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50 free Jack Nicklaus trivia questions with answers — sports quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
This Jack Nicklaus trivia quiz covers the Golden Bear from Scioto Country Club to the Swilcan Bridge. The easy questions ask how many majors he won, what his nickname is, where he was born, which great rival he beat in his first professional win and how old he was when he won his last Masters. Then it works through the career: the U.S. Amateur titles, the 1960 U.S. Open as an amateur, the 1962 Oakmont playoff, the first back-to-back Masters, the career grand slam at 26 and the 1-iron at Pebble Beach. The hard end is for people who know their Baltusrol from their Turnberry: the mild polio at 13, the pre-pharmacy degree he never finished, the caddie Angelo Argea, the concession to Tony Jacklin, the record 271 at Augusta in 1965, the 63 that opened the 1980 U.S. Open, the seven-shot PGA win, the senior-tour Traditions, the Royal Bank of Scotland five-pound note, the museum at Ohio State and the design company with courses on every continent. Every answer was checked against the encyclopaedia entry on Jack Nicklaus before publishing, and the supporting sentence is stored with each question. Our golf, Masters and Arnold Palmer quizzes are natural next stops.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01How many major championships did Jack Nicklaus win?
18
18 major championships, from the 1962 U.S. Open at Oakmont to the 1986 Masters; he also finished runner-up in majors a record 19 times.
Q 02What is Jack Nicklaus's famous nickname?
The Golden Bear
The Golden Bear: a sportswriter pinned the name on the blond, burly young Nicklaus during a 1962 overseas trip, and his Upper Arlington high school teams were already called the Golden Bears.
Q 03In which city was Jack Nicklaus born?
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus, Ohio: Nicklaus was born there and grew up in the suburb of Upper Arlington, learning the game at the city's Scioto Country Club.
Q 04Whom did Nicklaus beat in an 18-hole playoff to win the 1962 U.S. Open, his first professional victory?
Arnold Palmer
Arnold Palmer lost the playoff at Oakmont 71 to 74; Nicklaus's first professional win came in front of galleries pulling hard for the Pennsylvania favourite.
Q 05Nicklaus, Palmer and which third golfer were marketed as 'The Big Three' in the 1960s?
Gary Player
Gary Player completed the trio; agent Mark McCormack managed all three and staged the televised Big Three Golf matches of the 1960s.
Q 06How old was Nicklaus when he won his final Masters?
46
46: Nicklaus closed with a 65 at Augusta in April 1986 to become the oldest Masters champion, 23 years after his first green jacket.
Q 07How many times did Nicklaus win the Masters?
6
6 Masters titles: 1963, 1965, 1966, 1972, 1975 and 1986, spanning 23 years at Augusta National.
Q 08Nicklaus took up golf at what age, scoring 51 for his first nine holes at Scioto Country Club?
10
Club pro Jack Grout became his lifelong instructor.
Q 09Which illness did Nicklaus overcome as a 13-year-old?
A mild case of polio
A mild case of polio struck Nicklaus at 13, yet that same year he broke 70 for the first time with a 69 at Scioto Country Club.
Q 10Who was Nicklaus's lifelong golf instructor, the Scioto club pro who coached him from age 10?
Jack Grout
Jack Grout, the Scioto Country Club professional, taught Nicklaus from boyhood and rebuilt his swing in early 1980 after the winless 1979 season.
Q 11In which two years did Nicklaus win the U.S. Amateur?
1959 and 1961
1959 and 1961: he beat Charlie Coe at the Broadmoor in 1959 and Dudley Wysong at Pebble Beach in 1961, the year he also won the NCAA individual title.
Q 12Who, playing alongside amateur Nicklaus, said he should have won the 1960 U.S. Open by ten?
Ben Hogan
Ben Hogan, paired with the amateur for the final 36 holes at Cherry Hills, said the kid should have won by ten; Nicklaus's 282 stood as the U.S. Open amateur record until 2019.
Q 13Which university did Nicklaus attend, later the site of the Jack Nicklaus Museum?
Ohio State
Ohio State: Nicklaus enrolled in 1957, won the 1961 NCAA individual title for the Buckeyes, and the Jack Nicklaus Museum opened on the university's campus in 2002.
Q 21Who was Nicklaus's caddie for most of his professional career?
Angelo Argea
Angelo Argea, the silver-haired caddie who first carried for Nicklaus at the 1963 Palm Springs tournament and stayed on the bag for some twenty years.
