On the money

The Golden Bear, Jack Nicklaus, has been an ambassador for the RBS group since 2003. In 2005, the Group unveiled a handsome new £5 note to commemorate Jack Nicklaus' final Open Championship in St Andrews, Scotland. A limited run of two million notes is now in general circulation.

The reverse of the standard £5 banknote has been completely redesigned and shows images of Jack holding the claret jug trophy and playing a shot en route to his 1978 win. The Royal & Ancient clubhouse is depicted, along with Jack's winning scores from 1970 and 1978, and a card of the course from the 2005 Open. In addition, all the serial numbers for the note commence with 'JWN', short for Jack William Nicklaus.

The note sits in impressive company. Only eight other special-edition commemorative notes have been created by The Royal Bank of Scotland, including one in 1997 commemorating the 150th anniversary of the birth in Edinburgh of Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the telephone; a £20 note in 2000 for the 100th birthday of the Queen mother; and a £5 note in 2002 for the Queen's Golden Jubilee. "I think that the honour that RBS has given me with the £5 note is unbelievable," said Nicklaus. "It's one of the most memorable honours that I've had in my career."