(born 1940) The winner of more professional major championships (eighteen) than any other player in the history of golf, the “Golden Bear” is considered by many to be the greatest golfer of all time. Twice the winner of the US Amateur Championship before he left his home state of Ohio to turn professional, Nicklaus enjoyed enormous success during the 1960s and 1970s, during a time when his prominence and that of fellow golfer Arnold Palmer inspired a rise in the popularity of golf as a spectator sport. Possessed of the twin abilities to drive for show and putt for dough, Nicklaus is perhaps most famous for his astounding record of six victories at the fabled Masters tournament over a twenty-three-year span.