Jack William Nicklaus (born January 21, 1940), also
known as "The Golden Bear", is widely regarded as
the greatest professional golfer of all time, in
large part because of his records in major
championships. Nicklaus accumulated a record 18
professional majors in a PGA Tour career lasting 25
years, from 1962 to 1986. Later, on the Champions
Tour, the senior version of the PGA Tour, he won 8
of that tour's majors between 1990 and 1996. Both
records still stand today.
Nicklaus has also taken part in many off-course
activities, including golf course design, golf
instruction book writing, and running his own
tournament on the PGA Tour, the Memorial Tournament.
Together with Arnold Palmer and Gary Player
(collectively known as the "Big Three"), he is
credited with turning golf into the major spectator
sport it has become. While Palmer brought golf into
the television era, it was the developing
Nicklaus-Palmer-Player rivalry that drove subsequent
interest.
