How it unfolded
At 46, Jack Nicklaus began the final round tied for ninth, four behind, and local papers had written him off. His son Jackie carried the bag. Birdie at the 9th, birdies at 10 and 11, bogey at 12, birdie at 13 — then the par-5 15th decided it: a 4-iron second to eagle range and an eagle putt. At the par-3 16th he stiffed the tee shot to three feet for birdie and made an 11-foot birdie at 17. A back-nine 30 and final-round 65 produced 279 at nine-under. Seve Ballesteros found water at 15; Greg Norman birdied four straight from 14 through 17 to tie but pushed his second at the last and made bogey. Tom Kite missed an 18-foot birdie putt to finish tied for second at 280.
Why it still matters
The oldest Masters champion ever and Nicklaus's 18th and last major. That number became the benchmark for every greatness debate thereafter. The afternoon also broke the assumption that competitive golf ends in one's thirties — a shift in how the sport thinks about career length.