Exactly. His shot carried the bunker in front of the green then stopped on the green. How? The Club pro's shot landed a good 50 yards short of the green and then ran up onto the green. It would have ended up in the bunker that Jack had to play over.
I didn’t hear them say what kind of ball they are trying it with, but that’s as big a factor as using the old 1 iron. Even Nicklaus says it repeatedly that the ball has changed the game more than anything else.
@@johnsilva9139 ...Nicklaus had an upright swing plane. And mostly played a high fade. ...On the shot, he also had the ball slightly forward in his stance. ... In his day, Nicklaus himself said he hit the ball higher than any other tour golfer. And he was consistently among the longest hitters. And he also has said many times, he was very adept and comfortable playing 1 Iron shots.
@chrisp2272 I dunno man, I have a set of more modern blades and they are noticably larger in face area and overall size than many of the vintage irons. Especially in the longer irons.
@@chrisp2272 I suppose they picked that club because it had his name on it, but that's not even close to the Macgregor 1-iron Jack was playing at the time.
IIRC from an older interview, Jack talked about the ball at the time being a bit smaller, and thus the extra carry. Not that that makes the achievement any less. Jack was also well known for hitting his long irons much higher than other pros.
@@robertreid2931 He was talking about the European small ball at the time, was not a thing at the 1967 US Open, if it was, please sight your source and I'll definitely stand corrected. Thanks!
@@davidfoster3427 Trump Derangement Syndrome is an ailment that only affects losers who have no money or women and who have to blame their pathetic lives on someone who's actually successful even though they don't know him nor ever met him. They tend to bring up his name regardless of what the conversation is, even something as obscure as a golf shot somebody made decades ago.
He's absolutely phenomenal, but doesnt even come close to Prime Tiger, Tiger was playing a different game than everybody else, I have massive love and respect for Nicklaus just to be clear.
@@Jeebizz101 Jack also had far many other great players to contend with, starting with Hogan at the start of his career, then Palmer, Player, Casper, Trevino, Watson, Seve, and Faldo at the end of his career. Tiger had Mickelson and Koepka There may be more good players today, but there are far fewer great players
His one iron at the 17th hole at Pebble Beach at a different US Open in a gale is just as remarkable. The other pros were hitting woods but Jacks shot hit the stick and almost went in. It gives me chills to this day.! Easily the best long iron player ever. Few pros even used a one iron. What’s equally amazing is he could hit it high with back spin. Boggles my mind how anyone can do that.
Jack is also the greatest player out of the rough > Ever ... I became a pro in 75 ... everybody used to joke around (but meaning it) if they never cut the fairways and everything played like rough ... Jack would win 99 out of 100 tournaments.
Balata ball, poor forgiveness and odd club weighting and jack flew the green, 235 out uphill. What a legend. Probably would have carried it 275-280 with a modern ball and club, level terrain.
Paul Azinger said he went to that plaque with a 3-wood and couldn't get it to the green. Big Jack was a force of nature. That 1-iron could have only been hit by him.
@@beng4647 Maybe. It's up hill. So that would be a big 5 iron even in Tiger's prime. If Tiger were playing the same equipment in 1967, he would be well short of the bunker in front the green. It isn't like Tiger was a longer hitter than Jack when you are using the same clubs.
@@morefiction3264 I wasn't great back in the day, but I carried a 7hcp and had about a 105 clubhead speed. I tried hitting an old MacGregor 1 iron that was probably early 80s era and could get a decent strike on maybe 1 out of ten shots. It was a nightmare.
What makes that story so wild is the fact he didn't even need to play that shot, he could have just laid up and had an easy up n down for the win. But I guess that's what makes him the GOAT
A 1 iron was commonly referred to as a 'driving iron" and was normally used off of tees on par fours with tight fairways. Back then there were no hybrids and fairway woods had smaller heads and were less accurate that the large metal headed woods we have today.
They made the hole easier and the equipment is now far better. Jack broke Hogan's record and he beat Arnie by four. The pro hitting here got fifty yards of roll to reach the green. His shot would have rolled into the trap if he hit that shot back then. Can we all bow down to the GOAT. Best golfer ever Jack Nicklaus.
I put my 1 iron in the closet about 18 years ago and purchased my first hybrid. Some days I hit it like a champ. Some days I didn’t. Never liked the inconsistency of the hybrid. I was on the Callaway website about 6 weeks ago and noticed that the 4 iron in the Paradyme x irons was 18 degrees. Heck I remember my old one iron was 18 degrees. I purchased the 4 iron. Now I am 76 years old and Reason told me that I didn’t have the club speed any more to hit a 18 degree club. But I am a teaching professional and I play on the North Carolina coast in this ever present coastal wind. Just maybe this new club would work better into our steady 20 knot wind. I hit it about 20 feet high and into the wind on our hard fairways it will roll out to around 200 yards. I can’t Carry it that far but it is more consistent than my heavenwood into the wind. Golf is a fun sport.
