Arnold Palmer may have been past his prime by the 1975 Masters, but he was still able to almost derail Jack Nicklaus’ hopes of winning at Augusta National for a fifth time.
At the halfway stage of the 1975 Masters, Jack Nicklaus boasted a commanding lead and appeared to be closing in on a 13th major title. The Golden Bear was five shots clear after two rounds, having posted scores of 68 and 67.
Among the three players at four under par was Arnold Palmer. The King had not won a major since The Masters 11 years earlier. Remarkably, his last top 10 on the hallowed turf in Augusta, Georgia had come in 1967.
But he went into the third round only with a familiar foe ahead of him on the leaderboard.
The stupid mistake which nearly cost Jack Nicklaus the 1975 Masters
Nicklaus and Palmer arguably enjoyed the greatest rivalry in golfing history. With Gary Player, the trio revolutionised the game in the early 1960s.
Who do you think is the most influential golfer of all-time?
There was something of a passing of the torch moment at the 1962 US Open, with Nicklaus winning his first major in Palmer’s backyard. Palmer would win his last major less than two years later.
Nevertheless, he was hoping to roll back the years at Augusta. Unfortunately, the pair could not stop themselves from focusing on beating each other.
As Nicklaus told Golf.com in 2018, both he and Palmer were kicking themselves after Saturday’s play.
“Everything Arnold and I did was a competition. In ’59, in my first Masters, I hit 31 greens in 36 holes, shot 150 and was out of the tournament. Arnold hit 19 greens, shot 141 and was leading the tournament. I said to myself, ‘I better learn how to putt these greens.’ I wasn’t paying attention to Art Wall. I was paying attention to Arnold,” he said.
“The ’75 Masters was the last time Arnold was really competitive. In the third round, we spent the whole day trying to beat each other. We weren’t bothering with the tournament. He shot 75 and shot himself out of the tournament. I shot 73 and almost shot myself out of the tournament. I came back and won. We got done with the round and looked at each other and said, ‘We did it again.’ I said, ‘Can you believe we’re so stupid that we want to beat each other so bad that we forget that we’re playing in the tournament?’”
The story of Jack Nicklaus’ amazing victory at the 1975 Masters
In fairness to Nicklaus and Palmer, just six players managed to break par during that third round at Augusta National.
Two of those names were Tom Weiskopf and Johnny Miller. And with that, Nicklaus went into the last round one shot behind Weiskopf, while Miller’s 65 had propelled him up to third.
Would you like to see a ‘Women’s Masters’ at Augusta National?
Oddly, despite sitting second, Nicklaus actually went out in the penultimate group, alongside Tom Watson.
What followed was one of the most enthralling final days in the event’s history. Weiskopf, Nicklaus, and Miller all made two bogeys each on Sunday.
But Nicklaus’ round of 68 was enough for victory. Quite remarkably, his only run of four consecutive pars all day came from the 10th to the 13th.
Nicklaus would fail to finish in the top 10 of a major on just five occasions throughout the 1970s.
Meanwhile, his triumph in 1975 was one of eight major wins he secured in the decade.
Receive exclusive golf news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
