The flag is back right, and any shot that is not absolutely perfect will roll back down towards the water, resulting in a putt of at least 30 feet. Nicklaus' attempt is weak. In fact, by the exacting standards of Jack Nicklaus at this point in a major championship, it is downright terrible! Barely on the front left part of the green, he leaves himself 45 feet away from the difficult hole placement.
As Jack reaches his ball he glances at the 15th green again. His view is obscured by spectators and trees, but he doesn't need to see what's going on because he soon hears. A tremendous roar from the crowd bounces around the tall pines. Some even claim it was heard all the way back at the clubhouse. Weiskopf has made his birdie putt, dead center, and now has a one-shot lead over Nicklaus with three holes to play. Moments later the tall, slim figure of Weiskopf appears on the 16th tee, where he will be able to watch his destiny unfolding. As he stands there he must surely be considering the possibility that his lead might soon be two shots, judging by the difficulty of the putt Nicklaus now faces.
Nicklaus methodically performs his customary pre-shot routine, picking a spot a few feet in front of the ball over which he intends it to travel. He hunches over the ball in his familiar putting stance. The silence is absolute. He strikes the putt. Weiskopf and Miller watch as the ball curves up the slope. No -- it couldn't, could it? It disappears into the hole as Nicklaus leaps into the air, with putter raised high, and his caddie does the same with the flag stick.
If the cheer for Weiskopf's putt at 15 could be heard in the clubhouse, the roar for Nicklaus can be heard in downtown Atlanta! He is tied for the lead again.
On the 16th tee it's hard to guess what's going through Tom Weiskopf's mind as he stands there looking on in silence. His face is a mask but, being human, he is no doubt affected to some degree by the pressure, and he leaves his tee shot short of the putting surface, over 100 feet from the hole. His first putt catches the wrong side of the slope and drifts left, 25 feet away from the flag. He can do no better than a bogey. Nicklaus is now one ahead of Weiskopf and two shots ahead of Miller with just two holes left to play.
The atmosphere is electric. Who will win? Will there be a playoff?
As it happens, Miller will birdie the 17th hole to join Weiskopf at just one shot off the pace, and both of them will have makeable birdie putts at 18 to tie for the lead. It isn't to be. Neither of them is able to hole his putt. There is a sense of inevitability about the Golden Bear's victory. Nicklaus has rarely lost an important tournament when he has been in a position to win. He has always had an unmatched, almost uncanny ability to make the shots and hole the putts that really count.
End of scene. Cut! Print! It's a wrap!
More than a decade later in 1986, in the commentator's booth covering the same hole, Jim Nantz asks Weiskopf to speculate on what is going through Jack's mind, as he is about to hit another immortal shot. Weiskopf laughs and replies, "If I knew that, I would have won the tournament." This time Nicklaus puts his 5-iron shot two feet from the cup. He records birdies at 16 and 17, and goes on to win his 6th green jacket, shooting 30 on the back nine in the final round. Jim Nantz remarks in open admiration, "Jack owns this hole." Weiskopf offers no disagreement.
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