I was lucky to see Jack Nickolas play in 1986 at the Masters in my hometown of Augusta Georgia. What an epic back nine, even though i was a kid I knew what I was seeing was history in the making, i thanked my father so many times before he passed for taking me to that tournament. As far as I am concerned Jack Nickolas will always be the best ever, I know many will say Tiger Woods and rightly so, but for me it will always be Jack.
Jack the GOAT by a country mile. Facing Arnold fkn Palmer in a major and hitting a one iron off the deck 235 yards uphill over a green side bunker with a golf ball that travels 15 yards shorter to todays golf ball. Jack had balls of steel and faced absolute legends in his quest for majors.
@@ScratchGolfer0now that is the dumbest thing I have heard in a while, Arnie Trevino Player Casper Miller Watson. Playing with inferior clubs and golf balls. They would all thrive today. Tiger beat no names. Jack beat legends. Goat and Tiger knows it. Now you do also. Plus the course was harder with more bunkers.
The Hogan-Palmer-Player-Trevino-Nicklaus era was when the best ball strikers in history played with inferior golf clubs and a ball that would go out of round when it was well struck or even worse when you mishap a shot the results were punishing. Yup, they were the best ever playing with very inferior equipment versus today's scientifically great equipment. Here comes Scotty!
@@mccalljeff No, not if you're going by Jack's comment to Watson! Jack played against much better competition! Major wins: Gary Player 9, Watson 8, Palmer 7, Travino 6, Seve 5, Floyd 4, etc... Those guys were hungry and CLUTCH. Tiger did not face that kind of competition in his prime, and whoever finished in 5th was going home with $$$.
@@tedfio1tedfio1 You can debate this all day long, but the consensus is that no one was better than Tiger during his prime. Jack was better for longer. That is pretty much every golf historians opinion. I am not old enough to have watched Jack, so I only go by results and what the greats of the game say, and they say that Tiger was best in his prime, Jack better for longer.
@@mccalljeff It is impossible to prove who was better,! What are the 'Historians basing it on? Jack's prime was in the 60s, and 70s, before Technology, Training, Nutrition, and PEDs caught up to sports. All we can go by is the Majors, PGA Wins, and Competition. That favors Jack! Personally, I don't like The title GOAT, the GOAT changes every day in the culture we live in. The NFL QB, NBA players, etc... has become a cult following.
The real test would be using the same kind of golf ball they used back then. A lot of people can hit a 230 yard 2 iron with the balls we use now. Very few would be able to do it with the golf balls they were using back then.
That is 100% true but they would have 0 chance with an old ball. In the 40 plus years the golf ball has moved on a huge amount, they would be lucky to hit the 1 iron 200 yards
When I am on, I can stroke my bladed mizuno 4 iron majestically. The 3 iron is difficult. This dude was banging 1 irons off pebble beach flagsticks. I mean, he was just so much better than everyone.
The 1 iron you are hitting is not the same as the one Jack hit in '67. Yours is 20 years newer, perimeter weighted and much more forgiving than the "pure blade" SS1 or VIP Jack was playing. He switched from SS1 to VIP in '67 so not sure which he played in the US Open but either way an entirely different prospect to yours. Max respect to Jack the greatest of all time.
In the close-up (0:40-0:43), a "67 VIP by Nicklaus" 1 iron is shown... you can tell by the bronze colored ferrule that Jack Nicklaus preferred on that club, the crown stampings down the sides of the clubface and what appears to be a "rifle-shaft" style stepless club shaft.
I have a friend who has a copy of a set that Jack used to play with. The 1-i in that set looks like a shaft with a tiny piece of metal attached to it. I am a scratch golfer, and I will be happy to make decent contact once in ten attempts with that club.
Jack was just going into a period where you wondered if anybody would ever beat him. He was great at Baltusrol but he worked on his conditioning, lost a lot of weight and got even better. The 20 th century had a lot of great athletes, Jack is in the top 5, in my opinion.
You'd think it'd have at least been down wind for Jack to get that knife up the hill from 240, but flag was pointed at him according to the video, making shot even more impressive.
I don't know why people are so afraid of the 1 iron... I've been practicing with one on and off for about 2 years and its a pretty reliable 200+ club once you get the hang of it. Yeah, the hybrid is easier to hit, no doubt, but I like vintage clubs, so...
Agree, I prefer older clubs for local courses (real woods etc) and it's just another club. I think some people have trouble mentally and try to play long irons like short irons when really it's just like a little driver motion
If you are a decent player with good speed its a great club, i can reliably hit a 1 iron cut into a fairway. I can also reliably stick my driver in the trees, always had a 1 iron, great club
Agree. I use early 70's blades and the 1 and 2 irons are in my bag. I hit the 2 pretty solid but hit the 1 just decent. For me, blades made me a much better player. You learn from that feedback.
