1962 U.S. Open (golf)

The 1962 U.S. Open was the 62nd U.S. Open, held June 14–17 at Oakmont Country Club in Oakmont, Pennsylvania, a suburb northeast of Pittsburgh. Jack Nicklaus defeated 1960 champion Arnold Palmer in an 18-hole Sunday playoff that marked the beginning of their legendary rivalry. For Nicklaus, it was his first professional win, the first of four U.S. Open titles and a record 18 major championships. Though just 22, it was Nicklaus' sixth U.S. Open and tenth major, having played in four Masters. He had won the U.S. Amateur twice (1959, 1961) and was the top amateur at the previous two Opens, placing second to Palmer in 1960 and fourth in 1961.

1962 U.S. Open
Tournament information
DatesJune 14–17, 1962
LocationOakmont, Pennsylvania
Course(s)Oakmont Country Club
Organized byUSGA
Tour(s)PGA Tour
Statistics
Par71
Length6,894 yards (6,304 m)
Field150 players,[1] 51 after cut
Cut150 (+8)
Prize fund$73,800[2]
Winner's share$17,500
Champion
Jack Nicklaus
283 (−1), playoff
Oakmont 
Location in the United States
 Oakmont
Location in Pennsylvania

Nicklaus earned $15,000 for his first professional win, and Palmer $8,000 as runner-up. Each received a playoff bonus of $2,500 from the Sunday gate receipts.[3][4]

Only two of the six former champions in the field made the 36-hole cut, Palmer and defending champion Gene Littler.

Course layout
Main article: Oakmont Country Club
Hole123456789Out101112131415161718InTotal
Yards4553554285443841834032534803,4854703725981613624582342924623,4096,894
Par444543435364453443443571

Source:[4][5]

Lengths of the course for previous major championships:

The first hole was a par 5 for the previous majors at Oakmont,[6] set at 493 yards (451 m) in 1953.[7]

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, June 14, 1962

Defending champion Littler took the first round lead with a 69 (−2) before a record opening round gallery of 17,486, mostly following Palmer in the afternoon, paired with Nicklaus. The previous record was 13,916 in 1960 near Denver.[8][9]

PlacePlayerScoreTo par
1 Gene Littler69−2
T2 Bobby Nichols70−1
Bob Rosburg
T4 Frank Boynton71E
J. C. Goosie
Arnold Palmer
Gary Player
Robert Schoener
T9 Eugene Francis (a)72+1
John Guenther (a)
Stan Leonard
Jack Nicklaus

Second round

Friday, June 15, 1962

Palmer carded a 68 in the morning and Bob Rosburg a 69 to co-lead after 36 holes at 139 (−3), with Nicklaus three strokes back in a tie for fourth.[10][11] Palmer and Nicklaus were paired together in the first two rounds.[12] The second round attendance record was broken with 19,971 in the gallery, surpassing the previous mark of 15,225 set in 1961 near Detroit.[11]

PlacePlayerScoreTo par
T1 Arnold Palmer71-68=139−3
Bob Rosburg70-69=139
3 Billy Maxwell71-70=141−1
T4 Bobby Nichols70-72=142E
Jack Nicklaus72-70=142
Gary Player71-71=142
T7 Miller Barber73-70=143+1
Gene Littler69-74=143
T9 Phil Rodgers74-70=144+2
Don Whitt73-71=144

Source:[10][11][13]

Third round

Saturday, June 16, 1962 - (morning)

PlacePlayerScoreTo par
T1 Bobby Nichols70-72-70=212−1
Arnold Palmer71-68-73=212
T3 Phil Rodgers74-70-69=213E
Bob Rosburg70-69-74=213
T5 Jack Nicklaus72-70-72=214+1
Gary Player71-71-72=214
7 Gene Littler69-74-72=215+2
8 Billy Maxwell71-70-75=216+3
9 Art Wall Jr.73-72-72=217+4
T10 Gay Brewer73-72-73=218+5
Tommy Jacobs74-71-73=218

Final round

Saturday, June 16, 1962 - (afternoon)

After 54 holes at Oakmont, Palmer held a share of the lead with Bobby Nichols, with Phil Rodgers and Bob Rosburg a stroke back, and Nicklaus and Gary Player two back. Rosburg shot a 79 (+8) in the final round and quickly fell out of contention, while Nichols and Rodgers carded scores of 73 and 72, respectively, to share 3rd place. But the story of this day was the duel between Palmer and Nicklaus. Although he bogeyed the 9th, Palmer still led Nicklaus as they made the turn. That would change quickly as Nicklaus birdied 11 and Palmer bogeyed 13, evening up the score. Nicklaus missed a birdie attempt at the last to finish with a 69, while Palmer missed a birdie at 18 from 12 feet (4 m) that would have won the championship. This set up an 18-hole playoff between golf's most popular player and the game's rising star.[14][15]

PlacePlayerScoreTo parMoney ($)
T1 Jack Nicklaus72-70-72-69=283−1Playoff
Arnold Palmer71-68-73-71=283
T3 Bobby Nichols70-72-70-73=285+15,500
Phil Rodgers74-70-69-72=285
5 Gay Brewer73-72-73-69=287+34,000
T6 Tommy Jacobs74-71-73-70=288+42,750
Gary Player71-71-72-74=288
T8 Doug Ford74-75-71-70=290+61,767
Gene Littler69-74-72-75=290
Billy Maxwell71-70-75-74=290

