That Jack Nicklaus Guy? He was Pretty Good

One of my recent book purchases was The Majors of Golf (affiliate link), a 3-volume encyclopedia compiled by Morgan G. Brenner. The books in the set list the full scores for every British Open, U.S. Open, PGA Championship and Masters played through 2008. Then, Brenner lists every golfer who ever played in one of those majors, along with each golfer's finish in each major he played.

It's all numbers, no text, no narrative, but it's comprehensive. It will also set you back around $100. But it's a great reference book and research tool. Not to mention a great browse.

Which brings me to Jack Nicklaus. Browsing through The Majors of Golf today, I came across the Nicklaus entry. And I just wanted to share something that jumped out at me: Nicklaus' performance in majors from 1971-77.

Nicklaus played in 28 majors in those seven years, and finished outside the Top 10 in exactly two of them: the 1972 PGA Championship and the 1976 U.S. Open.

Nicklaus finished inside the Top 5 in 20 of those 28 majors. He won six of them, finished second seven times and third five times.

That is all.

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