I was just left of that plaque and got it to land about 10 yards deep on the putting surface. However that was with a well struck hybrid and Pro V1 ball. A butter knife 1 iron and wound ball would probably have landed 20 yards short at best. Nicklaus was a beast and I don’t think people realize how physically strong he was. 💪🏻
I want to see it tried with an old wound balata ball. I'm old enough to have played with balata and tiny forged blades back in the 80s. It works take massive clubhead speed with that gear to lift a shot up onto an elevated green nearly 240 out. And to stop it close? Forget about it.
Good thing he went and collected those balls cuz I was thinking about playing that course but I got worried the 18th green would just be covered in uncollected balls.
An amateur named Marty Fleckman led the Open that year after 3 rounds and was in the last group with defending champion Billy Casper. Casper fell back and Fleckman blew up to a 10 over par 80, leaving the competition to Nicklaus and Palmer. Arnold shot a decent -1 to finish -1 overall, but Nicklaus shot 65 to finish -5 and set what was then the Open record at 275.
He had such Phenomenal strength. That was first tournament my dad took me to. I remember also seeing Trevino there, who i think showed up with $50 in his pocket, and no money for a hotel, who had a pretty strong finish
Love seeing those vintage swings with a whole lot of personality and oompfh. 🙌🏻 Own your swing, hit it flush, and milk it to the last drop. At the end of the day, the game is a test of character and determination.
Love it. One iron, one iron, putter. Don't know the loft in 1967 but in 1974 the one iron carried a 17º loft. I think today, there are "driving irons" with a 17º loft so you can give it a go! I'll stay with my 5 FW.
No, he missed his 1-iron tee shot, which landed in the right rough near a roll of cables, dropped the ball, then chunked an 8-iron shot back into the fairway, then hit his famous 1-iron shot.
The club pros shot would not have gotten on the green if the bunker was still there; his ball rolled 40 or 50 yards. Jacks ball carried the bunker. Also, Jack’s one iron was likely a blade, and he was hitting a vastly inferior ball.
Someone needs to talk to all the legends that are still alive ( Player, Trevino, Floyd and more) ask them to describe the top 5 greatest shots they ever saw Jack Nicklaus hit. Then we can get AI to recreate it one day. Otherwise his shots might be lost forever….there’s 100 Tiger shots on RUclips and he has a bigger visual presence…..so he may be remembered unfairly as the greatest because he’s got a bigger presence going forward in to the future ….we need to recreate Jack!!
As good a shot as that was for Jack, I think his one iron to the 17th hole (71st hole) at Pebble Beach during the last round of the 1972 US Open was even better. Look it up!
Also if the ball had bounced just a little bit different a few times Jack might have 25 majors today!!! Jack with his 19 second place finishes in majors tiger only has seven second place finishes in majors!!! One final thing here, Jack won all those majors with a wife and five kids and he made sure he went to his kids events instead of playing golf tournaments!!!! He still won all those tournaments putting family first!!!!!
I don't remember details but saw a video on YT golf demo. A golfer had a million foot put saying no way he could make it. Jack says just do this, whatever it was. The guy looks at Jack like he's nuts. Jack says want me to show you and then drains that ridiculous putt perfectly without even reading the green with detail. Jack just saw the break. Beautiful putt.
Club they're hitting is a cavity back, not even REMOTELY close to the real butterknife Nicklaus played. Dude was special. Didn't have 60° wedges in Jack's heyday. You give a 20, 30 year old, hell 40, Nicklaus metal heads, immaculate turf week after week. Could be wrong, but I believe Jack, when he came on tour, was the only person playing Macgregor clubs. Long? In a practice round at the 13th at Augusta, Nicklaus hit a 3wd, (not a typo) over the trees on the left and hit nine iron on the green. (That's back when a nine iron was 35.5 inches long and had 48 degrees of loft. Modern set 36.6 inches, 42,43°. Just a little jacked up)
Jack carried it to the green with a muscle back iron and a ballata wound ball. Please try again matching his conditions (although it would be tough to find a ballata ball that's at least a 90 compression).
What? You know Tiger has 15 right? Also did you know that when Jack was originally tallying up majors the U.S. Amateur counted obviously this is not in the 18 but he won that twice. Tiger won it 3x and 3 juniors. So before the goal posts were moved the real count is 20 majors to jack and 18 to Tiger. JUST FYI
People forget that Nicklaus held the driving record to the first bounce for many many years in professional golf . It was beaten but by then club's and the ball's were more advanced .
Wasent it on the 17th hole? And this shot gave him the 3 stoke lead? Maybe I’m thinking of another shot but I remember him saying on 17 he hit the flag pole and then made birdie.
