1966 U.S. Open: Casper's Comeback
The 1966 U.S. Open was the 66th time the tournament was played. Billy Casper won it in a playoff over Arnold Palmer, who blew a big lead with nine holes left in the fourth round.
Winner: Billy Casper, 278
Where it was played: Olympic Club (Lake Course) in San Francisco, California
Tournament dates: June 16-20, 1966
Leader after first round: Al Mengert, 67
Leader after second round: Arnold Palmer and Billy Casper, 137
Leader after third round: Arnold Palmer, 207
What Happened in the 1966 U.S. Open
Arnold Palmer appeared to be cruising to victory in the 1966 U.S. Open. With nine holes to play in the fourth round, Palmer led Billy Casper by seven strokes. But then Casper staged one of the greatest comebacks ever, with help from a stumbling Palmer, and went on to win it in an 18-hole playoff.Casper and Palmer shared the lead following the second round. In the third round, Palmer scored 70 to Casper's 73 to take a 3-stroke lead. Jack Nicklaus was in third place, one behind Casper.
Over the front nine of the fourth round, Palmer added four strokes to his lead — he shot 32 to Casper's 36. (Nicklaus would shoot a lackluster 74 in the final round and finish solo third but seven behind.) That gave Palmer a 7-stroke edge over Casper with nine holes to play.
But from that point, Palmer began dropping shots and Casper started making birdies. Palmer made bogeys on Holes 10, 13 and 15; when Casper birdied the 15th, Palmer's lead was down to three with three holes to play.
On the 16th hole, Casper birdied and Palmer bogeyed, reducing Palmer's lead to just one. Then Palmer bogeyed the 17th, and they were tied. After two pars on the 18th, they finished 72 holes tied at 278.
In the 18-hole playoff, Palmer took another lead, ahead by two following the front nine. But Casper came back again. He birdied Nos. 12, 13 and 18, but also bogeyed the 16th and 17th. Those late bogeys didn't really matter, though, because Palmer once again fell apart late: He bogeyed Nos. 12, 14 and 15, then double-bogeyed the 16th hole.
Casper won the playoff by four strokes, 69 to 73, and with it the U.S. Open trophy. For Casper, it was his second win in this major — he also won the 1959 U.S. Open. For Palmer, this was the third of three times he lost in U.S. Open playoffs. He also was beaten in 18-hole playoffs in the 1962 and 1963 tournaments.
The low amateur was 18-year-old Johnny Miller, who tied for eighth in his U.S. Open (and major championship) debut. Also making their U.S. Open debuts in 1966 were future champs Lee Trevino (tied 54th) and Hale Irwin (tied 61st). At the other end of the spectrum, two-time U.S. Open champ Cary Middlecoff started the U.S. Open for the final time, withdrawing following the first round. Sam Snead, who had played in every U.S. Open since 1937, failed to qualify for the first time in his career.
Final Scores
| Billy Casper | 69-68-73-68—278 (69) |
| Arnold Palmer | 71-66-70-71—278 (73) |
| Jack Nicklaus | 71-71-69-74—285 |
| Tony Lema | 71-74-70-71—286 |
| Dave Marr | 71-74-68-73—286 |
| Phil Rodgers | 70-70-73-74—287 |
| Bobby Nichols | 74-72-71-72—289 |
| Wes Ellis | 71-75-74-70—290 |
| a-Johnny Miller | 70-72-74-74—290 |
| Mason Rudolph | 74-72-71-73—290 |
| Doug Sanders | 70-75-74-71—290 |
| Ben Hogan | 72-73-76-70—291 |
| Rod Funseth | 75-75-69-73—292 |
| Rives McBee | 76-64-74-78—292 |
| a-Bob Murphy | 73-72-75-73—293 |
| Gary Player | 78-72-74-69—293 |
| George Archer | 74-72-76-72—294 |
| Frank Beard | 76-74-69-75—294 |
| Julius Boros | 74-69-77-74—294 |
| Don January | 73-73-75-73—294 |
| Ken Venturi | 73-77-71-73—294 |
| Walter Burkemo | 76-72-70-77—295 |
| Bob Goalby | 71-73-71-80—295 |
| Dave Hill | 72-71-79-73—295 |
| Bob Verwey | 72-73-75-75—295 |
| Miller Barber | 74-76-77-69—296 |
| Bruce Devlin | 74-75-71-76—296 |
| Al Mengert | 67-77-71-81—296 |
| Robert Shave Jr. | 76-71-74-75—296 |
| Tommy Aaron | 73-75-71-78—297 |
| a-Deane Beman | 75-76-70-76—297 |
| Al Geiberger | 75-75-74-73—297 |
| Vince Sullivan | 77-73-73-74—297 |
| Kel Nagle | 70-73-81-74—298 |
| Tom Veech | 72-73-77-76—298 |
| Gene Bone | 74-76-72-77—299 |
| Gay Brewer | 73-76-74-76—299 |
| Charles Harrison | 72-77-80-70—299 |
| Don Massengale | 68-79-78-74—299 |
| Billy Maxwell | 73-74-74-78—299 |
| Ken Still | 73-74-77-75—299 |
| a-Ed Tutwiler | 73-78-76-72—299 |
| Bob Wolfe | 77-72-76-74—299 |
| Chi Chi Rodriguez | 74-76-73-77—300 |
| George Knudson | 75-76-72-77—300 |
| Tom Nieporte | 71-77-74-78—300 |
| Bob Rosburg | 77-73-75-75—300 |
| George Bayer | 75-74-78-74—301 |
| Gardner Dickinson | 75-74-78-74—301 |
| Gene Littler | 68-83-72-78—301 |
| Steve Oppermann | 73-76-74-78—301 |
| Charles Coody | 76-75-76-75—302 |
| Tom Shaw | 75-74-73-80—302 |
| Gene Borek | 75-76-77-75—303 |
| Johnny Bulla | 73-76-77-77—303 |
| Lee Trevino | 74-73-78-78—303 |
| Bruce Crampton | 74-72-80-78—304 |
| Lee Elder | 74-77-74-79—304 |
| David Jimenez | 75-73-81-75—304 |
| Claude King | 74-77-77-76—304 |
| a-Hale Irwin | 75-75-78-77—305 |
| Stan Thirsk | 72-79-72-82—305 |
| Herb Hooper | 73-76-85-72—306 |
| Joe Zakarian | 77-74-79-80—310 |
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