While there is so much excitement in golf to see Tiger Woods tee it up at a major with his son Charlie, one man who can say they’ve done just that is legendary golfer, Jack Nicklaus.
Nicklaus, who holds the record for majors won with 18, is now well into his 80s but remains one of the most respected figureheads in the game.
The ‘Golden Bear’ still gets to tee off at The Masters to open the event, while his presence and contribution at The Memorial is often seen as one of the key reasons why so many are keen to win.
Of course, Tiger Woods is the modern-day equivalent of Nicklaus in terms of success and winning and it will be a debate for the ages over who is better.
However, Nicklaus will point to the three majors he has over Tiger and while Tiger yearns to play with Charlie in a major, Nicklaus also has the upper-hand on that one as well.
How Gary Nicklaus got on when he played at the US Open with Jack Nicklaus in 1997
Remarkably, despite winning his first major in 1962, Jack Nicklaus was still playing as we approached the last few years of the 90s.
And in a nice turn of events for Nicklaus, his son Gary actually qualified for the US Open at Congressional.
Nicklaus and Nicklaus Junior both teed it up around the famous course but in typical Jack Nicklaus fashion, there was no fairy tale story for his son.
Instead, Nicklaus made the cut despite his advancing years, while Gary could only muster a score of 150 over his two rounds as he missed the cut.
At the time, Nicklaus claimed he’d miss a putt on purpose if it meant his son winning. Something that Gary was simply not having.
“I’ve always wanted to be able to play in the same Open with my son and go through that kind of thing,” Nicklaus said at the time.
“Oh, I’d miss it on purpose,” Jack the added when asked what he’d do if he had a putt to take things to a playoff.
Gary wasn’t buying it, though. “Fat chance,” Gary shot back. “You never missed one yet to beat me,” he quipped.
Gary Nicklaus’ golf career in numbers
In terms of a successful career in golf, Gary Nicklaus might have played in a few majors but he never got anywhere near matching his father.
Nicklaus tried for years to earn his PGA Tour card by playing in a number of events but ultimately, he fell shorts until the year 2000 when he finally earned his card.
He qualified for the US Open twice, missing the cut in both the aforementioned 1997 effort and again in 2001. In fact, Nicklaus never actually won as a pro on his own, with his only victory coming alongside his father at the Office Depot Father/Son challenge in 1999.
The closest he did come was at the 2000 BellSouth classic. However, he was beaten in a playoff by a certain Phil Mickelson.
After three seasons holding a PGA Tour card, Gary Nicklaus stopped playing pro golf in 2003.
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