His more famous one iron shots were at 17 at the 1972 US Open at Pebble Beach (hit the pin and stopped a foot away) and at the 1975 Masters on the 15th.
Played Baltusrol 15 years ago and not even knowing about the marker landed right next to it (from the white tees of course). I then put the ball on a tee and with a driver crushed it and hit the hill. In the end, we all got a good laugh out of it.
As a young man, I couldn't hit driver worth a damn so I had nothing but irons in my bag. One iron was my driver and I learned to whip the piss out of it. 238 was what I would get out of it against a two club wind. Of course, I was also built like an NFL safety at the time so there's that.
Never played with those old blades so i guess I dont really know how tough it'd be for your regular golfers. I'm going to imagine that it wasn't all that ridiculous of a shot for those gents though
I was a good player and long hitter back in the day. I had a full set of TopFlites, 1-SW. Flushing a 1 iron was the apex golf experince, better even than crushing a drive. To be young and that nimble and stong again....🤔
I began playing high level amateur golf in the late 70's. That was when it took skill to hit a driver. Now you see kids that can't break 90 hitting the ball 300 plus.
It’s a good effort, but you’re using a Nicklaus Air Bear “Jack” 1 iron, which is a cavity back from around 20 years ago. He was using a much smaller MacGregor blade.
Jack didn't negotiate the bunkers and run it up there. He carried it to the green with an old tech ball! Truly championship quality golf!
Exactly. His shot carried the bunker in front of the green then stopped on the green. How? The Club pro's shot landed a good 50 yards short of the green and then ran up onto the green. It would have ended up in the bunker that Jack had to play over.
@@johnsilva9139 they glossed over that
I didn’t hear them say what kind of ball they are trying it with, but that’s as big a factor as using the old 1 iron. Even Nicklaus says it repeatedly that the ball has changed the game more than anything else.
@@johnsilva9139
...Nicklaus had an upright swing plane. And mostly played a high fade.
...On the shot, he also had the ball slightly forward in his stance.
... In his day, Nicklaus himself said he hit the ball higher than any other tour golfer. And he was consistently among the longest hitters. And he also has said many times, he was very adept and comfortable playing 1 Iron shots.
and that's why he's the 🐐
The fact that Jack was hitting a tiny, thin blade 1 iron instead of a cavity back and a wound ball makes what he did even more phenomenal.
Pros have played blades for years. It’s the same blade
@chrisp2272 I dunno man, I have a set of more modern blades and they are noticably larger in face area and overall size than many of the vintage irons. Especially in the longer irons.
@@chrisp2272 I suppose they picked that club because it had his name on it, but that's not even close to the Macgregor 1-iron Jack was playing at the time.
IIRC from an older interview, Jack talked about the ball at the time being a bit smaller, and thus the extra carry. Not that that makes the achievement any less. Jack was also well known for hitting his long irons much higher than other pros.
@@robertreid2931 He was talking about the European small ball at the time, was not a thing at the 1967 US Open, if it was, please sight your source and I'll definitely stand corrected. Thanks!
He won 18 professional majors, and finished 2nd 19 times. Easily the greatest golfer who ever lived.
He publicly supported Trump. Great golfer though.
@@davidfoster3427 Trump Derangement Syndrome is an ailment that only affects losers who have no money or women and who have to blame their pathetic lives on someone who's actually successful even though they don't know him nor ever met him. They tend to bring up his name regardless of what the conversation is, even something as obscure as a golf shot somebody made decades ago.
Always one champ that talks politics on a fun golf post. Good job little buddy!@@davidfoster3427
He's absolutely phenomenal, but doesnt even come close to Prime Tiger, Tiger was playing a different game than everybody else, I have massive love and respect for Nicklaus just to be clear.
@@Jeebizz101 Jack also had far many other great players to contend with, starting with Hogan at the start of his career, then Palmer, Player, Casper, Trevino, Watson, Seve, and Faldo at the end of his career.
Tiger had Mickelson and Koepka
There may be more good players today, but there are far fewer great players
His one iron at the 17th hole at Pebble Beach at a different US Open in a gale is just as remarkable. The other pros were hitting woods but Jacks shot hit the stick and almost went in. It gives me chills to this day.! Easily the best long iron player ever. Few pros even used a one iron. What’s equally amazing is he could hit it high with back spin. Boggles my mind how anyone can do that.
Jack is also the greatest player out of the rough > Ever ... I became a pro in 75 ... everybody used to joke around (but meaning it) if they never cut the fairways and everything played like rough ... Jack would win 99 out of 100 tournaments.
Balata ball, poor forgiveness and odd club weighting and jack flew the green, 235 out uphill. What a legend. Probably would have carried it 275-280 with a modern ball and club, level terrain.
