The 75-year-old, a six-time Masters champion, recorded his ace on the fourth hole with a shot that flew the water, his ball landing beyond the pin before spinning back and rolling slowly into the cup.
As the ball disappeared, the crowd stood and roared while the 18-time major winner high-fived and hugged his playing partners, nine-time major champion Gary Player of South Africa and twice Masters winner Ben Crenshaw.
"I never had a hole in one at Augusta," a smiling Nicklaus, nicknamed the "Golden Bear", told reporters afterwards. "When I hit the shot at four, I had 123 yards or something like that, a breeze coming at us.
"I actually hit two more shots that hit right around the edge of the hole, had a chance to go in. I didn't finish up very well, but we had a lot of fun."
Two other players, Chilean amateur Mathias Dominguez and Colombian Camilo Villegas, also aced the fourth while South African Trevor Immelman holed out at the fifth before Villegas collected his second ace of the day at the eighth.
The five aces achieved during a steamy afternoon at Augusta National matched the Par-3 contest record set in 2002.
(Writing by Steve Keating in Augusta; Editing by Mark Lamport-Stokes)
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