What Javier Ballesteros and Jack Nicklaus Have in Common

Javier Ballesteros

LAST WEEK JAVIER BALLESTEROS, THE ELDEST son of the late Seve Ballesteros, made his professional debut at the Alps Tour Barcelona Open. The tournament was played at the same golf course (Sant Cugat) where Javier’s father got started nearly four decades earlier.

Javier brought honor to the family name, opening with 65, followed by rounds of 73 and 68. He finished joint 12th.

“I dedicate it to my father,” said the 21-year-old Ballesteros, a law student at Madrid’s Complutense University. “I think he would be happy.”

Something rang a bell about that 12th-place finish, so I looked it up. Sure enough, golf immortal Jack Nicklaus finished in a tie for 12th in his first PGA Tour event, the 1958 Rubber City Open.

Young Jack (he was 18) was just one shot off the 36-hole lead. And he was an amateur, still about four years from turning professional. A year later, in 1959, Nicklaus won the U.S. Amateur. Then he won it again in 1961.