The U.S. Open’s rich history at Oakmont – Part 2
By Josh Rowntree, Director of Communications • May 2, 2025
Oakmont Country Club holds a U.S. Open history unlike any other.
This June, one of the world’s most challenging courses — situated right in the heart of Western Pennsylvania — will once again welcome the world as it hosts its record tenth U.S. Open.
As the WPGA celebrates this momentous occasion, we will do so by reliving the illustrious history of the competition while also documenting the 125th U.S. Open this June.
We continue our look at the history of U.S. Opens played at Oakmont Country Club in a three-part series that chronicles the nine major national championships played in our own backyard.
Today, we look at the middle three U.S. Open Championships to be contested in Oakmont, including a battle between a hometown hero and an up-and-coming legend, a record-breaking final round and a dramatic comeback.
For Part 1, click here.
1962: Two Legends Battle into a Playoff in Classic Open
No U.S. Open at Oakmont — and arguably ever — was as significant as its 62nd version.
The biggest name in golf and arguably Western Pennsylvania’s greatest athlete battled the man who would become the game’s greatest champion of major tournaments.
Arnold Palmer, an established top golfer at that point with already five major championship trophies on his shelves, took on a promising, upstart golfer from neighboring Ohio by the name of Jack Nicklaus. And 72 holes were not enough to decide a winner.
The crowd, as decidedly pro-Palmer as could be and colloquially known as ‘Arnie’s Army,’ showed up in droves to Oakmont Country Club during the week, supporting Palmer in his search for a second straight major, having won the Masters Tournament a month earlier.
But what would have likely been a storybook victory for Palmer was thwarted by the 22-year-old Nicklaus in a Sunday playoff following a rally from four strokes down entering the ninth hole of Saturday’s final round.
Palmer sat in a comfortable position with the majority of the 20,000 people following he and Nicklaus to the ninth tee. But, despite reaching the Par-5’s green in two strokes, he bogeyed the hole. Nicklaus birdied, and the ‘Golden Bear’s’ comeback was on.
He forced the U.S. Open into a playoff the following morning and burst out of the gates to lead by four strokes following just eight holes.
Palmer — ever the fighter — racked up birdies on three of the next four holes to climb back into contention. He, however, was knocked back down when he three-putted the 13th hole.
The ever-steady Nicklaus shot an even par 71 in the playoff, while Palmer shot 3-over. The playoff came to an interesting end when Palmer, realizing that he was unable to beat Nicklaus on the final hole, picked up Nicklaus’ ball marker as a sign of concession.
The USGA’s rules official, Joey Dey, forced Nicklaus to replace his ball marker and finish his putt. Palmer was not applied a penalty at the time, as he would be for such a violation today.
The result was, without a doubt, unpopular for the gallery. But it also was one that formed a great bond between the two men and was one that launched Nicklaus’ career.
Not only was it Nicklaus’ first major, but it was also his first win as a professional. He had competed in five U.S. Open Championships prior, all as an amateur.
“I don’t think I would have made it unless I had turned pro,” said Nicklaus afterwards. “This is the first time that I had plenty of top competition prior to the tourney. I was prepared for it.”
Palmer, who admitted that the loss was his biggest disappointment in his career, did graciously acknowledge that Nicklaus was likely just getting started.
Later in life, he reiterated those comments having been proven right.
"If I had been able to beat that strong, young dude in the tournament, I might have held him off for another five years,” said Palmer of Nicklaus. “I let the Bear out of the cage.”
Palmer’s career didn’t exactly nosedive on the June day. He went on to win the Open Championship later that season. He won the Masters and three PGA Championships in the eight years that followed.
But Nicklaus undoubtedly and quickly became the game’s preeminent player, going on to win 72 more times on the PGA Tour and 17 more times in major championships — a record that still stands to this day.
63 years later, the U.S. Open returns to Oakmont. Very few major championships have had such star power at the top of the leaderboard in the game’s history – if at all. The week is looked back on by historians as a passing of the torch from one titan to the next.
And perhaps no one has summarized Oakmont Country Club as compendiously as Nicklaus.
“It’s great,” said the legend.
1973: Miller posts record-setting final round in comeback victory
Over a decade after winning at Oakmont, Jack Nicklaus — the reigning U.S. Open champion at Pebble Beach — entered Western Pennsylvania as the odds-on favorite to claim yet another U.S. Open.
While Nicklaus played well and finished fourth — alongside Arnold Palmer and Lee Trevino — he and the field were unable to best Johnny Miller’s 5-under mark for the week.
