WATCH: Is this the greatest three-hole in golf history?
Jack Nicklaus won his record 18th professional title with a historic one-stroke victory at Augusta National in 1986 – seemingly out of it after 14 holes of his final round.
But no one was discounting Golden Bear on a song he had so much fun with – and you'll see why.
In one of the most memorable and thrilling final rounds in Masters history, five different players had at least a share of the lead at some point that Sunday.
Seve Ballesteros grabbed the lead on the ninth, thanks to an eagle on the hole at eight.
Nicklaus shot even over his opening eight holes before getting into trouble with birdies on 9, 10 and 11.
However, Nicklaus tied for 12th, falling three shots behind the leaders.
After a par on 14, Nicklaus began his famous charge at 15.
View this post on Instagram
After hitting his approach 204 yards to within 12 feet, Nicklaus buried the putt for eagle to pull within two shots of Ballesteros.
Nicklaus then hit his tee shot from 16 to within three feet and after catching his birdie putt was within one shot of Ballesteros who was playing the 15th hole at the time.
Ballesteros, who was in position to double the green, hooked his way into the water.
After failing to get up and down, Ballesteros would hole out, handing Nicklaus a share of the lead.
Tom Kite made birdie at 15 to move into three-way with Ballesteros and Nicklaus.
After a lopsided drive, Nicklaus hit his fairway 17 to 18 feet (5.5 m).
He took his time putting everything together and holed his putt on 17 to take the lead for the first time in the tournament. He two-putted on the par 18 to post a −9 and one lead.
History remembers that Ballesteros birdied 17 and was out of contention, but Kite had a 12-foot birdie putt on 18 to tie Nicklaus.
In a tense moment, Kite missed his putt on the high side to narrowly miss the playoff by one shot.
Norman, who seemed dead after his double bogey at 10 then went on to birdie 14, 15 and 16 to pull within one shot of the lead.
After he holed his way out to the left on the 17th, Norman made an excellent recovery shot from between two pines to eight feet. Norman then buried a birdie putt, his fourth straight, to tie for the lead.
Norman shot a perfect 18 while needing a birdie in his first major tournament.
However, he pushed his approach into the gallery and missed his 15-foot par putt to finish one stroke behind.
Nicklaus had bounced back, shooting 30 on the back nine, to win his sixth Masters title and become the oldest Masters champion at age 46, a record that still stands today.
Post WATCH: Is this the greatest three-hole in golf history? appeared first on Golf365.
Source link