a tendency to overswing, or to swing with too much force, I make the pupil swing in almost slow motion to exaggerate key movements which may be missing,” Grout writes.
“Jack Nicklaus had the ability to lash the ball a good distance almost from the start, but he never forced a shot. He still doesn’t. This is a good cue for both beginners and more advanced golfers.”
Grout’s advice shows that Nicklaus, a player known for his distance, knew real power is in hitting the right shot for the moment. Swinging as hard as possible, trying to hit the most heroic shot possible, isn’t the way to lower scores.
1972

2008 ANGC
Nicklaus won the 1972 Masters in wire-to-wire fashion. It was his 10th major, with a U.S. Open victory at Pebble Beach coming in the coming months. Chatter about him winning the Grand Slam in a calendar year was feverish, ending only when he lost the British Open to Lee Trevino by one shot.
In our September issue, Dick Aultman wrote a story titled “How losing the slam is affecting Jack.” He interviewed Nicklaus’ wife, Barbara, for the story.
Aultman writes:
“Jack no longer goes into a major tournament feeling he MUST win,” Barbara said as we chatted on a bench in the sun-splashed gardens behind Greywalls Hotel, hard by Muirfield’s 10th tee. “He doesn’t have a defeatist attitude if he doesn’t win a big title. And he really doesn’t think much about the Grand Slam. That’s a concept that others have manufactured. It really hasn’t changed him.”
But other things have:
“After he lost the 1971 Masters,” Barbara continued, “he was really down. He had played well but lost. He wanted to pull out of the upcoming Tournament of Champions, but I told him he’d look like a crybaby if he did, so he played it and won.
“I think that incident made him realize that, though he’d lost, he really hadn’t lost his life. I really think it helped him mature both as a golfer and as a person.
“And it changed his attitude toward major tournaments. Now he prepares himself and his game and learns the course as thoroughly as he possibly can. He may not always win, but he’s satisfied in knowing he did everything he could.”
Nicklaus was so young when he won his first Masters, just 23. It’s easy to see how a young person could merge their feelings about their golf with how they feel about their lives. With age, we see in this story that Nicklaus was able to separate the two. Furthermore, he was able to separate the result of a tournament from the preparation for that tournament.
Regardless of the level you’re playing, sports psychologists will tell you that finding fulfillment in the process of preparing—and letting go of the result as Nicklaus did—is the healthiest path to take.
1975

AP Photo
The 1975 Masters remains among the most dramatic in Augusta National history, with Nicklaus, Johnny Miller and Tom Weiskopf all vying for the win. Nicklaus drained a 40-foot birdie putt on the 16th hole, which proved to be just enough. He finished the tournament at 12 under, winning by a single shot over Miller and Weiskopf.
In our May 1975 issue, Dwayne Netland wrote a story with Nicklaus about the young Johnny Miller.
“He [Miller] swings the way I’d like to swing, the way I’m teaching my own sons. It’s an upright swing, with a full arc, and he has tremendous lower-leg control,” [Nicklaus said].
Those are familiar characteristics of the Nicklaus swing, but Jack points out a couple of differences.
“Johnny’s right hand is perfectly under the club at the top of the backswing, in total control,” he says. “Most of us have trouble doing that consistently.
Twice in Nicklaus’ comments about Miller’s swing, he says control. The way that he talks about Miller’s swing gives insight into how he thinks about his own swing, and the swings of his son’s. Power is key, but that’s not what Nicklaus hones in on. He values control and consistency, and looks at the features of Miller’s swing as a way to achieve more of it. It’s a lesson in the progression of Nicklaus’ game: First he had power, then he had the pursuit of controlling it.
1986

Getty Images
Nicklaus shot 30 on the back nine of the 1986 Masters en route to a final-round 65 and one-shot victory. He was 46 years old, the oldest to ever win the Masters. His Masters wins covered a 23-year span, which still stands as a record. It was his 18th and final professional major victory.
In our May 1986 issue, Nicklaus wrote about a nonnegotiable putting key.
“There aren't many hard and fast rules about putting as I see it,” Nicklaus says, “but one of them is to set up with your eyes directly over the ball, and therefore directly over the line along which you need to start the ball. If you don't, you'll have one heck of a job squaring the putter to the actual line you've chosen. If your eyes are inside the ball, you'll tend to aim the face to the right of the correct line.”
In the story, he writes about how this was actually a problem in the 1966 Masters. He’d struggled with his putting the entire week, and didn’t know what was wrong until he happened to look at the television before the playoff. He saw himself missing a putt under four feet on the 17th hole. His eyes weren’t in the right place. He fixed his setup and won the playoff.