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Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus embrace before hitting the ceremonial tee shot to start the 2021 Masters Tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia on Thursday, April 8, 2021. PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxHUNxONLY AUG20210408320 KEVINxDIETSCH
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Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus embrace before hitting the ceremonial tee shot to start the 2021 Masters Tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia on Thursday, April 8, 2021. PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxHUNxONLY AUG20210408320 KEVINxDIETSCH
Jack Nicklaus turned 86 on January 21. No press conference. No ceremonial tee shot. Just one Instagram post from a 90-year-old rival, and a chorus of voices spanning generations that said the same thing in different words.
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Gary Player penned a short but emotional note to honor his rival and friend. “The gift of friendship with your greatest rival, Happy Birthday Jack. The greatest gentleman the game has ever known.”
It wasn’t the first time Gary Player spoke glowingly about Nicklaus. He has also placed Jack Nicklaus at the top spot of his list of all-time greats, above Tiger Woods. Nicklaus has always featured in Black Knight’s Mount Rushmore of golf, even if Arnold Palmer missed a spot.
Previously, recounting a conversation from the 1986 Masters, Player said, “He [Nicklaus] was in contention, and obviously I knew he was battling emotions trying to block out all the noise. It was a small gesture, but I looked at him and said, ‘You can do it.’ And without missing a beat, he looked me right back in the eye with focus and determination and simply said, ‘I know I can.’ Jack was not to be denied.” The respect is mutual between these two Jupiter Island residents.
Speaking about Player, Jack Nicklaus said last year, “He’s lived life to his fullest. He still plays very well. He just enjoys it. He’s given back to so many. He’s just a good guy.” Alluding to Gary Player’s multiple victories across the globe, including seven Australian Opens, 13 South African Open and five World Match Play Championships, Nicklaus claimed Player is golf’s “global ambassador.”
Of the Big Three, now only two remain. Arnold Palmer passed away in September 2016. What Player and Nicklaus share now exists nowhere else in golf: a living archive of an era when their rivalry stretched across five continents and shaped the sport’s modern identity.
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Interestingly, a Golfweek compilation of peer reflections on Jack Nicklaus revealed something striking. Every generation described the 18-time major champion the same way. Not as a competitor to fear. As a standard to follow.
Greg Norman credited Nicklaus’s books for transforming him from a 27-handicapper dreaming of fighter jets into a professional champion within five years. “He set the standard for all of us on how to be a professional and to never put yourself ahead of the game,” Norman said.
Justin Thomas met Nicklaus at the 2000 PGA Championship. He was seven years old. Nicklaus signed his hat. Two decades later, Thomas describes a relationship that defies logic. “It’s almost like he’s a father to you,” Thomas explained. “When I see him, the first thing he always says is he’s happy for me.”
Rory McIlroy, who has lived at Nicklaus’s Bear’s Club for nine years, offered perhaps the most precise assessment. “The common denominator for him and Tiger is they are the best thinkers in the game,” McIlroy said. “He was a master at playing the game.”
Hale Irwin emphasized what separated Nicklaus from every other champion he witnessed. “His graciousness in defeat was as awesome as his tempered behavior in winning,” Irwin noted. “He has simply been the best.”
The recurring theme cut through every tribute like a thread stitching generations together. Humility. Sportsmanship. Mentorship. The willingness to answer phone calls he never needed to take.
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Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus: The last chapter of the Big Three
Player’s words on January 21 carried weight that no other voice in golf could replicate. He remains the only man alive who competed against Nicklaus as an equal across an entire era.
Their rivalry first ignited at the 1963 Palm Springs Golf Classic, where Nicklaus defeated Player in an 18-hole playoff. Five years later, Player returned the favor by beating Nicklaus by two strokes at the 1968 Open Championship. What began as fierce competition evolved into something rarer — mutual respect that outlasted the trophies.
“He’s my best friend in the game,” Player said in the Golfweek feature. “We competed fiercely not only in America but also in Great Britain, Australia, South Africa, and Japan. Everyone talks about what a great player he was; we all concede that, but I’d have to say Jack Nicklaus is the greatest gentleman I’ve ever played against.”
Player emphasized what Nicklaus’s father taught him about conduct in defeat. “The way he accepted defeat was absolutely incredible.”
At 86, Nicklaus no longer chases trophies. He answers phone calls from players half his age, offers advice on course management rather than swing mechanics, and maintains friendships that span five decades. His legacy lives not in highlight reels frozen in time, but in the relationships he continues to nurture.
Player’s Instagram post was the visible note. The echoes came from everywhere else.
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