PGA TOUR: Ranking the five greatest individual seasons of all time
By Bill Felber
Why it’s the best season in history: Like Hogan in 1953 and Palmer in 1960, Nicklaus in 1972 made a credible run at the single season Grand Slam. He won the Masters and U.S. Open both by three strokes over Bruce Crampton, and his closing rush at Muirfield made up five of his six-stroke deficit to third round leader Lee Trevino, Nicklaus finishing second.
Two strokes of fate did him in that day. On the 16th, Nicklaus missed the green, chipped up then missed his par putt. Moments later, Trevino missed the 17th green then chipped in for a clinching birdie.
Nicklaus was a dominant force all year long. He beat Trevino by two at Doral, beat Johnny Miller in a playoff at the Crosby, and out-dueled Jim Colbert by three at Westchester. Late in the season he won at Disney World by nine shots, and he won the Match Play championship.
For the season, he set a PGA Tour record for money at more than $320,000.
What can be said against it: The average standard deviation of a Nicklaus performance in 1972 was -1.13, the smallest among any of the seasons being examined. That’s due in large measure to the fact that Nicklaus was comparatively spotty in 1972. In his 19 starts, he won seven times and finished second three times. But if Nicklaus wasn’t in the thick of the battle, he was usually out of contention entirely. Nicklaus finished 38th at San Diego and 45th in Hawaii. Recall that Hogan’s worst finish in 1953 was third and Nelson’s worst in 1945 was ninth.