Page "Jack Nicklaus" Paragraph 27

With a two-shot win at the 1971 PGA Championship in February over Billy Casper, Nicklaus became the first golfer to win all four majors twice in a career.

In this championship, Nicklaus was the only player to break 70 consecutively in the first two rounds under windy conditions and finished at seven-under par 281.

Nicklaus finished second twice and fifth in the remaining three major championships for the year.

While he finished tied for second in the Masters with Johnny Miller, Nicklaus made a big enough impression on a young Nick Faldo ( watching on TV in England ) in order for Faldo to take up the game seriously.

By the end of the year, he had won four additional PGA tournaments including the Tournament of Champions by eight shots and the National Team Championship with Arnold Palmer by six shots.

With $ 244, 490 in official PGA Tour earnings, Nicklaus established a new single season money record during the year.

Nicklaus also claimed his third World Cup individual title in 1971, with help from a 63 in the third round.

He also won the team competition with partner Lee Trevino by 12 shots.

The year 1971 brought Nicklaus a victory in the Australian Dunlop International as well, punctuated by a course record 62 ( his career low score in competition ; one of three ) in the second round.

For the record, Nicklaus played in 23 official worldwide events in 1971, won eight, had 17 top-five finishes, 20 top-10 finishes, and compiled a 5 – 1 – 0 record in that year's Ryder Cup competition.