The story starts in 1949 with Chick Harbert bombing a 305-yard drive to snag the inaugural PGA Championship Long Drive Competition. The all-time beast, though, was Evan “Big Cat” Williams, who unleashed a 366-yard monster at Tanglewood Golf Club for the 1974 title. But our standout story features Jack Nicklaus and the prized keepsake that he won at the contest as a 23-year-old.
The 1963 PGA Championship marked his second major win and the first at the PGA Championship. No doubt, yes, winning the major on Sunday was a highlight moment, but Nicklaus remembers something else, too. Before the opening round, the event hosted a Long Drive Competition. Nicklaus participated in that year and the next, winning both. But it was in 1963 when he won a money clip. He keeps it with him to this day.
Yes, 63 years on. Why? Nicklaus doesn’t give a straight answer to Rich Beem in a PGA Championship interview, but shrugs, “It was what I won. It says driving distance winner (written as DRIVING DISTANCE WINNER) on it, which [you] almost can’t see anymore. And I’ve carried it in my pocket for 63 years.”
But he has, indeed, dropped hints along the way. In 2017, for instance, he shared, “To this day, 54 years later, I use the money clip I won in that contest. I’m very proud of it, and it’s also a fun conversation piece.”
He is proud of it, and that’s all this is about. Back in 2014, the PGA announced that the top three long-drive finishers would receive replica money clips from that year on. Come 1974, the contest went fully open, welcoming massive bombers who weren’t always top-shelf golfers. Nicklaus’s original money clip prize, however, remained a fan favorite, right alongside the competition itself.
In 2014, Nicklaus shared, “The people came out and they watched it. You went out and saw big, long drives, things you probably wouldn’t do in the tournament. I think it created some excitement.”
It’s been 63 years, but Nicklaus can still tell you in great detail which driver he hit and how long.
“That drive was 341 yards, 17 inches. I do remember that, too. That was an 11-degree wood driver, 32.75-inch Dynamic Edge shaft. Everybody used the same golf ball, so nobody had a preference on what golf ball was hit,” he told Golf Channel in 2013.
In the latest video, he added more details, “a 1945 Old Tommy Armour wood with a red fiber face, and a dynamic shaft. And that’s what I used.”
That he still treasures it today is absurd enough. Even Beem looked floored hearing the tale. Yet in 1963 at Dallas Athletic Club, wielding a persimmon driver and balata rubber ball, he unleashed a 341-yard, 17-inch bomber. He used the same driver in 1964, and in the pouring rain, he rifled it 308 yards to snag the title for the week again.
But think about it. After all the trophies, the keepsake that’s stuck closest is a money clip from a long-drive competition.
But, of course, even that week was special.
That week at the 1963 PGA Championship was memorable
On day one, Nicklaus’s 69 topped everyone else, but Dick Hart, whom Nicklaus trailed by three. In R2 and on a sun-baked course, Nicklaus shot a 73, then dubbed it “the worst scoring in the history of golf.” Still, his drives were money, and per Sports Illustrated, “He rarely had to take anything out of his golf bag but his driver, wedge, putter and towel [it was very hot that week].”
A third-round 69 vaulted Nicklaus; he then eagled Sunday’s par-5 opener. Bruce Crampton coughed up the lead at the 12th, then botched the 14th, effectively pulling him out of contention. Crampton would lose to Nicklaus again 10 years later. Down to Nicklaus and Dave Ragan, knotted late. Nicklaus drained a 30-foot birdie bomber on 15; moments later, Ragan chunked his 17th chip and settled for bogey.
Those back-to-back mistakes handed Nicklaus a tidy two-shot win.
“The game is to change yourself to fit the golf course, and that’s why you play different courses every week. Obviously, I was able to do that that week, as were several other guys who were close. I guess I was lucky and prevailed,” Nicklaus shared after winning his first Wanamaker Trophy.
He did, though, and with a driver and a ball that most in the field were using.