U could hear a distinct sound when jack hit an iron
Nicklaus was (still is) an amazing golfer and one of the greatest to ever pick up a club. There will never be another like him.
Duh
@@chevy4x466 I'm guessing this is the most intelligent thing you have said in months. Duh.
Paul Azinger said he went to that plaque with a 3-wood and couldn't get it to the green. Big Jack was a force of nature. That 1-iron could have only been hit by him.
Prime Tiger could hit a 5 iron there.
@@beng4647 With a 1960s blade 5-iron and a balata golf ball? I doubt it.
@@xchiro1818balatas went nowhere
@@beng4647Maybe a 5-wood, not a 5-iron.
@@beng4647 Maybe. It's up hill. So that would be a big 5 iron even in Tiger's prime. If Tiger were playing the same equipment in 1967, he would be well short of the bunker in front the green. It isn't like Tiger was a longer hitter than Jack when you are using the same clubs.
not to mention jack flew it on the green with a older club and ball. GOAT
The club isn’t a factor. A hunk of steel is a hunk of steel.
@@chrisp2272 Nonsense.
@@chrisp2272ratioed.
@@robertreid2931 Yeah, I've played with those old clubs and I've played with the new clubs.
The new clubs are far easier to hit.
@@morefiction3264 I wasn't great back in the day, but I carried a 7hcp and had about a 105 clubhead speed. I tried hitting an old MacGregor 1 iron that was probably early 80s era and could get a decent strike on maybe 1 out of ten shots. It was a nightmare.
What makes that story so wild is the fact he didn't even need to play that shot, he could have just laid up and had an easy up n down for the win. But I guess that's what makes him the GOAT
A 1 iron was commonly referred to as a 'driving iron" and was normally used off of tees on par fours with tight fairways. Back then there were no hybrids and fairway woods had smaller heads and were less accurate that the large metal headed woods we have today.
They made the hole easier and the equipment is now far better. Jack broke Hogan's record and he beat Arnie by four. The pro hitting here got fifty yards of roll to reach the green. His shot would have rolled into the trap if he hit that shot back then. Can we all bow down to the GOAT. Best golfer ever Jack Nicklaus.
Up there with Jack’s 1972 Pebble Beach 17th hole - absolute balls 🎱🎱
I put my 1 iron in the closet about 18 years ago and purchased my first hybrid. Some days I hit it like a champ. Some days I didn’t. Never liked the inconsistency of the hybrid. I was on the Callaway website about 6 weeks ago and noticed that the 4 iron in the Paradyme x irons was 18 degrees. Heck I remember my old one iron was 18 degrees. I purchased the 4 iron. Now I am 76 years old and Reason told me that I didn’t have the club speed any more to hit a 18 degree club. But I am a teaching professional and I play on the North Carolina coast in this ever present coastal wind. Just maybe this new club would work better into our steady 20 knot wind. I hit it about 20 feet high and into the wind on our hard fairways it will roll out to around 200 yards. I can’t Carry it that far but it is more consistent than my heavenwood into the wind. Golf is a fun sport.
I loved my 1 iron off the tee, not so much off the fairway.
I was lucky to see Jack Nickolas play in 1986 at the Masters in my hometown of Augusta Georgia. What an epic back nine, even though i was a kid I knew what I was seeing was history in the making, i thanked my father so many times before he passed for taking me to that tournament. As far as I am concerned Jack Nickolas will always be the best ever, I know many will say Tiger Woods and rightly so, but for me it will always be Jack.
Jack the GOAT by a country mile. Facing Arnold fkn Palmer in a major and hitting a one iron off the deck 235 yards uphill over a green side bunker with a golf ball that travels 15 yards shorter to todays golf ball. Jack had balls of steel and faced absolute legends in his quest for majors.
he faced nobody thats better than the top 20 in todays PGA nor could he tie Tigers shoes.... stop
Remember when 58 year old Jack beat 23 year old tiger at the 98 masters. Probably not
@@ScratchGolfer0now that is the dumbest thing I have heard in a while, Arnie Trevino Player Casper Miller Watson. Playing with inferior clubs and golf balls. They would all thrive today. Tiger beat no names. Jack beat legends. Goat and Tiger knows it. Now you do also. Plus the course was harder with more bunkers.
@@ScratchGolfer0 this guy has no clue
Yup! Jack wasn't beating up on Briney Baird and Robt Gamez...he was playing Watson, Trevino, Ballesteros, Palmer
The Hogan-Palmer-Player-Trevino-Nicklaus era was when the best ball strikers in history played with inferior golf clubs and a ball that would go out of round when it was well struck or even worse when you mishap a shot the results were punishing. Yup, they were the best ever playing with very inferior equipment versus today's scientifically great equipment. Here comes Scotty!
