He’s the last golfer to beat Jack Nicklaus in a playoff on the PGA Tour and won the US Open 10 years later

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If you’re one of the few golfers to get one up on Jack Nicklaus in his day, then you’ve done alright for yourself.

Nicklaus is still the all-time major winner leader on 18 and with Tiger Woods seemingly stuck forever on 15, that record could end up standing the test of time.

Of course, Jack Nicklaus wasn’t an invincible and he did get beat on occasion, whether that be in a tight major championship – he holds the record for most runner up finishes in majors – or in match-play or playoff type events.

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Indeed, one man who did usurp Nicklaus in a playoff, in what proved to be his last ever one on the PGA Tour, was a certain Tom Kite.

How Tom Kite became the last golfer to beat Jack Nicklaus in a PGA Tour playoff

Going all the way back to 1982, the Bay Hill Classic saw Tom Kite involved a three-way playoff with Nicklaus and fellow PGA Tour star, Denis Watson.

At the time, Kite had finished much earlier than the pair but in rare fashion, both Nicklaus and Watson dropped shots coming down the straight to fall into Kite’s hands and force the playoff.

Over the course of said playoff, a par four at over 400 yards, all three players had found themselves around the edge of the green in two.

However, while Nicklaus and Watson saw their putts agonisingly miss, man of the moment Tom Kite pulled out his 8-iron, chipped one out of the fringe and into the hole to steal the win and the $54,000 prize at the time.

Kite’s win would be the last time Nicklaus ever lost a PGA Tour playoff. Nicklaus did have one more to contend with, but he won that by beating Andy Bean at his own Memorial Tournament in 1984.

Tom Kite was one of golf’s nearly men in the majors

While Tom Kite did go on to win the US Open 10 years after this playoff win over Nicklaus, he is very much in the bracket of a golfer who couldn’t quite get the big ones over the line.

Kite did win 19 PGA Tour events and had success around the world, he only ever managed that single US Open win in 82.

He finished runner up at the Masters three times, runner up at The Open in 1978, and finished fourth twice in the PGA Championship.

Furthermore, Kite holds the unwanted record of playing in the most Masters tournaments ever without getting a green jacket. It’s a record that holds to this day, and one which will no doubt eat away at him.

Despite those near-misses though, Kite does hold various distinctions in the game.

He’s a World Golf Hall of Famer, he topped the PGA Tour money list twice, won player of the year in 1989, and won the distinctive Bob Jones award in 1979.

Those accolades, along with being the last man to beat Nicklaus in a playoff and his US Open win, mean it was quite the career in the end for Tom Kite.