Tom Watson was a wide-eyed 17-year-old when he was paired up with Jack Nicklaus in an exhibition tournament at the storied Topeka Country Club in Kansas.

It was May 1st of 1967, and one of Watson’s most memorable early days in a storybook career that would span more than five decades.

This was just the first of many battles between Watson and Nicklaus at the Topeka Club, which honored Watson recently with a plaque of the two famous golfers.

“This is actually one of the beginnings of my dream of becoming a professional golfer, right here when I was playing with Jack and watching him play and getting to meet him and listening to him talk about the golf swing and other things,” Watson told reporters at the celebratory plaque unveiling.

In the weeks and years since that momentous round with Nicklaus, Watson would grow into one of the sport’s most iconic golfers. He captured eight major championships, including five British Open victories, two wins at the Masters, and one of the most dramatic U.S. Open victories in history.

He also had a whopping 39 PGA Tour wins, 14 Champions Tour wins, plus another 14 international victories.

When Watson was 59, he narrowly missed winning a sixth British Open, a victory that would have made him the oldest man—by 11 years—to win a major. He was also the PGA Tour player of the year six times, and the leading money winner five times.

But, for all the accolades, the native of Kansas City, Miss., is known just as well for the grace and style which with he carried himself, the kindness he showed, and the unflappable nerves that saw him shoot his way out of impossibly precarious spots time and again.

At the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach in 1982, Watson beat Nicklaus with a jaw-dropping chip-in from the rough 16 feet out on the 17^th hole. Nicklaus had already finished his round when Watson arrived at No. 17. The two were tied for the lead.

When Watson’s tee shot went over the green and settled in long, thick rough, the victory looked like a lock for Nicklaus, who was watching the drama unfold on a television monitor. When Watson lined up for the chip out of the rough, Nicklaus said there was “no way in the world” Watson could get the ball close to the pin.

Watson, meanwhile, never doubted himself, telling his caddie Bruce Edwards “I’m not trying to get it close, I’m going to make it. After it had dropped I pointed to him and said, ‘I told you!’ He was choking,” Watson told stunned reporters that day.

Watson had popped the ball out of the rough with his sand wedge, and, just as he’d planned it, the ball hit the pin dead center and dropped in the hole.

The New York Times’ story on that thrilling victory opened with “Miracles are hard to come by in championship golf, but Tom Watson provided one today.”

As memorable as that U.S. Open victory was, his loss at the British Open in 2009 topped it. Watson was one hole away from becoming the oldest golfer—and first with a hip replacement— to win one of golf’s major championships.

Watson hadn’t won a major in 26 years and had only to make an eight-foot putt for what would have been one of the greatest upsets in sporting history. His ball came up short, which sent Watson and Stewart Cink into a four-hole playoff, which Cink won easily.

Watson was famous for showing grace in both victory and defeat and, when he met with the media after that near-miss at Turnberry, he said: “Nobody died, fellas—it’s still just a golf tournament.”

Asked what he would have written for a newspaper headline that day, Watson laughed and told reporters “The old fogey almost did it.”

Since Edwards, Watson’s lifelong caddie, died in 2004 of ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease), Watson has worked tirelessly to raise millions of dollars toward researching what he often referred to as “this damn disease.”

Watson played the Masters one last time in 2016 and paid tribute to Edwards by leaving an egg salad sandwich on the 13^th tee—exactly 12 years to the day after Edwards had died. Edwards loved Augusta and loved egg salad sandwiches and would always eat one on the 13^th hole.

Watson had made his final appearance at the British Open in 2015 and, when he approached Swilcan Bridge on the 18^th hole, he bent and kissed the ancient stones. He then turned and waved his cap to the adoring crowd. Many of his competitors came out to watch him make his final putt.

Watson, now 67, lives in Stilwell, Kansas with his wife, two children, and three stepchildren. He designed the National Golf Club of Kansas City course.