Jack Nicklaus, the golfing legend, who is famous for his achievements in the field of golf, is not just confined to his prowess on the ground. He is well-regarded for his kind and humble nature off the field. One story that highlights Jack’s bright nature is the tale of Craig Smith, a boy. Have you ever wondered why Jack wears yellow in major tournaments? Well, it’s not just fashion, there’s more to it. Craig Smith, a 13-year-old boy from Ohio who was afflicted by chronic bone cancer, was a huge fan of Nicklaus. Craig had a strange ritual that he followed; every Sunday, he would wear yellow shirts to bring good luck. As a fan of Nicklaus, he would wear his yellow T-shirt on Sundays and watch the tournament, so that he could give his good luck to his idol. Hearing this story, Jack was deeply moved by the beautiful boy, unfortunately, he lost his life at just 13 years old. From then on, the legend always wore yellow for major tournaments.

During the victory celebration in the 1986 Master’s Tournament, Jack paid tribute to the boy in his yellow T-shirt. “Craig always wore yellow for me. That Sunday, I wore yellow for Craig,” said Jack later in an interview. It didn’t stop there. In 2019, Jack and Barbara Nicklaus launched the ‘Play Yellow Campaign’ to raise funds for children’s hospitals all over North America and honour brave souls like Craig. And if you’re wondering if this man still remains humble and true to his nature, then a recent incident might explain that.

The golfers of the Good Good Golf channel visited Muirfield Village Club as they were invited as part of the Play Yellow Campaign, owned by Jack and his wife Barbara Nicklaus, to meet the golf legend and promote the apparel they have made in collaboration with the foundation. However, upon reaching there and meeting the Golden Bear, things did not go as planned. “First of all, I’m going to apologise for not letting you guys play today. We had it sent I think it sent a bad message and I’ll tell you why you know we had we closed the golf course yesterday, The superintendent did for hundred and some guys who paid a lot of money to be part of the memorial club and they play every Saturday before the tournament and so I apologize for that totally. But anyway, hope you understand that and understand why we did that, so we’d love to have you come back and play anytime you want, we’ll organise it” said Jack to the budding golfers. So as to not create any misunderstanding or cause disrespect to these golfers, the legend himself apologized for not letting them play due to as stated reasons. He did not mean disrespect to anyone and hoped that these young pros would understand. This is indeed the most Jack Nicklaus way of handling a situation, and the young golfers were immediately moved and understood the situation.

Even though they were not able to play an entire round, Nicklaus made sure to let them get the feel of playing in Muirfield, teaching them about various golf techniques, talking about the modern golf clubs, and having a chat on life and philanthropy. This had lightened the mood of the legend before getting into the responsibilities of the Memorial Tournament as a host. However, besides taking in the beauty of the course, the Memorial 2025 tournament is experiencing some interesting feats of play for the first round.

The Memorial Tournament round 1 has teed off

Round 1 of the Memorial Tournament is underway with an unexpected turn of events. Ben Griffin, who has had a great run in 2025, is currently leading the round with 65 under 7. Max Homa and Collin Morikawa are closely trailing him in second and third place with 67 under -5 and 68 under -4, respectively.

World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler is trailing at T6 currently, along with Akshay Bhatia, Si Woo Kim, and Andrew Novak. Keegan Bradley and Shane Lowry are showing a promising first round by trailing behind the leaders at T4.

Well, who do you think will pocket the $4 million prize money? Let us know in the comments below.