Jack Nicklaus and Seve Ballesteros are two legends of golf on opposite sides of the pond and when they played together in 1994, there was always going to be some element of fireworks.
The duo were paired together at the 1994 Turespana Masters, with Nicklaus well into his 50s at the time and Ballesteros entering what should have been his prime years really at 36.
With 23 major wins between them at the time, they prepared to take on the tough surroundings of Montecastillo.
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However, while they did draw the crowds and played some good golf along the way, it wasn’t without complaint, especially from the ever charismatic Ballesteros.
Seve Ballesteros was frustrated after playing with Jack Nicklaus
What was interesting about the 1994 Turespana Masters was that the event was being played on one of the courses that Jack Nicklaus himself had designed.
Montecastillo was a typical tough Spanish course but crucially, it was playing longer than many other courses around at the time.
In part, that was due to the undulating landscape and the distances between tees.
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Indeed, after shooting a round of 70 in his opening round of the tournament, Ballesteros couldn’t resist a dig at the course layout.
‘I feel like I’ve played 24 holes,” Ballesteros quipped at the time.
As noted in the same report, it took Ballesteros, Nicklaus and Miguel Angel Jimenez some four hours and 45 minutes to get round the course that day. An average of around 4 hours 11 minutes was cited, for comparison.
Indeed, with the modern game still suffering from bouts of slow play and the arguments raging on, it’s interesting to look back some 30 years here and see an example of it being at large.
The respect Seve Ballesteros and Jack Nicklaus had for each other
Both players here are two of golf’s greatest ever players. There is simply no question about it.
However, it is quite remarkable that neither player went on to win another major after they rocked up to this tournament with 23 between them.
Furthermore, it is more surprising given what the pair said about each other at the time.
‘I admire his concentration,’ Seve said of Jack. ‘He’s been the best under pressure over the last 20 years. I would not be surprised if he won a major this year.’
Nicklaus, meanwhile, admitted he fully expected the Spaniard to go on and win more.
“In my opinion he’ll win a lot more tournaments. He’s going to be fine. He’s 36, isn’t he? He’ll be at his peak. What I admire most about him is that he’s a fierce competitor and he has the ability to make shots happen when he needs them,” Nicklaus commented.
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