Nicklaus to Become First Living Non-Royal on U.K. Banknote

June 30 (Bloomberg) -- Jack Nicklaus will feature on a 5- pound ($9) note to be issued by Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc to commemorate his last appearance as a professional golfer in the British Open at St. Andrews.

The U.K.'s second-largest bank by assets, which sponsors the 65-year-old, will release the note on July 12, two days before the 134th Open Championship. No living person other than a member of the British royal family has ever appeared on a Scottish or English banknote.

"That's pretty special," Nicklaus said on a conference call today. "The tribute that RBS has done for me is unbelievable and one I have a hard time fathoming."

Nicklaus will play his 38th and last Open at the venue where he won two of his three titles, in 1970 and 1978. The record 18- time major championship winner, who first triumphed in the oldest major tournament at Muirfield in 1966, last played the Open in 2000, when Tiger Woods won at St. Andrews with a record low score.

"It's a fitting tribute to a great golfer," Edinburgh-based Royal Bank spokesman Andrew Wilson said in an interview.

Nicklaus was awarded an honorary doctorate from St. Andrews University in 1984 and has been an honorary member of Open organizer the Royal & Ancient Golf Club since 1990. Ted Brocklebank, a Scottish lawmaker, wants to force a public ballot on whether Nicklaus should be made an honorary citizen of the town after the town's council voted against the proposal this year.

Nicklaus said he could think of no better way to end his career than at the so-called home of golf.

"When I went to St. Andrews in 1970 and won, it was like a Scot winning -- that's how they treated me," he said. "It's a very special place."