by Dave Shedloski

When Jack Nicklaus, as U.S. Captain, declared a tie and agreed with his International Team counterpart and longtime friend Gary Player that their players should share The Presidents Cup trophy, anyone with a rudimentary knowledge of golf history should not have been the least bit surprised. It's doubtful that many understand the nuances of winning and losing better than Nicklaus, and fewer still know how to treat those two imposters (as Rudyard Kipling referred to them) the same. But when it comes to the art of the tie he is without peer.

"I don't think it took a lot of guts. I just think it was the right thing to do, and I would do it again if faced with the same situation. I believed then, and still do now, that sportsmanship is as much a part of the Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup as great competition." -Jack Nicklaus

Nicklaus' magnanimous gesture last December in George, South Africa, was reminiscent of an even greater act of sportsmanship authored by the Golden Bear four decades earlier. In the 1969 Ryder Cup matches at Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport, England, Nicklaus conceded a 2-foot par putt to Tony Jacklin on the final hole. Their match halved, the two men walked off the 18th green arm-in-arm as the Ryder Cup ended in a tie for the first time in its 42-year history.

Now, 35 years removed from this historic moment, and in the midst of a Ryder Cup year, it is almost a certainty that we will be frequently reminded, as will Nicklaus, about the historic significance of his unscripted, unrehearsed act of sportsmanship.

"I don't think it took a lot of guts," Nicklaus said years later. "I just think it was the right thing to do, and I would do it again if faced with the same situation. I believed then, and still do now, that sportsmanship is as much a part of the Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup as great competition." The '69 Ryder Cup was filled with great competition. Of the 32 matches contested, 17 went down to the last hole. Of course, what was most memorable was what occurred on the last hole in the last match, just past 6 p.m. on a cool day in late September.

The pivotal duel of the Ryder Cup was a seesaw affair in which neither golfer was able to forge more than a onehole advantage. The two men were all square heading into the final three holes, but Jacklin, the reigning British Open champion, bogeyed the 16th to fall one back. He leveled the match again, however, at the 17th when, after barely getting a 2-iron onto the green of this par 5, he nailed a long eagle attempt from 50 feet away. "It was one of the putts of my life, one of those you dream about making," Jacklin said.

When Nicklaus, playing in his first Ryder Cup, watched his eagle try from 20 feet slide by, everything rode on the par-4 home hole. The pressure was stifling. As they marched up the fairway, Nicklaus asked Jacklin if he was nervous. "I'm bloody petrified," the Brit replied. Nicklaus responded, "If it's any consolation, I feel exactly the same way you do."

Their approaches were sensational given the tension. Jacklin's 8-iron halted 30 feet beyond the hole. Nicklaus countered with a 9-iron 10 feet nearer. Jacklin's birdie attempt was on line but short, giving Nicklaus a chance to lift America to victory and avenge a 4 and 3 defeat to Jacklin in their morning singles match. Going for the outright win, the Golden Bear stroked his putt much too hard, leaving himself 4 1/2 feet for par. After studying the comebacker tediously, Nicklaus, who struggled with his putting in the morning setback, knocked it in the cup, then picked up Jacklin's marker. Nicklaus extended his hand and said, "I don't believe you would've missed that, but I'd never give you the opportunity under these circumstances."

Reports from Southport indicate that teammates fumed over Nicklaus' decision. The American captain, the late Sam Snead, expressed a slammin' sentiment: "All the boys thought it was ridiculous to give him that putt. We went over there to win, not to be good ol' boys."

The tie meant that the Americans would retain the cup, but Leo Fraser, president of the PGA of America, seemed in tune with the young American. He presented the Ryder Cup to his British counterpart, Lord Derby, and it was displayed in the United Kingdom for a year. Nicklaus' recollections of the moment confirm his decision was not made on a whim and that he grasped the ramifications of his actions beyond winning and losing that particular match.

"I gave Tony Jacklin the putt because he was a hero in Great Britain," Nicklaus explained. "He was the only Englishman to have won the British Open in many years. I felt that he was so important to the game of golf and what the sport meant in Great Britain. I didn't think it made any difference as it related to the matches, because we were going to retain the Cup either way. I just felt it was the right thing to do."

Jacklin, who beat the U.S. twice as captain of what in 1979 became the European squad, sent Nicklaus a letter of appreciation after the matches. The gravity of Nicklaus' actions has never diminished in his mind.

"It was the greatest single sporting gesture in golf," Jacklin said. "If there was a greater one, I don't know of it. Jack never lost sight of the big picture."

Not then or four decades later.