Jack Nicklaus predicts how much further he would drive the golf ball today with modern technology

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Jack Nicklaus was the longest driver on tour in his prime.

When Nicklaus burst onto the scene in 1962, beating Arnold Palmer in a play-off to win the US open as a fresh-faced 22-year-old, the golfing world knew they had a star on their hands.

The now 85-year-old went on to win a record 18 major championships and 73 regular PGA Tour events.

He is widely regarded as the greatest of all time, and rightly so. He has 19 runner-up finishes in majors as well remember!

Nicklaus is hosting the Memorial Tournament this week, so his name is very much in the news right now.

Scottie Scheffler shared on Wednesday how Nicklaus always takes on board advice from the players regarding how to improve Muirfield Village.

All of the modern-day greats look up to Nicklaus. He is the greatest to ever play the game, and he undoubtedly would love to compete against the best in the business today.

Jack Nicklaus says how much further he would drive the ball today

Nicklaus was well renowned as being a huge hitter in his heyday.

He would often outdrive his closest challengers with ease.

But how far would he actually be able to drive the ball in this day and age? Would he be one of the longest on tour?

Nicklaus was a guest on the Good Good YouTube channel, and responded when he was asked how fast his club-head speed was back in the day.

The 18-time major champion said, “They never measured it. I would think I would be pretty much equivalent [to the modern player]. I was the longest on Tour when I played.“

“It says here ‘driving distance winner’. 341 yards, 17 inches. That was an 11 and a half degree, 1945, Tommy Armour driver with a dynamic edge shaft and a ribbed fibre insert,“ Nicklaus said after showing a money clip he won from a driving contest.

Nicklaus was asked by Scharff how much further he thinks he would hit the ball if he was in his prime today.

He said, “About 50 yards further. I think that’s the difference with the golf ball from when I played. I think the golf ball, if you ever try and take that old golf club that I used and hit today’s golf ball with it, you would hit it about 150 yards. It’s more the trampoline effect that anything else.

“The golf ball from 1930 until 1995 increased about five to seven yards because of the quality of how a manufacturer made it.

“From 1995 to 2005 until they finally put some kind of line in the sand it increased another 50 yards. That is 50 yards in 10 years.

“So I liken it to the old British small ball that we used to play and I hit that 50 yards further than what I hit the other one, it was unbelievable how far we hit it.

“We loved playing it, it was fun to play. But you would just destroy the golf courses with it.“

Jack Nicklaus’s scary major championship record

Nicklaus at his best was a joy to watch.

He was a powerful, naturally gifted athlete with an incredibly soft touch around the greens.

The record major winner took the game of golf by storm 63 years ago, and the record that he amassed in the four biggest championships was sensational.

That is a truly remarkable record, and one that will probably never be beaten.

That said, it will be fascinating to see the likes of Scheffler, Rory McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau get close to Nicklaus’s numbers.