When Jack Nicklaus rolled back the years at Augusta National

When Jack Nicklaus turned up for The Masters in 1986 nobody paid much attention. He was 46 years old, hadn’t won a major since 1980 and was long past his best. And that seemed to be confirmed when he opened with a round of 74 that left him six behind the leaders.

His priority in round two was to make the cut and he managed that with a 71 but he was still six shots behind leader Seve Ballesteros. A 69 in the third round moved him to two under par. He was now four behind 54-hole leader Greg Norman, who led Ballesteros by a shot. Among those ahead of Nicklaus were Tom Watson, Nick Price and Bernhard Langer.

Nicklaus, looking for his 18th major, played his first eight holes in level par. There was no hint of what was to come.

He hit his approach to the ninth hole to 10 feet. A large gallery was following him but with absolutely no expectation of seeing him win. Nicklaus had other ideas. 

With 10 holes left to play, Nicklaus was seen as little more than a sentimental favourite. At two-under par he had made up no ground. Even worse, twice in the first eight holes he had missed putts of just four feet. Sadly, this came as little surprise. 

In his prime, you would have bet your mortgage on Nicklaus holing putts when he really needed to but that touch had begun to desert him in recent years. He remained a superb ball striker but he was no longer the fearsome force he had once been.

In seven tournaments during the 1986 PGA Tour, he had missed the cut three times and withdrawn a fourth. Coming into the Masters he was ranked a lowly 160th on the money list. This was not what we had been used to and everybody who had followed the Golden Bear throughout his glittering career had come to accept that his best days were long behind him. He had also been written off by the media.

As Nicklaus prepared to hit his putt on the ninth green, a huge roar erupted. Tom Kite had holed out from 80 yards for eagle to go to 5-under par.

The roar caused Nicklaus to stop and readdress his putt. He was about to strike it when, once again, cheers exploded, this time even louder and longer than before.

Ballesteros, the player with whom Kite was paired, had holed his own pitch shot from 50 yards - for eagle as well. 

Nicklaus backed off his putt, looked at the gallery, and said: "Let's see if we can make a roar of our own."

It was unusual to hear him interact with the gallery in the heat of battle. Ballesteros, with the eagle, had moved to eight-under par, one stroke ahead of Norman. Six strokes ahead of Jack Nicklaus.

Finally, the Golden Bear stood over his putt for a third time. A foot or so before the hole, the ball broke to the left and dropped into the middle of the hole. Up went the roar.

Nicklaus knew that he would have to play the back nine of his life. Earlier in the day his son had asked him what he thought he needed to win. 

Nicklaus replied: "My guess is I'll need 66 to get into a playoff and 65 to win."

"Yeah. 65. That's the number I had in mind. Go do it," said his son.

With the birdie at nine, he had posted a front-nine of 35. Over the next nine holes he would roll back the years. In his mind, he needed to play those holes in 30 strokes. At Augusta National. In the final round of The Masters.

And that is what he did.

He birdied the 10th and the 11th. However, he bogeyed the 12th to fall three behind the leaders. Norman, tied for the lead at seven under as he made the turn, double-bogeyed the 10th hole to give Ballesteros the outright lead by one shot over Kite. 

Ballesteros hit his second shot at 13 to within six feet. After Kite lagged up his own eagle putt on 13, Ballesteros holed his putt for his second eagle of the day and a three-shot lead over Kite. Kite then holed his birdie putt to cut the lead back to two.

After a par at 14, Nicklaus began his legendary charge at the 15th. After hitting his 204-yard approach to 12 feet he buried the putt for an eagle to pull within two shots of Ballesteros. Nicklaus then hit his tee shot on the 16th to within three feet and after holing his birdie putt he was within one shot of Ballesteros who was playing the 15th hole. 

Ballesteros, who was in prime position to go for the green in two, pull hooked his approach into the water. Failing to get up and down, he bogeyed the hole, giving Nicklaus a share of the lead. Kite made birdie at 15 to enter into a three-way tie with Ballesteros and Nicklaus. After a wayward drive, Nicklaus hit his approach on the 17th to 18 feet. After long deliberation, he holed his putt for sole possession of the lead for the first time in the tournament. He two-putted for par on 18 to post nine under and a one shot lead.

Ballesteros three-putted the 17th to fall out of contention, but Kite had 12 feet for birdie on the 18th to tie Nicklaus. Kite missed his putt. Norman, seemingly out of it after his double-bogey on 10, birdied 14, 15 and 16 to pull within one shot of the lead. After hooking his drive on the 17th, he produced an incredible shot between two pines to within eight feet. 

Norman holed the birdie putt, his fourth straight, to tie for the lead. He then hit a perfect drive on the 18th, needing birdie for his first major championship. However, Norman pushed his approach shot into the gallery and subsequently missed his 15-foot par putt to finish one stroke behind. Nicklaus had stormed back, shooting 30 on the back nine, to win his sixth Masters title, his 18th major and became the oldest Masters champion at age 46.