Was this golf’s most formidable team?
The Background
Two of golf’s biggest icons put their competitive juices against one another aside to team up for the 1966 PGA National Team Championship in Florida.
It was the first time Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer played as a pair, and boy did it work.
The Scene
The pair put together rounds of 63, 66, 63 and 64 to post an incredible total of 256 which left them 32-under-par for the tournament.
They claimed the $50,000 prize money and with it held the record for lowest score to par the tournament had ever seen.
The Legacy
Jack and Arnie would go on to win a further two times as a duo as two of golf’s greats dominated together.
The 1970 National Four-Ball Championship PGA Players was added to the collection before another National Championship in 1971.
The pair won a combined 25 major titles during their careers and remained great friends until Palmer’s death in 2016.
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Tom Irwin
Tom is a lifetime golfer, now over 30 years playing the game. 2023 marks 10 years in golf publishing and he is still holding down a + handicap at Alwoodley in Leeds. He has played over 600 golf courses, and has been a member of at least four including his first love Louth, in Lincolnshire. Tom likes unbranded clothing, natural fibres, and pencil bags. Seacroft in Lincolnshire is where it starts and ends.
