1962 U.S. Open Winner and Scores
The 1962 U.S. Open was the 62nd time the tournament was played. Jack Nicklaus earned his first professional victory here, beating Arnold Palmer in an 18-hole playoff.
Winner: Jack Nicklaus, 283
Where it was played: Oakmont Country Club in Oakmont, Pennsylvania
Tournament dates: June 14-17, 1962
Leader after first round: Gene Littler, 69
Leader after second round: Arnold Palmer and Bob Rosburg, 139
Leader after third round: Arnold Palmer and Bobby Nichols, 212
What Happened in the 1962 U.S. Open
There was little doubt, entering the 1962 U.S. Open, that Jack Nicklaus was going to have a great PGA Tour career. He was an NCAA Championship winner, and a 2-time U.S. Amateur champion. In the two previous U.S. Opens, playing as an amateur, Nicklaus finished second and fourth.But entering the 1962 U.S. Open, Nicklaus — in his rookie year as a professional — had yet to win. Exiting this tournament, Nicklaus not only had that first win, he got it by beating Arnold Palmer in an 18-hole playoff.
After the playoff, Palmer uttered words that proved prophetic, saying of Nicklaus, "Now that the big guy is out of the cage, everybody better run for cover."
How Nicklaus and Palmer Finished 72 Holes Tied
Following the third round, Palmer shared the lead with Bobby Nichols, one stroke ahead of Phil Rodgers and Bob Rosburg, and two shots ahead of Nicklaus.Rosburg blew up with a 79 in the final round and quickly fell off the pace. Rodgers and Nichols acquitted themselves OK under the final-round pressure, but Nichols turned in a score of 73 and Rodgers 72, and they finished tied for third.
That left Nicklaus and Palmer to battle it out. The tournament was at Oakmont Country Club in western Pennsylvania — Palmer's home court, so to speak. Palmer was easily the most-popular golfer in the world, one of the most popular sportsmen in the world, and was playing close to his hometown of Latrobe, Pa. Nicklaus was the 22-year-old upstart trying to knock off The King. Nicklaus was not yet himself popular; in fact, as a brash challenger to Palmer, Nicklaus was quite unpopular with this crowd. Nicklaus was taunted by fans throughout the final round, then again in the 18-hole playoff, including being jeered for his (by the standards of the time) portly figure.
Palmer later said that the catcalls didn't seem to phase Nicklaus one bit, but they did bother Palmer. Something else that bothered Palmer — albeit something Palmer never, then or later, used as an excuse — was a deep cut on one of his fingers that he suffered just prior to the tournament's start, and that required stitches.
Nicklaus opened the fourth round with a bogey, falling three behind Palmer. After Palmer birdied the second and fourth holes, his lead over Nicklaus was five. But Nicklaus birdied the seventh, ninth and 11th holes, while Palmer bogeyed No. 9.
And when Palmer bogeyed the 13th, they were tied. Both players parred out from there, finishing at 1-under 283 as the only golfers under par.
The 18-Hole Playoff
In the 18-hole playoff on Sunday (at this time the U.S. Open's third and fourth rounds were both played on Saturday), Nicklaus jumped out to the lead on the first hole, and built a four-stroke lead after six holes. Palmer bogeyed the first, sixth and eight holes, while Nicklaus birdied the fourth and sixth holes before bogeying No. 8.Palmer birdied three of the four holes from nine through 12, getting back within a stroke, but a bogey by Palmer on Hole 13 gave Nicklaus a two-stroke lead. Both golfers parred holes 14-17, then they finished on 18 with a bogey by Nicklaus and a double bogey by Palmer. That made the final score Nicklaus 71, Palmer 74.
At 22, Nicklaus was the youngest U.S. Open winner since Bobby Jones in 1923. As the reigning U.S. Amateur champion, Nicklaus was the first player since Jones to hold the U.S. Amateur and U.S. Open trophies simultaneously (although Jones won them in same year).
The biggest difference between Nicklaus and Palmer during the 90 holes played was their performance on the treacherous Oakmont greens. Nicklaus had only one 3-putt throughout the five rounds; Palmer three-putted 10 times.
So it was not only Nicklaus' first win in a major championship, it was his first win as a professional. For Palmer, his runner-up finish here began a frustrating streak of four second-place finishes in the U.S. Open within a six-year span. Palmer also lost playoffs at the 1963 U.S. Open and 1966 U.S. Open.
Palmer often said in ensuing years that if he had beaten Nicklaus in the playoff at the 1962 U.S. Open, he might have been able to hold Nicklaus off for a few more years. But he didn't, and he couldn't. Nicklaus was soon acknowledged as the best golfer in the game.
1962 U.S. Open Final Scores
| Jack Nicklaus | 72-70-72-69—283 (71) |
| Arnold Palmer | 71-68-73-71—283 (74) |
| Bobby Nichols | 70-72-70-73—285 |
| Phil Rodgers | 74-70-69-72—285 |
| Gay Brewer | 73-72-73-69—287 |
| Tommy Jacobs | 74-71-73-70—288 |
| Gary Player | 71-71-72-74—288 |
| Doug Ford | 74-75-71-70—290 |
| Gene Littler | 69-74-72-75—290 |
| Billy Maxwell | 71-70-75-74—290 |
| Doug Sanders | 74-74-74-69—291 |
| Art Wall | 73-72-72-74—291 |
| Bob Rosburg | 70-69-74-79—292 |
| a-Deane Beman | 74-72-80-67—293 |
| Bob Goalby | 73-74-73-73—293 |
| Mike Souchak | 75-73-72-73—293 |
| Jacky Cupit | 73-72-72-77—294 |
| Jay Hebert | 75-72-73-74—294 |
| Earl Stewart Jr. | 75-73-75-71—294 |
| Donald Whitt | 73-71-75-75—294 |
| Bo Wininger | 73-74-69-78—294 |
| Miller Barber | 73-70-77-75—295 |
| Gardner Dickinson | 76-74-75-71—296 |
| Lionel Hebert | 75-72-75-74—296 |
| Stan Leonard | 72-73-78-74—297 |
| a-Edward Meister Jr. | 78-72-76-71—297 |
| Frank Boynton | 71-75-74-78—298 |
| Joe Campbell | 78-71-72-78—299 |
| Dave Douglas | 74-70-72-83—299 |
| Paul Harney | 73-73-71-82—299 |
| Dean Refram | 75-73-77-74—299 |
| Mason Rudolph | 74-74-73-78—299 |
| Gene Coghill | 74-76-73-77—300 |
| J.C. Goosie | 71-79-75-75—300 |
| Jerry Pittman | 75-72-75-78—300 |
| Wes Ellis | 73-73-77-78—301 |
| Dan Sikes | 74-72-78-77—301 |
| Pete Cooper | 74-76-74-78—302 |
| Fred Hawkins | 73-77-77-75—302 |
| Bob McCallister | 76-74-74-78—302 |
| Joe Moore Jr. | 77-73-74-78—302 |
| Sam Snead | 76-74-78-74—302 |
| Al Balding | 73-77-78-75—303 |
| Charlie Sifford | 75-74-76-78—303 |
| Bruce Crampton | 75-73-75-81—304 |
| a-John Guenther | 72-78-75-79—304 |
| a-Bill Hyndman | 73-76-78-77—304 |
| a-Bob Gardner | 76-74-77-78—305 |
| Johnny Pott | 75-75-75-80—305 |
| Charles Garlena | 74-72-82-81—309 |
| Edward Rubis | 76-74-81-78—309 |
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