Lee Trevino claims Jack Nicklaus had one issue which stopped him winning 30 majors, ‘no doubt in my mind’

Follow us on Google Discover

Jack Nicklaus is widely regarded as the greatest golfer to have ever graced the game.

Sure, there will be many golf fans who think Tiger Woods is the greatest, and that is a fair stance to take.

However, The Golden Bear won 18 major championships throughout his career – three more than Woods managed.

Jack Nicklaus also won 73 PGA Tour titles and is often regarded as not only the greatest golfer of all time, but one of the game’s true gentlemen as well.

Lee Trevino got to witness Nicklaus’ greatness up close and personal throughout the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.

And Trevino has often named Nicklaus as the greatest golfer of all time.

However, there was one aspect of the Golden Bear’s game that simply wasn’t very good, by his high standards at least.

Lee Trevino claims Jack Nicklaus’ one issue stopped him winning 30 majors

Firstly, it’s worth noting that Jack Nicklaus’ haul of 18 majors is already incredibly impressive.

However, the 86-year-old could have so many more major titles to his name according to Trevino.

When speaking to Golf Digest, Trevino suggested that Nicklaus would have ‘dramatically altered golf history’ had he been a good chipper.

“If Jack had had a wedge, no doubt in my mind, he would have won 30 majors. I mean, he was so good at everything else.”

Nicklaus himself knew that his short game simply wasn’t up to scratch.

However, he had so much faith in his driving, approach play, and his putting that he didn’t believe he actually needed to be a good chipper.

What Jack Nicklaus has said about his short game

Back in 2010, the 18-time major champion explained his thinking.

“Because I didn’t have a real good short game, my philosophy became I’m going to hit 14 or 15 greens, I’m going to hit at least a couple of par 5s in two, and I’m going to make every putt inside 10 feet,” he said.

“That’s what I thought, like it really didn’t make any difference how good my short game was. As long as I could chip the ball, slop it around the hole somewhere—six, eight, 10 feet—I was going to probably make it anyway. But that was an accommodation. It wasn’t ideal, and it was foolish for me to believe that it was good enough.”

Nicklaus did seek out help with his chipping in 1979 when he went to see Phil Rodgers.

He proceeded to win the US Open and the PGA Championship in 1980 and then The Masters in 1986.

However, had Jack Nicklaus focused more on improving his chipping and pitching back in the 1960s and 1970s he may well have ended up winning around 30 majors, as Lee Trevino predicted.