Portal:Golf/Selected biography/06

Jack Nicklaus (born 21 January 1940 in Columbus, Ohio), nicknamed The Golden Bear, is an American professional golfer who was active between 1961 and 2005 on the PGA and then the Champions Tours and is widely regarded as one of the best ever to played the sport. Nicklaus enjoyed early success at the amateur and collegiate levels, winning the United States Amateur Championship in 1959 and 1961, capturing the 1961 National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I men's national championship whilst an Ohio State University Buckeye, and helping the United States to one Eisenhower Trophy and two Walker Cup Match titles.

Nicklaus formally joined the PGA Tour in 1962 and, at the United States Open at Oakmont Country Club in Oakmont, Pennsylvania, defeated countrymate Arnold Palmer in an eighteen-hole playoff to win his first major championship and to become the youngest-ever U.S. Open winner; a rivalry between Palmer and him would develop in subsequent years and be credited with popularizing professional golf as a televised spectator sport. Nicklaus claimed two more tournaments over his rookie season to finish third on the PGA Tour money list and to win the PGA Rookie of the Year Award.

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