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Jack Nicklaus and Tony Lema had a couple of famous battles. Monday was the 40th anniversary of Lema’s untimely death in a plane crash at the age of 32. On Tuesday, Nicklaus was in Southwest Florida, making a site visit to Old Corkscrew Golf Club, which he is designing.

“I think Tony was a terrific talent,” said Nicklaus. “He had a lot of fun when he was younger, but when he finally settled down to try to play golf, he played some awfully good golf.”

In 1963, Lema had birdied the final hole, and was brought in to sit with Clifford Roberts and Bobby Jones to watch Nicklaus play the final two holes. Nicklaus made two pars, the last a two-putt from 40 feet, to edge Lema.

“The guy that was in more contention (during the round) was (Sam) Snead,” said Nicklaus, who won his first green jacket. “I never knew of Lema at that point in time. That was his first Masters. Nobody ever won his first Masters, but he came real close.”

A year later, Lema had a nine-shot lead over Nicklaus after the first two rounds of the British Open at St. Andrews. But Nicklaus made a charge, and at one point, caught Lema.

“He was coming down No. 6 and I had just finished No. 12,” Nicklaus said. “We had moved even. He proceeded to make 3 on every hole in the loop ... he made six straight 3s.”

Lema ended up with a five-shot victory. The next year, Lema and Nicklaus were partners in the World Cup in South Africa.

“He was a nice guy, a real pleasant guy to be around,” Nicklaus said.