{"id":99738,"date":"2026-04-06T18:54:53","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T21:54:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ubirataonline.com.br\/jim-nantz-40-years-ago-jack-nicklaus-stunned-the-world-and-this-first-year-announcer\/"},"modified":"2026-04-06T18:54:53","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T21:54:53","slug":"jim-nantz-40-years-ago-jack-nicklaus-stunned-the-world-and-this-first-year-announcer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ubirataonline.com.br\/en\/jim-nantz-40-years-ago-jack-nicklaus-stunned-the-world-and-this-first-year-announcer\/","title":{"rendered":"Jim Nantz: 40 years ago, Jack Nicklaus stunned the world and this first-year announcer"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Every springtime there seems to be a special anniversary awaiting us at Augusta National. This year marks one of the greatest of all\u201440 years since Jack Nicklaus\u2019 epic sixth Masters triumph<\/a>, the most anyone has won.<\/p>\n

All these decades later, for the 7 million TV viewers and those fortunate enough to witness that Masters in person, the surreal events of Sunday, April 13, 1986, still seem like a fairy tale. Did it really happen? How did Jack do it?<\/p>\n

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I was in the CBS tower behind the par-3 16th hole that day, but the story for me began almost two years earlier. In June 1984, I caddied for Jack Nicklaus during an exhibition at Park Meadows C.C., a course in Park City, Utah, that he designed. Jack invited his good friend Johnny Miller to join him for the 18-hole debut round before several thousand fans. Two local sports broadcasters were invited to serve as bag toters for the afternoon. I was one of them and assigned to the great man. You can imagine the honor of carrying Jack\u2019s big MacGregor tour bag for 18 holes. The thrill was enormous, and Jack occasionally even sought my input on yardages and green reads. Jack was warm and kind to his rookie caddie, even though I steered him to a birdie-free 73 that featured 17 pars and one three-putt bogey.<\/p>\n

I was hired by CBS Sports the following summer. I was 26 and only four years removed from a dormitory at the University of Houston. Soon after, I was informed that CBS\u2019 legendary golf producer Frank Chirkinian had asked the brass at the network to include me as part of his broadcast team.<\/p>\n

Frank usually got what he wanted, and in January, I was at Pebble Beach for our first event of the season. Upon arriving, Frank told me three things: First, I wouldn\u2019t be calling the action that weekend. \u201cYou are here only to observe how we present a telecast,\u201d he said. Second, the Lodge at Pebble Beach was sold out and CBS would instead stash me in a villa off the left side of the first fairway that once was the home of 1940\u2019s golf great Lawson Little. My roommate: The curmudgeon reporter and famed golf writer Bob Drum. Lastly, Frank dropped a bomb: If things went well in the coming weeks, including an on-air premiere at the Doral Open, he planned to include me in the Masters broadcast 10 weeks later.<\/p>\n

My first glimpse of Augusta National came that March when Frank asked me to record network promotional spots for the tournament. When April finally arrived, my learning curve was short. The tower was so close to the action that I learned to lower my voice to not distract the players. I noticed late in the day how the setting sun was at my back and shone brightly on the players as they hit their tee shots. The intense light made the golf balls appear larger than they were. It felt like I was tracking beach balls, not objects 1.68 inches in diameter.<\/p>\n

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It now was time for me to \u2018lay out,\u2019 broadcaster parlance for not saying anything at all.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

On Sunday, the leaderboard was filled with iconic hall-of-fame names. Greg Norman, the third-round leader, and Nick Price, who had shot a course-record 63 on Saturday, were in the final pairing. One group ahead of them were Seve Ballesteros, seeking his third green jacket, and Bernhard Langer, at the time seeking a repeat victory. Tom Kite was in the mix, as were Corey Pavin, Tom Watson and Sandy Lyle. Nicklaus was tied for ninth, six strokes back. Jack didn\u2019t figure to have any chance at all. He was 46 and hadn\u2019t won a major in six years. As far as I could tell from the 73 I\u2019d witnessed in Park City, his best days were behind him.<\/p>\n

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Jack came alive with birdies at the ninth, 10th and 11th holes. He bogeyed the 12th but then birdied the 13th. When he eagled No. 15, he suddenly was only two shots behind the leader, Ballesteros. As Jack prepared to play the par-3 16th, I quickly dispensed information about his rich history on the hole, including his pivotal birdie in 1963 on his way to his first green jacket and his 40-footer for birdie up the hill in 1975 to fend off Miller and Tom Weiskopf. As he addressed the ball with a 6-iron, it now was time for me to \u201clay out,\u201d broadcaster parlance for not saying anything at all.<\/p>\n

The next thing I knew, the beach ball was flying toward me. I could tell, after four days of watching numerous shots, that this one was going to be close. As the ball drifted down the slope and trickled toward the cup, thoughts of a hole-in-one danced in my head. Coincidentally, I had asked Frank earlier that morning about how I should handle a situation in which someone made an ace. In typical tough-love fashion, he\u2019d said, \u201cSon, this is a visual medium. If you ever talk over a moment like that, I will walk out of the truck, come down to 16 and personally throw you out of the tower!\u201d With that thought circling my brain, I said only, \u201cright at it\u201d as the ball was in the air. When it settled three feet below, I exclaimed, \u201cOh, my!\u201d<\/p>\n

For the next five minutes I pretty much remained silent. Frank, directing brilliantly, let the camera linger on Jack as he walked along the water\u2019s edge toward the green. Jack center-cut his putt for birdie, and as he strode off the green, I exclaimed against the roar in the background, \u201cThere is no doubt about it, the Bear has come out of hibernation.\u201d<\/p>\n

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