The Tale of the Georgia Green

The problem began after he won his first Masters in 1963 as a chubby 23-year old. Unable to calculate his exact size, officials handed Arnold Palmer a size 46 long to present to the young champion. Draping it over his shoulders in the traditional manner it quickly became obvious how massively oversized it was. “They must have thought I was huge,” Nicklaus recalled during a recent visit to Scotland. “It was like an overcoat. It hung on me like an old blanket.”

Returning as defending champion 12 months later, no replacement had been ordered which meant that he was forced to borrow one from former New York Governor, Thomas E Dewey. Winning again in 1965 and 1966 to become the first repeat champion, Nicklaus gratefully borrowed the jacket twice more from his fellow Augusta member. With no Green Jacket other than the original 46 long hanging in his locker, he decided to tough it out rather than say something. “Nobody ever spoke to me about it,” said Jack. “And I was never going to say anything.”

Nicklaus won his fourth Masters in 1972 and decided to take matters into his own hands. Dewey had died the year before and according to rumour had been buried in the much-used jacket. Having a sponsorship deal with Cincinnati-based clothing manufacturer Hart, Schaffner and Marx, he asked them to make him a Green Jacket of his own prior to the tournament. With nothing to go on except press photographs, they made a manful effort but still managed to get the colour and cut totally wrong. Presented with the only replica Green Jacket copy in the history of the Masters, nobody at Augusta even noticed.

The same bootleg jacket was used again in 1975 after he captured his fifth Masters title. As his career went into decline in the 1980s, Jack decided to keep the story under wraps. As age took its toll he preferred to borrow other members' jackets – and it was a ‘loaner’ he wore on that historic afternoon in April 1986 when 46-year old Nicklaus became the oldest winner of the Masters.

Still without a Green Jacket to call his own, Nicklaus finally summoned up the courage to approach Augusta National Chairman Jackson Stephens in 1997. “I told him the whole story and how I've never been given one I could wear,” said Jack.

Stephens was understandably shocked and ordered an instant visit to the Augusta pro shop where Jack

could finally be measured for his own Green Jacket. Nicklaus respectfully declined. "It was such a great story,” he said. “I didn’t want to ruin it ..."

The same could equally apply to the Green Jacket itself.