No name is more synonymous with greatness in the sport of golf than the name Jack Nicklaus, and no single person has changed the face of the sport more than Jack Nicklaus - the player, the designer, and the good-will ambassador.
Jack, 68, has been named "Golfer of the Century" or "Golfer of the Millennium" by almost every major golf publication in the world. He was also named Individual Male Athlete of the Century by Sports Illustrated, and one of the 10 Greatest Athletes of the Century by ESPN.
In November 2005, as Jack punctuated a year in which he played his final British Open, perhaps his final Masters Tournament, and led the United States to a thrilling victory in The Presidents Cup, the Golden Bear was honored by President Bush at the White House with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest honor given to any civilian. A few weeks later, he was unanimously named by GolfWorld Magazine as its Newsmaker of the Year 2005.
Early in 2001, Jack was honored with the first-ever ESPY Lifetime Achievement Award, and he became the first golfer - and only the third athlete - to receive the Vince Lombardi Award of Excellence. In 2003, he was honored with the Muhammad Ali Sports Legend Award.
Jack's competitive career has spanned five decades, and his legend has been built with 105 professional tournament victories worldwide and a record 18 professional major-championship titles. He is the only player in history to have won each of the game's majors at least three times (six Masters, five PGA Championships, four U.S. Opens, three British Opens), and is the only player to have completed the career "Grand Slam" on both the regular and senior tours.
Jack is a five-time winner of the PGA Player of the Year Award, has been the PGA Tour's leading money-winner eight times and runner-up six times. He has played on six Ryder Cup teams, captained two other Ryder Cup teams, and served as U.S. captain for the 1998, 2003, 2005, and 2007 Presidents Cup teams.
The legacy Jack has left as a player can be rivaled only by the legacy he is leaving as a golf-course designer.
Jack was named GolfWorld's Architect of the Year in 1993, and in 1999, Golf Digest named him the world's leading active designer. In February 2005, the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America recognized Jack with its highest honor, The Old Tom Morris Award. In 2001, he was named recipient of both the Donald Ross Award (American Society of Golf Course Architects) and the Donald Rossi Award (Golf Course Builders Association of America), and was honored with the International Network of Golf's Achievement in Golf Course Design Award for 2000-2001.
Jack has been involved in the design of 265 courses open for play worldwide, and his thriving business, Nicklaus Design, has 330 courses open for play around the world. Nicklaus Design courses are represented in 33 countries, 38 states, and at least 87 have hosted a combined total of close to 600 professional tournaments or significant national amateur championships. At least 60 Nicklaus Design courses have appeared in various national and international Top-100 lists. The firm currently has projects under construction or under development in 45 different countries-30 in which Nicklaus Design has never been involved.
Since 1962, Jack has added the moniker of "businessman" to his lengthy résumé. He is chairman of the privately held Nicklaus Companies. In October, Golf Inc. magazine ranked Jack "The Most Powerful Person in Golf" for the fourth consecutive year, due to his impact on various aspects of the industry through his course design work, marketing and licensing business, and his involvement on a national level with various charitable causes. He was also named "Golf Development Newsmaker of the Year" for 2005 by Golf Inc., and the Robb Report once named Jack the "Leading Power Player" in the golf market.
In just over a four-week period ending in May, Jack received three Lifetime Achievement Awards in three different countries, as he was honored by the China Golf Association, then received the PGA Tour Lifetime Achievement Award, and, finally, was presented the KPMG Golf Business Forum's Lifetime Achievement Award on May 13 in Dublin, Ireland, before close to 350 industry leaders and developers representing more than 30 countries. At La Loma's opening, Jack will be presented the Top Golf Course Architect in Mexico Award by Best's Golf Guides to Mexico Publisher Chuck Kinder. The Golden Bear, whose firm has 16 courses open for play in the country, has been honored with the award each year since its inception.
In January, Jack was recognized for his global impact through design as well as his philanthropic efforts at home, when he was presented with The Woodrow Wilson Award for Corporate Citizenship. With its Woodrow Wilson Awards, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars recognizes leaders in business and public service from around the world and across the political spectrum. The Woodrow Wilson Award for Corporate Citizenship is given to executives who exemplify a commitment to the common good-beyond the bottom line-and who demonstrate that private firms should be stellar citizens in their own neighborhoods, as well as in the world.