There’s an interesting parallel between Paul McBeth’s victory at the 2022 PDGA Professional Disc Golf World Championships and Jack Nicklaus’ win at the 1986 Masters. The obvious point is that each earned a sixth win at their respective majors. But more impressive is that the victories came later on in their careers — and at a time when both appeared to struggle.
At the 2022 World Championships, McBeth was 32 years old. Hardly “old” by most standards, but certainly not as limber as a 17-year-old Gannon Buhr or a 25-year-old Aaron Gossage.
Throwing a golf disc hundreds of feet can impose a great deal of torque on the body. And at the time, McBeth had been competing at a championship level for 15 years – it takes a toll.
In fact, McBeth was fighting somewhat of an uphill battle throughout the tournament. He was clearly injured, holding his left arm awkwardly on backhand throws. His putting had been inconsistent in the run-up to the event, as well – fans everywhere had taken notice.
Justified or not, there was a widespread sense McBeth was aging on camera. And that the game’s younger, (perhaps) more eager generation of golfers was poised to soon surpass him entirely …
That would explain the “off” year, right?
None of that boded well for McBeth at Worlds, especially when he fell three shots behind Gossage after four rounds. That left him with a lot of ground to make up on the final day.
But the headline promised ball golf, right?
Let’s get into it.
Jack Nicklaus faced a similar challenge at the 1986 Masters. He had won the event five times before, but his last victory in Augusta had come way back in 1975 – and Nicklaus hadn’t won a major since 1980. Incredibly, he hadn’t even won a PGA Tour event in the previous two years.
Where Nicklaus had once seemed invincible, in 1986, he appeared to be little more than a 46-year-old shell of his former self. He had become something of a token presence: The guy respected by his fellow players, but no longer feared. The Atlanta Journal Constitution claimed Nicklaus was “gone, done” and that he didn’t “have the game anymore” to win the Masters.
Through the first three days of the 1986 tournament, it appeared Nicklaus had indeed become something of a nostalgia act – a reminder of yesteryear’s greatness. He was only four shots back of the leaders to start the final day, but showed no signs of catching up through eight holes.
But on Sunday’s back nine …
He came alive.
Nicklaus’ final charge on that fateful April day at Augusta National has become the stuff of legends. He sank an exceptionally long birdie putt on the ninth hole to set things in motion.
He then followed that up with lengthy birdie putts on 10 and 11. He canned another birdie on 13; he rolled in an eagle on 15; he almost landed a hole-in-one on 16 — and then sank the birdie putt. And on 17, he rolled in yet another birdie to finally claim the lead for himself.
Greg Norman, Seve Ballesteros and Tom Kite …
Nicklaus held ‘em ALL off for his sixth green jacket.
Comparably, McBeth enjoyed a drama-filled triumph at the 2022 World Championships in Emporia. When he had to do it on the final day, he nailed knee-knocking putts. A wicked-long birdie on 13 kept him strong. Another death-putt birdie on 16 maintained momentum. And then on 17, after a so-so, 450-foot fairway toss between two trees, he smashed a 69-foot birdie putt …
6X!
— Disc Golf Pro Tour (@DiscGolfProTour) January 19, 2023
Celebrate @Paul_McBeth‘s 6th World Championship with some McBeth 6X Series discs! Presale starts on January 20th at midnight at the DGPT Pro Shop pic.twitter.com/qpx08waFdr
Bang.
The day ended with McBeth prevailing on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff with Gossage. For the life of me, I’ll never forget it: After McBeth tapped in his final putt, he raised his arms and looked skyward with an expression that seemed to exhibit relief, as well as exhaustion.
In the early- and mid-1970s, it was said when other players stood on the first tee with Jack Nicklaus, they knew he was going to win. Nicklaus knew he was going to win. And Nicklaus knew other players knew he was going to win, too. His mere presence sealed the deal.
Sound familiar?
This was Paul McBeth – and for a REALLY long time.
Thankfully, these days, for the betterment of the game, other talented players have risen up to challenge McBeth. But collecting a sixth win at the 2022 World Championships – a complete decade after his first World Title — only solidifies McBeth’s status as disc golf’s greatest.
Nicklaus can relate.
Have anything to add? Take to Twitter to let us know – we’ll actually (for real) get back to you.
Editor’s Suggestions:
- Disc golf: How wind impacts your putt
- The PDGA: Are stickers allowed on discs?
- Disc golf: How to better putt uphill (and downhill, too)
Real quick, if you happen to buy something through a link in this article, there’s a chance we’ll get a small share of the sale. It’s how we keep the lights on. To learn more, click here.
A good ball golf comparison from last year is comparing the 2022 European open to the 1977 British Open where Nicklaus and Tom Watson turned an overseas major into a two man show. Tom Watson won by a stroke with third place ten strokes back.
I’ve never really bought the McBeth as Nicklaus comp. Within the history of the game he strikes me as more Walter Hagen. The breakthrough professional who proved the viability of being a full time full career touring pro and brought a level of dignity to the profession paving the way for golf as a career worthy of mainstream respect.
Which is more a compliment to McBeth, really. Hagen is, at least now, more obscure than Nicklaus but his contributions to the development of sport were greater. Someone like Buhr will run up massive career numbers in a far more competitive era because their whole career will have the structure of a tour with four majors and enough money to avoid some of the wear and tear caused by pros having to scrape by. He’ll be standing on the shoulders of past giants, the biggest one being McBeth.
Having been a ball golf historian I think way too much about this sort of thing.
Great points. Thanks for commenting. And yes, the 1977 “Duel in the Sun” between Nicklaus and Watson very much compares with the McBeth-McMahon back-and-forth at the 2022 European Open. (Pretty amazing that Nicklaus won the British Open the next year, after such a tough loss to Watson.)
Great work, Steve-O!