Golf Majors Lookup

Complete Major Championship History

Bobby Nichols headshot

Bobby Nichols

1 Major Championship • 90th All-Time

1 Wins
0 2nd Place
First Win Age
Last Win Age

Major Championship Wins

About Bobby Nichols

Bobby Nichols won 1 major championship during their career.

Career Highlights

  • 1964 PGA Championship — Won at Columbus Country Club with record-setting 271 total, three strokes ahead of Arnold Palmer and defending champion Jack Nicklaus
  • Record Score — His 271 stood as the PGA Championship scoring record for 30 years until Nick Price shot 269 in 1994
  • Career — 14 PGA Tour victories, but never won again after being struck by lightning at the 1975 Western Open
  • Round Record — Set 18-hole PGA Championship record with opening round 64 in 1964
  • Texas A&M — Played college golf after recovering from devastating teenage car accident

Did You Know?

  • Miracle Recovery: As a teenager in Louisville, Kentucky, Nichols was critically injured in a 100 mph car accident — he was unconscious for 13 days, paralyzed from the waist down, with a broken pelvis, twisted back, collapsed lung, injured kidney, and concussion. He spent 96 days in hospital and defied doctors' predictions to not only walk again but become a major champion
  • Lightning Strike: In 1975 at the Western Open, Nichols was struck by lightning during competition — he never won on tour again after the incident, though he continued to compete
  • Elite Company: His 1964 PGA Championship victory came against a loaded field, beating both Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus (playing in his hometown of Columbus) by three shots in a wire-to-wire performance