Yes Sir!

Offered here is an actual tournament-used golf ball of Jack Nicklaus' from Sunday of the 1986 Masters Tournament. Our consignor Chris Timmerman attended the 1986 Masters Tournament as a child with his father. The Timmermans followed another father and son, Jack and his caddie Jackie Nicklaus for almost the entire Final Round of that historic tournament. Even before that round began, the young Timmerman was waiting in the Champions parking lot when the Nicklauses arrived at Augusta National - and successfully got got Nicklaus' autograph on a score sheet where he was collecting autographs that week. The Timmermans believe that Jackie Nicklaus was well aware of the young Timmerman, there upon their arrival at Augusta National, and then constantly pushing his way to the front the crowd to be front and center throughout the round (and, at times, earlier in the week as well).

Moments after completing their round, just outside the scorer's tent behind the 18th green, Jackie Nicklaus reached into his caddie coveralls, pulled out a golf ball, and handed it to the young boy that had followed them all day. The young Timmerman beamed with excitement, and remembers clutching the ball with purpose. His father immediately realized the significance of what had just occurred. 

Jack Nicklaus had just done the unthinkable - winning the Masters Tournament at the age of 46. And the Timmermans had a ball - a Nicklaus signature Tour Balata - from Jackie Nicklaus' coveralls just moments after the conclusion of the round. That ball has remained as a prized possession in the Timmerman house ever since - retained alongside Chris Timmerman's 1986 Masters Badge, and that score sheet that Jack Nicklaus had autographed prior to his fateful Sunday round.

The ball itself is unquestionably used. We can effectively rule out that Jackie Nicklaus would've been carrying a ball that exhibited use from earlier in the week. Therefore, we can be reasonably certain that this very golf ball was used during Sunday of the 1986 Masters Tournament. Anything more specific would be pure speculation, though our mind runs wild thinking about the legendary moments from that round. 

If you take a look at the 11th and 12th photos in this auction lot, you will see zoomed in close up images of this golf ball where you can see where this ball has faded, but still noticeable, double dots next to the 1 on each side - Jack Nicklaus' trademark identification mark for balls he puts into play.

Chris Timmerman has openly possessed and discussed this ball over the years, including giving numerous interviews for newspaper, radio, and even television. We've included a segment from when he was recorded for the 2016 NBC Special '86. 

Accompanying this Jack Nicklaus 1986 Masters golf ball is a legal Declaration signed under penalties of perjury where Chris Timmerman attests to the details of this golf ball and that fateful Sunday of the 1986 Masters Tournament. 

***We are being told that sometimes this link is showing the enture 2:20 segment with Chris Timmerson's segment, and other times it shows the first 1:20 which does not show Timmerman (on the right) or the Nicklaus. We're working on figuring out a way to fix this