Tim Finchem
PGA Tour commissioner and former lobbyist
"I was living in Washington, D.C., where I had a lobbyist business and the PGA Tour was a client of ours. I'll never forget it. I had three or four friends over, and we had an office pool. I took Nicklaus with the first pick. It was riveting. It was vintage Jack Nicklaus - he was what the back nine at Augusta is all about."

Mark McCumber
Paired in the group directly in front of Nicklaus
"We walked to the 16th and hear this deafening roar - he had made the eagle putt on 15, and everybody went crazy. Then they posted the score, and everybody goes crazy all over again. We had to time our shots the whole rest of the way to where he wasn't hitting, and they weren't putting up the new numbers on the scoreboards. We did that all the way in. It's the only time at Augusta where I ever waited around to see anybody finish. No way I was missing it."

Jim Nantz
CBS Sports commentator
"I will never forget April 13, 1986. It was my first Masters and just as it ended, Ken Venturi drove me back to the CBS compound and said, 'Jimmy, you may be lucky enough to broadcast 50 Masters, but you'll never live to see a greater one than the one you saw today.' I think he was right."

Davis Love III
A tour rookie in 1986
"I was there in the early rounds watching (professional) Peter Persons play. Then I was home watching with my dad on TV, yelling at Jackie to pick the right club. Jackie and I had gone to school together (North Carolina) and I was trying to help him out. We were pulling for Jackie more than Jack."

Jason Gore
Watching at home as an 11-year-old
"I didn't watch much golf then - I didn't think much of it because it was kind of plain. That was really the first tournament I sat down and watched. That was it, the inspiration - that's what made me want to become a professional golfer. Everybody had sold him out - 46 years old, washed up and over the hill. It really was a special time. Watching him hit that tee shot on 16 and looking up, he didn't know where the ball was because he couldn't see that well anymore. Then he hears the roar and looks over and gives you the Jack Nicklaus wink. That was really cool."

Fred Funk
Working at University of Maryland pro shop
"We had a Response putter (like Nicklaus used) on our putting rack, and the next day we were in the shop and my cart boy says, 'Hey, do you mind if I go out and putt with this thing?' I said to watch it, because there was a storm coming. Well, within five minutes a bolt of lightning came out of a white cloud - it was still sunny where we were - and it hit him and killed him on the green. He was dead when I got to him. Fortunately there was a doctor nearby. We did CPR, and we got him into the clubhouse. Long story short, he ended up surviving. He won the state high school championship that fall on the same golf course, but he did it with the Response putter."

Vijay Singh
European Tour player at the time based in London
"Just the excitement of Nicklaus making all those putts coming down the stretch, I still remember it. His yellow shirt and checkered pants, I still remember that. It's a memory that you don't forget."

Ernie Els
Watching in South Africa
"You know, as a 16-year-old, you think a 46-year-old is too old to win. It was kind of like watching an old boxer like Muhammad Ali fighting Larry Holmes and you hope he's going to beat the guy, but you think he's probably (not). That was kind of the same thing watching Nicklaus play the Masters going into the final nine. You're thinking, 'I hope he wins, but I don't think he's going to do it.' And then he came out with the goods, and it was unbelievable."

Bernhard Langer
The defending Masters champion in 1986
"Those were some of the biggest cheers I have ever heard in my career. Everyone loves Jack and here he is, coming from behind, making a charge and they love it down there. He was a great role model for all of us, a tremendous gentleman, a great player."

Jim Furyk
Age 15, watching at his home club
"It was the first Masters I really sat down and watched from start to finish. I was at the club where I played golf, Meadia Heights Country Club (Lancaster, Pa.), and I went in from practice right when the coverage started. I sat in the 19th hole. As word leaked out that Nicklaus had a chance, the room just kind of filled up behind me. By 7 p.m., when the tournament went off the air, the whole place was packed."