Bobby Nichols

Last updated

Bobby Nichols
Personal information
Full nameRobert Herman Nichols
Born (1936-04-14) April 14, 1936 (age 88)
Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.
Sporting nationalityFlag of the United States (23px).png  United States
Career
College Texas A&M University
Turned professional1960
Former tour(s) PGA Tour
Champions Tour
Professional wins15
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour12
PGA Tour Champions1
Other2
Best results in major championships
(wins: 1)
Masters Tournament 2nd: 1967
PGA Championship Won: 1964
U.S. Open T3: 1962
The Open Championship DNP

Robert Herman Nichols (born April 14, 1936) is an American professional golfer, best known for winning the PGA Championship in 1964.

Contents

Early years

Born in April 1936 and raised in Louisville, Kentucky, Nichols attended St. Xavier High School. While in high school, Nichols and several other youths were involved in an automobile accident resulting from a 100 mph (160 km/h) joy ride. He suffered serious injuries including a broken pelvis, concussion, back and internal injuries, and was hospitalized 96 days. His legs were also paralyzed for about two weeks, but he was able to regain full use of his legs after intensive physical therapy. Nichols later played on the Aggies golf team at the Agricultural & Mechanical College of Texas (later renamed Texas A&M University) in the Southwest Conference.

Pro career

Nichols began playing on the PGA Tour in 1960 and recorded 12 victories, one of which, the PGA National Team Championship, was not fully recognized until 2012. [1] He was a member of the Ryder Cup team in 1967, and his best year on tour was 1974 when he won twice, earned $124,747 and finished 14th on the money list. Nichols, Jerry Heard, and Lee Trevino were struck by lightning at the Western Open on Friday, June 27, 1975. [2] All three men came back to play professional golf. Unfortunately Nichols – who was 39 at the time and still playing consistently well – as the PGA Tour's Media Guide noted several years later "has not played with the same effectiveness since" [meaning after the strike]. His results on tour after mid-1975 until he joined what was then called the Senior Tour in 1986 bear that out. While Trevino won many more times on the PGA Tour after being hit by lightning (including a major championship) and Heard also won again on tour in 1978, Nichols never did. The closest he came to another PGA Tour win was a team event played in 1976 with Gay Brewer, the 1976 Walt Disney World National Team Championship. The team of Nichols and Brewer lost in a playoff to the team of Woody Blackburn and Billy Kratzert.

He has had 12 holes-in-one in his professional career. [3]

The 1964 PGA Championship was played at the Columbus Country Club in Columbus, Ohio. Nichols won with a 271 total, three shots ahead of runners-up Arnold Palmer and defending champion Jack Nicklaus, playing in his hometown. [4] [5] [6] This was a record low score for the PGA Championship and it stood for 30 years, until broken by Nick Price's 269 in 1994. [7] Nichols was the first wire-to-wire winner since the PGA Championship switched format from match play to stroke play in 1958. [8] He came close to winning a second major at the Masters in 1967, finishing second to his lifelong friend, Gay Brewer.

After turning 50 in 1986, Nichols played on the Senior PGA Tour, now the Champions Tour. He had numerous top-10 finishes but only one victory – the Southwestern Bell Classic in 1989, when he defeated Orville Moody on the third hole of a playoff.

Bobby Nichols Golf Course is a 9-hole municipal course that is part of Waverly Park in Louisville, southwest of downtown. ( 38°07′34″N85°50′17″W / 38.126°N 85.838°W / 38.126; -85.838 ) The back tees are set at 6,970 yards (6,370 m) with a rating of 72.0 and a slope of 130. [9] [10]

Professional wins (15)

PGA Tour wins (12)

Legend
Major championships (1)
Other PGA Tour (11)
No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory
Runner(s)-up
1Mar 19, 1962 St. Petersburg Open Invitational −16 (71-67-70-64=272)2 strokes Flag of the United States.svg Frank Boynton
2Apr 23, 1962 Houston Classic −2 (68-69-71-70=278)Playoff Flag of the United States.svg Jack Nicklaus, Flag of the United States.svg Dan Sikes
3Sep 15, 1963 Seattle Open Invitational −16 (66-68-68-70=272)2 strokes Flag of the United States.svg Raymond Floyd, Canadian Red Ensign (1957-1965).svg Stan Leonard
4Jul 19, 1964 PGA Championship −9 (64-71-69-67=271)3 strokes Flag of the United States.svg Jack Nicklaus, Flag of the United States.svg Arnold Palmer
5Aug 30, 1964 Carling World Open −2 (72-68-66-72=278)1 stroke Flag of the United States.svg Arnold Palmer
6Apr 18, 1965 Houston Classic (2)−11 (67-69-67-70=273)1 stroke Flag of Australia (converted).svg Bruce Devlin, Flag of the United States.svg Chi-Chi Rodríguez
7Jul 17, 1966 Minnesota Golf Classic −14 (67-67-66-70=270)1 stroke Flag of the United States.svg John Schlee
8Sep 22, 1968 PGA National Team Championship
(with Flag of the United States.svg George Archer)
−22 (65-66-69-65=265)2 strokes Flag of the United States.svg Monty Kaser and Flag of the United States.svg Rives McBee
9Aug 30, 1970 Dow Jones Open Invitational −12 (68-70-69-69=276)1 stroke Flag of the United States.svg Labron Harris Jr.
10Aug 5, 1973 Westchester Classic −16 (70-67-70-65=272)Playoff Flag of the United States.svg Bob Murphy
11Jan 27, 1974 Andy Williams-San Diego Open Invitational −13 (69-69-68-69=275)1 stroke Flag of the United States.svg Rod Curl, Flag of the United States.svg Gene Littler
12Jul 28, 1974 Canadian Open −10 (67-67-68-68=270)4 strokes Flag of the United States.svg John Schlee, Flag of the United States.svg Larry Ziegler