Q 22To which British golfer did Nicklaus concede a putt on the final green of the 1969 Ryder Cup, forcing a tie?
Tony Jacklin
Tony Jacklin, the reigning Open champion, had holed a 35-foot eagle putt on the 17th to square the match; Nicklaus picked up his marker on the 18th and the Cup ended 16–16.
Q 23Whom did Nicklaus beat in an 18-hole playoff to win the 1970 Open at St Andrews?
Doug Sanders
Q 14Nicklaus's father played semi-pro football under an assumed name for which team, later the Detroit Lions?
Portsmouth Spartans
Portsmouth Spartans: Charlie Nicklaus, a scratch golfer himself, played for the Ohio side that moved to Detroit in 1934; he died of pancreatic cancer in February 1970 at 56.
Q 15Who first put Nicklaus's famous nickname in print?
Melbourne Age writer Don Lawrence
Melbourne Age writer Don Lawrence attached the name during Nicklaus's 1962 visit to Australia; it stuck within a year, and Nicklaus later used it for his own management company.
Q 16How much prize money did Nicklaus earn for winning the 1962 U.S. Open, including the playoff bonus?
$17,500
$17,500, including the playoff money, was Nicklaus's cheque for the 1962 U.S. Open; Gary Woodland collected $2.25 million for the same title in 2019.
Q 17What 72-hole total did Nicklaus post to win the 1965 Masters?
271
271: rounds of 67, 71, 64 and 69 broke the Masters 72-hole record of 274 set in 1953, and the mark stood until Tiger Woods's 270 in 1997.
Q 18Nicklaus's win at the 1966 Open Championship completed his career grand slam at what age?
26
26: the 1966 Open in July made him, at 26, the youngest man to complete the career grand slam, a mark Tiger Woods lowered to 24 in 2000.
Q 19At which Scottish course did Nicklaus win the 1966 Open, using his driver just 17 times?
Muirfield
He later named his own Ohio club Muirfield Village in its honour.
Q 20Nicklaus closed out his 1967 U.S. Open win with a famous 238-yard shot using which club?
1-iron
1-iron: from 238 yards on Baltusrol's par-five 18th he found the green and holed a 22-foot putt for birdie, a closing 65 and a then-record 275.
Doug Sanders, who had missed a three-foot putt to win on the 72nd hole, lost the playoff 72 to 73; Nicklaus's father had died five months earlier, making the win an emotional boost.
Q 24Nicklaus's win at the 1971 PGA Championship made him the first golfer to achieve what?
Winning all four majors twice
Winning all four majors twice: the 1971 PGA at PGA National completed his second career grand slam, something no golfer had done before, and he completed a third set in 1978.
Q 25What did Nicklaus's tee shot on Pebble Beach's 17th famously do at the 1972 U.S. Open?
Hit the flagstick and stopped inches away
Hit the flagstick and stopped inches away: the long iron into the wind on the 218-yard 17th left a tap-in birdie that sealed a three-shot win and his 13th major.
Q 26Whose record of 13 major championships did Nicklaus break at the 1973 PGA Championship?
Bobby Jones
Bobby Jones, Nicklaus's boyhood idol, held the mark with 13 titles counting his amateur championships; the 1973 PGA at Canterbury was Nicklaus's 14th major.
Q 27What name is given to Nicklaus's 1977 Open battle with Tom Watson at Turnberry?
The Duel in the Sun
The Duel in the Sun: Watson shot 65–65 over the weekend to Nicklaus's 65–66, winning 268 to 269 while third place finished eleven shots behind.
Q 28Nicklaus's proposal at the 1977 Ryder Cup led to what change from 1979?
Continental Europeans joined the GB&I team
Continental Europeans joined the GB&I team: Nicklaus urged Lord Derby, the British PGA president, to widen selection, and Seve Ballesteros and Antonio Garrido played at The Greenbrier in 1979.
Q 29Which former rival helped rebuild Nicklaus's short game after his winless 1979?
Phil Rodgers
Phil Rodgers, a tour rival in the 1960s, moved into the Nicklaus home in early 1980 to overhaul his chipping and pitching; Nicklaus then won the U.S. Open and PGA that summer.
Q 30Nicklaus opened the 1980 U.S. Open at Baltusrol with a record-tying score of what?
63
63 in the first round matched the U.S. Open record, and Tom Weiskopf equalled it the same day; Nicklaus then beat playing partner Isao Aoki by two with a record 272 total.