Source:[16]

Scorecard

Final round

Hole 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 101112131415161718
Par444543435445344344
Nicklaus+2+2+2+2+2+2+1+1EE−1−1−1−1−1−1−1−1
Palmer−1−2−2−3−3−3−3−3−2−2−2−2−1−1−1−1−1−1

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par

Birdie Bogey

Source:[15]

Playoff

Sunday, June 17, 1962

The 10,000 that showed up for the playoff on Sunday were decidedly pro-Palmer, constantly taunting the 22-year-old upstart from Ohio. (Palmer was from nearby Latrobe and had won two of the last three majors, with five overall.) Nicklaus, however, silenced the crowd by going up by four strokes after six holes.[17] Palmer then launched one of his patented charges with birdies at 9, 11, and 12 to close within one, but a three-putt bogey at 13 proved to be costly for Palmer. Nicklaus held him off from there and prevailed by three strokes, carding a 71 to Palmer's 74.[18] Nicklaus won the championship on the greens; he had just one three-putt the entire week, while Palmer had 10.[19] Nicklaus became the youngest winner of the U.S. Open since Bobby Jones in 1923, and became the first since Jones to hold the Open and the U.S. Amateur championship at the same time; he had won the Amateur the previous year before turning pro in the winter. For Palmer, this began a frustrating stretch as a runner-up in four U.S. Opens in six years, with three in playoffs. His words after the tournament proved prophetic, saying of Nicklaus: "Now that the big guy is out of the cage, everybody better run for cover."[20]

PlacePlayerScoreTo parMoney ($)
1 Jack Nicklaus71E17,500
2 Arnold Palmer74+310,500
  • Included in earnings is a playoff bonus of $2,500 each, from the playoff gate receipts.[3]

Scorecard

Playoff

Hole 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 101112131415161718
Par444543435445344344
NicklausEEE−1−1−2−2−1−1−1−1−1−1−1−1−1−1E
Palmer+1+1+1+1+1+2+2+3+2+2+1E+1+1+1+1+1+3
Birdie Bogey Double bogey

Source:[5][18][21]

References
  1. Gundelfinger, Phil (June 14, 1962). "Nation's top golfers attack soggy Oakmont fairways". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 32.
  2. "U.S. Open history:1962". USGA. Archived from the original on February 5, 2013. Retrieved June 18, 2012.
  3. Gundelfinger, Phil (June 18, 1962). "Nicklaus Defeats Palmer". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 1. Retrieved June 19, 2012.
  4. Gundelfinger, Phil (June 14, 1962). "Field of 150 tees off in 62nd Open". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 35. Retrieved June 19, 2012.
  5. "Golf Playoff Detail". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. June 18, 1962. p. 21. Retrieved June 19, 2012.
  6. "A Legend is Born: Palmer Establishes Legacy, While Miller Has Round For The Ages". USGA. March 8, 2007. Archived from the original on December 16, 2013. Retrieved May 12, 2013.
  7. "Oakmont, the champ, the man to beat". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Florida. NEA. June 10, 1953. p. 9.
  8. Rosensweet, Alvin (June 15, 1962). "17,486 attend first round of the Open". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 1.
  9. Gundelfinger, Phil (June 15, 1962). "Littler leads Open with 69; Palmer hits 71". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 1.
  10. MacDonald, Jim (June 16, 1962). "Palmer, Rosburg tie for U.S. Open lead". Toledo Blade. p. 14.
  11. Gundelfinger, Phil (June 16, 1962). "Palmer, Rosburg in 'Open' lead". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 1.
  12. "Starting times for Friday". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. June 15, 1962. p. 16.
  13. "National Open Golf Scoreboard". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. June 16, 1962. p. 14.
  14. "Jack's Finish Ties Palmer; More Today". Spokesman-Review. Associated Press. June 17, 1962. p. 1-Sports. Retrieved June 19, 2012.
  15. MacDonald, Jim (June 17, 1962). "Palmer, Nicklaus tie at 283 in U.S. Open". Toledo Blade. p. 1-sports.
  16. "Open Scores". Toledo Blade. June 17, 1962. p. 5-(sec.3). Retrieved June 19, 2012.
  17. Wright, Alfred (June 25, 1962). "That big strong dude". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved June 19, 2012.
  18. "Robust Jack Nicklaus Captures National Open Play-Off". Spokesman-Review. Associated Press. June 18, 1962. p. 8. Retrieved June 19, 2012.
  19. McDonald, Jim (June 18, 1962). "Nicklaus Cuts Palmer Down To Size". Toledo Blade. p. 14. Retrieved June 19, 2012.
  20. Dulac, Gerry (March 17, 2012). "U.S. Open: Battle of '62 had Jack, Arnie, Woody". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved June 18, 2012.
  21. "Playoff Cards". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. June 18, 1962. p. 21. Retrieved June 19, 2012.

40.526°N 79.827°W / 40.526; -79.827

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