The 2020 virtual Masters: The 10 statistical favorites
By Bill Felber
Jack Nicklaus, 1963, 1965, 1966, 1972, 1975, 1986, (1970-1979), -1.74
In an ironic way, it is a measure of Nicklaus’ sustained greatness that he ranks as only the virtual tournament’s third favorite. The knock on Nicklaus has less to do with his legendary accomplishments than with the span of those accomplishments.
He reigned across nearly a quarter-century, diluting slightly the impact of his performances when considered against men such as Palmer or Hogan. Their talent was concentrated over a time period more in keeping with the one-decade peak performance scale in use for this tournament.
Even so, Nicklaus is easily good enough to win the virtual Masters. Between 1970 and 1979 he won only two of his record six Masters titles. But he also finished second twice, had right top fives, and was never lower than solo 8th.
Nicklaus was already a three-time champion when the 1971 event began. Tied with Charles Coody for the lead through three rounds, he closed with an uncharacteristic 72 and finished two behind Coody. Nicklaus made up for it with a wire-to-wire performance in 1972, beating Bruce Crampton by three strokes.
Following strong runs at the 1973 and 1974 championships, Nicklaus entered the final round in 1975 trailing to Tom Weiskopf by one stroke. He caught Weiskopf with birdies on three of the first five holes, took the lead when Weiskopf bogeyed the 11th, surrendered the lead with a bogey of his own at 14, but birdied 15 and 16 to retake the lead, this time for good. He beat Miller and Weiskopf by one stroke.