Very very very true my friend 🇺🇸
Imagine jack in his prime with modern clubs, balls etc. Crazy good.
He's the GOAT. Sorry Eldrick, beat 18 majors.
@@billmoyer3254 Jack was better for longer, but there was no one better than Tiger when Tiger was in his prime. Jack even agrees to that.
@@mccalljeff No, not if you're going by Jack's comment to Watson! Jack played against much better competition! Major wins: Gary Player 9, Watson 8, Palmer 7, Travino 6, Seve 5, Floyd 4, etc... Those guys were hungry and CLUTCH. Tiger did not face that kind of competition in his prime, and whoever finished in 5th was going home with $$$.
@@tedfio1tedfio1 You can debate this all day long, but the consensus is that no one was better than Tiger during his prime. Jack was better for longer. That is pretty much every golf historians opinion. I am not old enough to have watched Jack, so I only go by results and what the greats of the game say, and they say that Tiger was best in his prime, Jack better for longer.
@@mccalljeff It is impossible to prove who was better,! What are the 'Historians basing it on? Jack's prime was in the 60s, and 70s, before Technology, Training, Nutrition, and PEDs caught up to sports. All we can go by is the Majors, PGA Wins, and Competition. That favors Jack! Personally, I don't like The title GOAT, the GOAT changes every day in the culture we live in. The NFL QB, NBA players, etc... has become a cult following.
The real test would be using the same kind of golf ball they used back then. A lot of people can hit a 230 yard 2 iron with the balls we use now. Very few would be able to do it with the golf balls they were using back then.
That is 100% true but they would have 0 chance with an old ball. In the 40 plus years the golf ball has moved on a huge amount, they would be lucky to hit the 1 iron 200 yards
When I am on, I can stroke my bladed mizuno 4 iron majestically. The 3 iron is difficult. This dude was banging 1 irons off pebble beach flagsticks. I mean, he was just so much better than everyone.
Fun video, next time use the "old blade's" and a 1960's MacGregor ball. Lets see if any of you can get anywhere close the the green then. I think not.
The 1 iron you are hitting is not the same as the one Jack hit in '67. Yours is 20 years newer, perimeter weighted and much more forgiving than the "pure blade" SS1 or VIP Jack was playing. He switched from SS1 to VIP in '67 so not sure which he played in the US Open but either way an entirely different prospect to yours. Max respect to Jack the greatest of all time.
Exactly. Even more respect.
And Jack was playing with balata balls…
@@chrishouston8677 yup big difference in balls
In the close-up (0:40-0:43), a "67 VIP by Nicklaus" 1 iron is shown... you can tell by the bronze colored ferrule that Jack Nicklaus preferred on that club, the crown stampings down the sides of the clubface and what appears to be a "rifle-shaft" style stepless club shaft.
Cheers mate, thought iron technology was the same as it was 40 years ago 👍
I have a friend who has a copy of a set that Jack used to play with. The 1-i in that set looks like a shaft with a tiny piece of metal attached to it. I am a scratch golfer, and I will be happy to make decent contact once in ten attempts with that club.
Jack carried it to the green, yours rolled 40 yds.
Jack was just going into a period where you wondered if anybody would ever beat him. He was great at Baltusrol but he worked on his conditioning, lost a lot of weight and got even better. The 20 th century had a lot of great athletes, Jack is in the top 5, in my opinion.
Jack was the greatest golfer of all time! Check his major championships records.
i was at baltusrol 1980. another great win by Jack!
You'd think it'd have at least been down wind for Jack to get that knife up the hill from 240, but flag was pointed at him according to the video, making shot even more impressive.
I don't know why people are so afraid of the 1 iron... I've been practicing with one on and off for about 2 years and its a pretty reliable 200+ club once you get the hang of it.
Yeah, the hybrid is easier to hit, no doubt, but I like vintage clubs, so...
Agree, I prefer older clubs for local courses (real woods etc) and it's just another club. I think some people have trouble mentally and try to play long irons like short irons when really it's just like a little driver motion
If you are a decent player with good speed its a great club, i can reliably hit a 1 iron cut into a fairway. I can also reliably stick my driver in the trees, always had a 1 iron, great club
Prefer a 1i off a tee to a hybrid much lower dispersion for me
Agree. I use early 70's blades and the 1 and 2 irons are in my bag. I hit the 2 pretty solid but hit the 1 just decent. For me, blades made me a much better player. You learn from that feedback.
Jack’s 1 iron back then with a ballata ball would be like the same shot but 280 yards today
I was just left of that plaque and got it to land about 10 yards deep on the putting surface.
However that was with a well struck hybrid and Pro V1 ball.
A butter knife 1 iron and wound ball would probably have landed 20 yards short at best.
