Caddie Billy Ford played an unfortunate role in ensuring that Jack Nicklaus had to wait until the US Open in 1962 for the first professional victory of his career.
Nicklaus beat Arnold Palmer in a playoff at Oakmont to win his first major title. The victory had been coming for some time, with the Golden Bear finishing second three times in 1962 before his US Open triumph.
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One of those runner-up finishes came at the event now known as the Texas Children’s Houston Open, with Nicklaus beaten in a playoff.
How a penalty cost Jack Nicklaus his first professional win at the 1962 Houston Classic
Bobby Nichols emerged victorious in sudden death at Memorial Park after an 18-hole playoff had failed to separate himself and Dan Sikes.
Nicklaus finished five shots behind the pair and was eliminated before sudden death.
However, it could have been very different for both Nichols and Nicklaus, had the latter’s caddie not made a costly mistake during the third round.
Photo by �� Tony Roberts/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images
Nicklaus found himself with a 35-foot putt for birdie on the long par three seventh hole. He asked his caddie, Billy Ford, to tend the flag. Unfortunately, as revealed by Golfweek, Nicklaus was denied a brilliant two through no fault of his own.
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“The putt rolled straight for the cup, but my caddie panicked,” Nicklaus said. “He couldn’t get the flagstick out of the hole, and jerked it upwards, pulling the cup liner above ground.”
The ball ricocheted off the liner. That led to Nicklaus being handed a two-shot penalty and walking away with a five.
The mistake ended up denying Nicklaus a first professional victory – if you assume that he would have played the next 29 holes the same way.
The caddie Jack Nicklaus worked with for the majority of his career
Nicklaus would begin working with long-time caddie Angelo Argea the following year. Their partnership would last more than 20 years, though the majors did not start to allow players to use their own caddies until the 1970s.
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With that, they won their first major together at the 1975 PGA Championship.
Nicklaus would finish as runner-up at the Houston Open once again in 1964, but never actually won the event. Nichols, meanwhile, would lift the trophy for a second time the following year.
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