What gesture by golfing great Jack Nicklaus has been described as one of the greatest acts of sportsmanship in history?
2007-11-17 03:43:41 · 5 answers · asked by Anonymous in Sports ➔ Golf
Jill,
Good question. The younger generation probably doesn't have a real good understanding of the time when the US used to pummel the European side in the Ryder Cup every year...
Well in 1969 it was closer than usual and the US needed to win the final match to win the cup outright or tie it to retain the cup with a halve of the matches.
The final match was Jack Nicklaus and Tony Jacklin.
The match was even coming to 18....Jack made par and Tony had a 5 footer for par. If he misses the US wins the Cup outright. If he makes the US still wins the cup....but with a halve of the matches...
Nicklaus gave him the putt, saying, "I knew you could make it, but given the situation I didn't want to see you try!"
It was the first halve in the history of the matches, which as I stated earlier the US had dominated.
2007-11-17 04:07:02 · answer #1 · answered by Ohio_Golfer34 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Ohio has got this one in the bag. What a great memory, I wasn't even a thought at that point and had never even heard of this occasion (and my passion is golf) but I thank you Ohio for such great knowledge. nothing like the Bear.
2007-11-17 18:48:30 · answer #2 · answered by lensta3 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Ohio is right. He went above and beyond the normal kindness, and gave the putt to him.
2007-11-17 18:02:15 · answer #3 · answered by danperry.com 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
After he had putted for a win in a major tournmanet. He told the crowd to quiet down so his competitor could finish his putt.
2007-11-17 11:47:38 · answer #4 · answered by Nelson_DeVon 7 · 0⤊ 2⤋
in deed he tells the crowd to be quite so his oppent can mak ethier putt
2007-11-17 11:52:05 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