Nicklaus was a beast and I don’t think people realize how physically strong he was. 💪🏻
John Daly but accurate (putting it as mild as the PGA Tour slogan *These guys are good* )
I want to see it tried with an old wound balata ball. I'm old enough to have played with balata and tiny forged blades back in the 80s. It works take massive clubhead speed with that gear to lift a shot up onto an elevated green nearly 240 out. And to stop it close? Forget about it.
Great video. I'd love to see a series of these attempts to match Jack's greatest shots.
I have his Macgregor 1 iron. It was a blade with a sweet spot the size of a dime. Not the Nicklaus brand cavity back you guys have.
Good thing he went and collected those balls cuz I was thinking about playing that course but I got worried the 18th green would just be covered in uncollected balls.
An amateur named Marty Fleckman led the Open that year after 3 rounds and was in the last group with defending champion Billy Casper. Casper fell back and Fleckman blew up to a 10 over par 80, leaving the competition to Nicklaus and Palmer. Arnold shot a decent -1 to finish -1 overall, but Nicklaus shot 65 to finish -5 and set what was then the Open record at 275.
He had such Phenomenal strength. That was first tournament my dad took me to. I remember also seeing Trevino there, who i think showed up with $50 in his pocket, and no money for a hotel, who had a pretty strong finish
Just look at the speed of Nicklaus’s swing with that 1 iron…..massive speed
Love the format, short, sweet, and a bit of a good history.
Love seeing those vintage swings with a whole lot of personality and oompfh. 🙌🏻 Own your swing, hit it flush, and milk it to the last drop. At the end of the day, the game is a test of character and determination.
Love it. One iron, one iron, putter. Don't know the loft in 1967 but in 1974 the one iron carried a 17º loft. I think today, there are "driving irons" with a 17º loft so you can give it a go! I'll stay with my 5 FW.
No, he missed his 1-iron tee shot, which landed in the right rough near a roll of cables, dropped the ball, then chunked an 8-iron shot back into the fairway, then hit his famous 1-iron shot.
Are you using a ballata ball??
The John Daly zero and famous 1 iron videos are great content.
Great video on the famous Finnish
I love my 1 iron but my clubs are 30 years old and I don’t want to upgrade them
Great video! “Butter knife”!😂
Jack was hitting tiny blades not an oversized cavity back Club
Jack would dominant today’s game. He was easily low 130’s swing speed in his 20-30s Just imagine him with modern equipment and fitting.
Yeah, he said when he was 58 years old he was at one of the golf manufactures and on swing speed machine he clocked in at 118 mph.
The club pros shot would not have gotten on the green if the bunker was still there; his ball rolled 40 or 50 yards. Jacks ball carried the bunker.
Also, Jack’s one iron was likely a blade, and he was hitting a vastly inferior ball.
Someone needs to talk to all the legends that are still alive ( Player, Trevino, Floyd and more) ask them to describe the top 5 greatest shots they ever saw Jack Nicklaus hit. Then we can get AI to recreate it one day. Otherwise his shots might be lost forever….there’s 100 Tiger shots on RUclips and he has a bigger visual presence…..so he may be remembered unfairly as the greatest because he’s got a bigger presence going forward in to the future ….we need to recreate Jack!!
There are very few things in golf that feel better than a well struck 1-iron.
As good a shot as that was for Jack, I think his one iron to the 17th hole (71st hole) at Pebble Beach during the last round of the 1972 US Open was even better. Look it up!
You’re also using a modern ball which goes way further. I love my 1-iron, 3-wood distance and super accurate.
Modern club, modern ball, apples and oranges.
Also if the ball had bounced just a little bit different a few times Jack might have 25 majors today!!! Jack with his 19 second place finishes in majors tiger only has seven second place finishes in majors!!! One final thing here, Jack won all those majors with a wife and five kids and he made sure he went to his kids events instead of playing golf tournaments!!!! He still won all those tournaments putting family first!!!!!
Tiger still has 15 majors... How many do you have?
I don't remember details but saw a video on YT golf demo. A golfer had a million foot put saying no way he could make it. Jack says just do this, whatever it was. The guy looks at Jack like he's nuts. Jack says want me to show you and then drains that ridiculous putt perfectly without even reading the green with detail. Jack just saw the break. Beautiful putt.
Older clubs and older balls play a factor as well. I'd like to see modern pros try this exact shot but most would decline.
That's a modern day big cavity 1 iron. I have the Nicklaus Muirfield MacGregor 1 iron, the blade is half that size.
😮
That course pro seems like such a sweet dude. Humble fellow.
Look at how smooth and simple he swung that club. He just knew how to work those blades.
