It is based off the Golden Bear the greatest player of all time Mr. Jack Nicklaus. Notice the bell bottoms high follow through and lean that is characteristic of his swing. According to golfchannel he was immortalized after his famous 1 iron off the tee at 17 at pebble beach that hit the flag stick sealed his US open win. They say it was in incredible swing because the fact that while mid swing he felt a gust of wind and changed his swing so that it would not go left at the top of his back swing. The result was one of the greatest shots ever played by a true genius of the game. See Nicklaus 1972 Open 1 iron.
No way it is Nicklaus! Where's the belly? He wasn't nicknamed the Golden Bear, because of his svelt appearance! I had always heard it was modeled after Gene Sarazen, but according to the PGA Tour, it is not modeled after any one golfer. No . . .Mac O'Grady in his youth.
Chat with our AI personalities
The PGA logo is not modeled after any one golfer. It has been rumored to be Jack Nicklaus or Ben Hogan, but it is really just the picture of a perfect backswing.
I've always heard it was Ben Hogan but it's not an image of a "perfect backswing", it's a follow-through.