Some may just view him as a crusty old bloke who retired more times than seems natural, but the truth is golf in its current hugely-popular incarnation may not exist without him.

Long before Nike buried their tentacles in the sport, Nicklaus . . .along with the other members of the Big Three, Arnold Palmer and Gary Player . . . helped turn golf into a major spectator sport with their developing rivalry. The main reason he's namechecked these days is as the Everest that Woods is trying to scale, gradually climbing towards his high-water mark of 18 majors, but the reason for his popularity at the British Open is more connected to tradition than titles.

Scottish fans' like their nostalgia and the fact that Nicklaus grew up steeped in the legend of Bobby Jones, who was taught to play the game by a Scot always appeals. Nicklaus was also one of the Americans that helped raise the profile of Britain's premier event in the 1960s and '70s and, in a very typical British way, they didn't just love him for the way he won, but for the way he competed.

Nicklaus won the British Open three times but finished second on seven occasions and in the top five on 16 occasions. He also took part in probably the most famous major shoot-out of all time, the extraordinary 'duel in the sun' with Tom Watson at Turnberry in 1977. Watson was to eventually emerge victorious shooting 6565 over the last two rounds and edging out Nicklaus' 65-66 on the very last shot.

In all, Nicklaus finished as runner-up in 19 majors, but despite being a good sportsman he never took kindly to second best. As he put it himself: "Gary Player likes to say, 'Jack is not only the best winner of all time, he's the best loser.' The 'best loser' part of that bugs me. It implies I'm adept at losing. I've asked Gary to substitute the word 'gracious' for 'best' or just say 'Jack is a good sport' but he won't do it. He gets too big a kick out of complimenting and teasing me at the same time."

That kind of attitude was always likely to endear him to the Scottish crowds and was part of the reason for his spectacular send-off two years ago. That month the Royal Bank of Scotland printed two million �5 notes with his image on them to commemorate his final appearance at St Andrew's. Hard to imagine Tiger Woods being handed such a accolade at the end of his career. Nicklaus seemed unlikely to make the cut for the Saturday's action and as this became clearer during his round the noise and affection afforded him from the grandstands gradually grew before reaching a crescendo as he made his way up the 18th fairway and paused on the famous Swilcan Bridge for photographs.

Fittingly he managed to blink back the tears to finish his round with a birdie that generated far and away the biggest cheers of the weekend's action. A fitting way to exit for one of the sport's greats.