Club they're hitting is a cavity back, not even REMOTELY close to the real butterknife Nicklaus played. Dude was special. Didn't have 60° wedges in Jack's heyday. You give a 20, 30 year old, hell 40, Nicklaus metal heads, immaculate turf week after week. Could be wrong, but I believe Jack, when he came on tour, was the only person playing Macgregor clubs. Long? In a practice round at the 13th at Augusta, Nicklaus hit a 3wd, (not a typo) over the trees on the left and hit nine iron on the green. (That's back when a nine iron was 35.5 inches long and had 48 degrees of loft. Modern set 36.6 inches, 42,43°. Just a little jacked up)
Yes, wound, Balata styled balls spin much more. Very impressive shot, a more impressive career.
The original Power Golf King.
What type of ball did you use? And Jack didnt use a cavity backed club
Jack carried it to the green with a muscle back iron and a ballata wound ball. Please try again matching his conditions (although it would be tough to find a ballata ball that's at least a 90 compression).
you should play an old ball too, these go 10 to 12 percent farther, thats nearly 30 yards
Need a Macgregor blade 1 iron. The iron you are using is completely different tech. Balata ball too.
and the no taper lamkin grip with hard tack underneath, counterbalance weight inside the x100 to make the sweet spot even smaller.
I think Jack's carry was 225 with a balata. He would hit a Chrome 250 in the air.
Imagine using the same golf balls that Jack was using back then.
That was one crazy shot.
You know what Lee Trevino says about a 1 iron😂
he said that a week before he was struck from lightning.....the "MAN" said: hold my beer!
18 is more than 14 always will be.The GOAT Jack!!!!!!
What? You know Tiger has 15 right? Also did you know that when Jack was originally tallying up majors the U.S. Amateur counted obviously this is not in the 18 but he won that twice. Tiger won it 3x and 3 juniors. So before the goal posts were moved the real count is 20 majors to jack and 18 to Tiger. JUST FYI
@@anyexpat No one cares, he's done and will never approach Jack's quality of play and character. He's a dick.
Let's see the results after breaking out a sleeve of vintage balata.
People forget that Nicklaus held the driving record to the first bounce for many many years in professional golf . It was beaten but by then club's and the ball's were more advanced .
Wasent it on the 17th hole? And this shot gave him the 3 stoke lead? Maybe I’m thinking of another shot but I remember him saying on 17 he hit the flag pole and then made birdie.
Nicklaus's majors record is safe forever I think now.
Gotta use the same ball and club
Why with the cicada trap hats? You answer me
Good video,, but use a Balota ball? Spelling guess. Not a modern ball. My bet 20 yard difference. Modern longer .
Fun video. I've never even seen a 1 iron in person lol
break out the early balata balls and try it not a pro v1
Looks like Gregg could be the club champion in the dining room too.
Last guy was top notch
It also helped Jack Arnie bogeyed the hole too.
Awesome video!!
Y'all hit it like my grandma
Jack was using a Macgregor blade 1 iron
Try it with a wound balata ball they used in '67, and it would be much more difficult.
His more famous one iron shots were at 17 at the 1972 US Open at Pebble Beach (hit the pin and stopped a foot away) and at the 1975 Masters on the 15th.
No mention of the ball he played back then.
Played Baltusrol 15 years ago and not even knowing about the marker landed right next to it (from the white tees of course). I then put the ball on a tee and with a driver crushed it and hit the hill. In the end, we all got a good laugh out of it.
Oaft ,that will be sore hitting that thing 🏴👊
old ballatas might be easier to get into the air? more spin on them if you catch it right.
The 1-iron Jack used didn't have NICKLAUS stamped on the sole. Try that shot with a genuine vintage 1-iron from that era, and a Titleist balata ball.
THAT WAS OUTSTANDING , LOVED IT !
As a young man, I couldn't hit driver worth a damn so I had nothing but irons in my bag. One iron was my driver and I learned to whip the piss out of it. 238 was what I would get out of it against a two club wind. Of course, I was also built like an NFL safety at the time so there's that.
Never played with those old blades so i guess I dont really know how tough it'd be for your regular golfers. I'm going to imagine that it wasn't all that ridiculous of a shot for those gents though
Jack did have a 3 shot lead though. He must have felt pretty relaxed. I wonder if he would have tried the same shot if he was up by one or even tied?
I was a good player and long hitter back in the day. I had a full set of TopFlites, 1-SW. Flushing a 1 iron was the apex golf experince, better even than crushing a drive. To be young and that nimble and stong again....🤔
Used a modern golf ball...and nobody flew it to the same spot. Thats a full fail.
In high school, we called it the "butter knife."
I began playing high level amateur golf in the late 70's. That was when it took skill to hit a driver. Now you see kids that can't break 90 hitting the ball 300 plus.
It’s a good effort, but you’re using a Nicklaus Air Bear “Jack” 1 iron, which is a cavity back from around 20 years ago. He was using a much smaller MacGregor blade.
Didn’t jack use a mcgregor vip 1 iron ?