Jack Nicklaus' Largest Margins of Victory
On the PGA Tour, Nicklaus had nine wins by five or more strokes. To state that another way, a little more than 12-percent of his PGA Tour wins were by at least five shots. And two of those nine big-margin wins were in major championships.
PGA Tour
- 9-stroke winning margin — 1965 Masters Tournament. Nicklaus' scores were 67-71-64-69 for a 17-under-par total of 271, both Masters scoring records at the time. "The Big 3" — Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player — finished 1-2-3 in this Masters, but Nicklaus being nine shots ahead of the other two made that result at bit anticlimactic. After watching Nicklaus overwhelm the opposition and the golf course, Masters co-founder Bobby Jones remarked that Nicklaus "plays a game with which I am not familiar."
- 9 strokes — 1972 Walt Disney World Golf Classic. Nicklaus finished at 21-under 267 with scores of 68, 68, 67 and 64. The three runners-up were Jim Dent, Bobby Mitchell and Larry Wood.
- 8 strokes — 1971 Tournament of Champions. 69-71-69-70, 9-under 279. Runners-up: Bruce Devlin, Gary Player, Dave Stockton.
- 7 strokes — 1980 PGA Championship. At the time this was the largest margin of victory in any stroke-play PGA Championship. Nicklaus finished at 6-under 274, the only golfer under par, with rounds of 70, 69, 66 and 69. Andy Bean finished second.
- 6 strokes — 1971 National Team Championship. This was a 2-man, team tournament and Nicklaus had a pretty good partner: Arnold Palmer. They won at 27-under 257 (62-64-65-66—257). The runner-up teams were Julius Boros/Bill Collins and Bob Charles/Bruce Devlin.
- 6 strokes — 1973 Ohio Kings Island Open. Nicklaus' scores were 68-69-62-72, 13-under 271. Lee Trevino finished second.
- 5 strokes — 1963 Tournament of Champions. His scores were 64-68-72-69, 15-under 273. Runners-up: Tony Lema, Arnold Palmer.
- 5 strokes — 1967 Bing Crosby National Pro-Am. At 4-under 284, Nicklaus was the only golfer who finished under par. His scores were 69-73-74-68, and the second-place finisher was Billy Casper.
- 5 strokes — 1977 Jackie Gleason-Inverrary Classic. Scores: 70-66-69-70, 13-under 275. Runner-up: Gary Player.
Senior PGA Tour (Champions Tour)
- 6 strokes — 1990 Senior Tournament Players Championship. Nicklaus had rounds of 65, 68, 64 and 64 to finish at 27-under 261. Second-place: Lee Trevino.
- 6 strokes — 1991 Senior PGA Championship. Nicklaus' scores were 66-66-69-70, 17-under 271. Bruce Crampton, who also finished runner-up to Nicklaus in four regular majors, was second.
More Big Winning Margins by Jack Nicklaus
If we look at other tours, and even at non-tour events, we can find more very big margins of victory achieved by Nicklaus. One of those events was another team tournament, the World Cup. In the World Cup, 2-man teams represented countries, and Nicklaus was frequently one-half of Team USA.In the 1967 World Cup, Nicklaus/Palmer, as Team USA, won by 13 strokes over Team New Zealand (Bob Charles/Walter Godrey). In 1971, Nicklaus/Trevino won by 12 strokes; in 1964, Nicklaus/Palmer won by 11; in 1973, Nicklaus/Johnny Miller won by six; and in 1966, Nicklaus/Palmer won by five.
The World Cup also gave out an individual trophy, and Nicklaus won that by seven in 1971 and by five in 1963.
He won the Australian Open by eight shots over Bruce Crampton in 1971, and by six over Ben Crenshaw in 1978. And Nicklaus won the 1971 Dunlop International (also in Australia) by seven over Crampton and Peter Oosterhuis.
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