When Jack Nicklaus was truly king

When you have achieved as much as Jack Nicklaus has in his storied career, there is a significant anniversary to celebrate pretty much every time he visits a major championship. At this year’s Masters, there are two.

Nicklaus, 76, has been back at Augusta National this week to take stock once more, a half-century after he became the first golfer to successfully defend his Masters title and more memorably 30 years on from perhaps the most famous of his six Masters victories, when he became the oldest winner of a Green Jacket.

That 1986 win was one for the ages, that now iconic image of the Golden Bear walking in his 12-foot birdie putt on the 17th with putter raised aloft seared into the memory of many golf fans.