Miller’s championship was bolstered primarily by his incredible 8-under score of 63 in the final round — the first time any player had carded a 63 in a major championship and a mark that is still second-best today.
The San Francisco native rallied from 2-over and 12th place entering the final round to the top of the leaderboard thanks to nine birdies and one bogey on Sunday.
“I was really down this morning,” Miller said after his win, detailing his recent struggles with his swing. “I had almost no desire. But when I birdied the first four holes, well…
“(There was) only one thought that kept going through my head — don’t shank it.”
Early on, it appeared that another great, Gary Player, may just be the man to beat. Despite dealing with fatigue and an underweight frame from recent surgeries, Player shot 4-under for the opening round to lead by three strokes. Player had a one-stroke lead over Jim Colbert heading into the weekend but slipped down the leaderboard.
Miller, who had played the first two rounds with Palmer, rapidly climbed up that same board, posting birdies on the first four holes and then five of the first seven holes on the back 9. He finished his round over an hour before the final pairing and sat in the clubhouse at Oakmont Country Club and waited to see if his mark was matched.
It wasn’t. Miller edged John Schlee by a stroke. Tom Weiskopf shot 3-under, ahead of Nicklaus, Palmer and Trevino.
For his win, Miller received a $35,000 payout. It was the first of his two major championships, having won the Open Championship three years later at Royal Birkdale Golf Club.
His record score of 63 in the final round of a major held up for 44 years, when Branden Grace shot a 62 in the 2017 Open Championship.
Miller went on to post 25 total wins on the PGA Tour and 36 progressional wins overall. He finished runner-up at the Open Championship a month later at Royal Troon.
In 1998, Miller — referred to by Fred Couples as “probably the best ball-striker ever” — was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame. He went on to work as a broadcaster with NBC Sports in 1990, and was known as a relatively blunt, perhaps overly truthful and too colorful commentator.
Miller, now 78 years old, retired from broadcasting in 2019, but is still often involved in the game in various avenues. He has made numerous appearances in TV and print over the years.
1983: Nelson’s big weekend, storm result in Monday triumph
Oakmont has had a history of U.S. Open comebacks, including Larry Nelson’s in 1983.
Tom Watson, coming off a win a year prior at Pebble Beach, looked to become the first player since Ben Hogan 30 years earlier to repeat as U.S. Open champion. And he nearly did.
Following three rounds, Watson was tied for the lead with Spain’s Seve Ballesteros.
But Nelson, thanks to a great Saturday round in which he shot 65, sat just a stroke off the lead, tied with Calvin Peete.
Nelson, an Alabama native, posted four birdies and a bogey in his first nine holes, while Watson had six birdies and a bogey, giving him a three-stroke lead.
With Watson on the 14th hole and Nelson on the 16th, a heavy storm rolled through Oakmont around 5:30 p.m., halting the conclusion of the 83rd U.S. Open until it could be resumed Monday.
The following day, Nelson buried a birdie putt from over 60 feet on the Par-3 16th — sending an early jolt into the leaderboard.
“I thought if I could get it over that last rise, I could get within four feet of the hole,” he said. “But as soon as the ball was halfway there, I knew it was the right speed.”
He posted par on the 17th and then three-putted the 18th hole for bogey.
Nelson, the leader in the clubhouse at four-under, turned his attention to Watson, who bogeyed the 17th hole and could not make birdie on the final hole, giving Nelson his second of three major championships.
The 1983 U.S. Open highlighted golf’s boom. Over 100,000 people attended, pouring millions of dollars into a Pittsburgh economy grappling with the closures of the steel mills and industrial decline throughout the region.
Having already won the 1981 PGA Championship, Nelson would win that same competition in 1987, giving him the major championship hat trick. He has racked up 41 professional wins, with 10 coming on the PGA Tour and 19 on the Champions Tour.
Nelson was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2006 and received the PGA Distinguished Service Award in 2011. Now 77 years old, he lives in Marietta, Georgia and still plays in various senior events and occasionally appears on television as a color commentator.
He has been involved in golf course design and created the LagRx Swing Trainer to help golfers improve muscle memory.
For any media inquiries, please contact WPGA Director of Communications Josh Rowntree.
About the WPGA
Founded in 1899, the Western Pennsylvania Golf Association is the steward of amateur golf in the region. Started by five Member Clubs, the association now has nearly 200 Member Clubs and nearly 37,000 members. The WPGA conducts 14 individual competitions and 10 team events, and administers the WPGA Scholarship Fund and Western Pennsylvania Golf Hall of Fame.