PGA Tour playoff record (2–3)

No.YearTournamentOpponent(s)Result
1 1961 Ontario Open Flag of the United States.svg George Bayer, Flag of the United States.svg Eric Monti Monti won with birdie on second extra hole
2 1962 Houston Classic Flag of the United States.svg Jack Nicklaus, Flag of the United States.svg Dan Sikes Won with eagle on first extra hole after 18 hole playoff;
Nichols: +1 (71),
Sikes: +1 (71),
Nicklaus: +6 (76)
3 1973 Westchester Classic Flag of the United States.svg Bob Murphy Won with birdie on second extra hole
4 1975 Andy Williams-San Diego Open Invitational Flag of the United States.svg Raymond Floyd, Flag of the United States.svg J. C. Snead Snead won with birdie on fourth extra hole
Nichols eliminated by par on first hole
5 1976 Walt Disney World National Team Championship
(with Flag of the United States.svg Gay Brewer)
Flag of the United States.svg Woody Blackburn and Flag of the United States.svg Billy Kratzert Lost to birdie on third extra hole

Senior PGA Tour wins (1)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory
Runner-up
1May 28, 1989 Southwestern Bell Classic −7 (69-69-71=209)Playoff Flag of the United States.svg Orville Moody

Senior PGA Tour playoff record (1–1)

No.YearTournamentOpponent(s)Result
1 1988 Senior Players Reunion Pro-Am Flag of New Zealand.svg Bob Charles, Flag of the United States.svg Don Massengale,
Flag of the United States.svg Orville Moody
Moody won with birdie on first extra hole
2 1989 Southwestern Bell Classic Flag of the United States.svg Orville Moody Won with birdie on third extra hole

Other senior wins (2)

Major championships

Wins (1)

YearChampionship54 holesWinning scoreMarginRunners-up
1964 PGA Championship 1 shot lead−9 (64-71-69-67=271)3 strokes Flag of the United States.svg Jack Nicklaus, Flag of the United States.svg Arnold Palmer

Results timeline

Tournament19581959
Masters Tournament
U.S. Open T52
PGA Championship
Tournament1960196119621963196419651966196719681969
Masters Tournament T24T25T35T222T30T29
U.S. Open T3T14T14CUT7T234T31
PGA Championship 6T231T54CUTT14T57T44
Tournament1970197119721973197419751976197719781979
Masters Tournament T31T24T7T4CUT
U.S. Open T46T9T11T20T49CUTCUT52T25
PGA Championship T26T46T62T51T39T33CUTT51T19CUT
Tournament198019811982198319841985
Masters Tournament
U.S. Open CUTT53CUTCUT
PGA Championship CUTCUTT34T36CUTT40

Note: Nichols never played in The Open Championship.

  Win
  Top 10
  Did not play

CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place.

Summary

TournamentWins2nd3rdTop-5Top-10Top-25EventsCuts made
Masters Tournament 0102371211
U.S. Open 00124102216
The Open Championship 00000000
PGA Championship 1001252418
Totals11159225845

U.S. national team appearances

Professional

See also

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References

  1. "Just in ...". Golf World . Vol. 66, no. 10. September 17, 2012. p. 15. The victory totals for four former PGA Tour players have been increased after the tour determined they were not credited with winning the 1968 and 1972 National Team Championship ... Hiskey and Zarley now have three wins, Archer 13 and Nichols 12.
  2. "Trevino survives lightning". Milwaukee Sentinel. June 28, 1975. p. 1–part 2. Archived from the original on October 4, 2018. Retrieved September 20, 2016.
  3. Bio from pgatour.com Archived February 12, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  4. Wright, Alfred (July 27, 1964). "'You aren't going to believe this, but...'". Sports Illustrated. p. 48. Archived from the original on December 13, 2013.
  5. Gundelfinger, Phil (July 20, 1964). "Nichols PGA Champ with record 271". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 19.
  6. "Nichols holds off Nicklaus in PGA". Eugene Register-Guard. Associated Press. July 20, 1964. p. 3B.
  7. Parascenzo, Marino (August 15, 1994). "Price is a major force". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. B1.
  8. Year by Year History of the PGA Championship
  9. "Course Rating and Slope Database: Bobby Nichols Golf Course". USGA. Retrieved August 25, 2013.
  10. "Bobby Nichols Golf Course Scorecard". Louisville - Jefferson County Metro Parks. Retrieved July 23, 2017.