Oakmont boasts memorable moments
Larry Nelson couldn't look.
Standing on the fifth tee during the third round of the 1983 U.S. Open, Nelson was 7-over par and well off the lead. He had lost confidence in his swing, and every time he looked down a fairway, he was unnerved by the sight of Oakmont Country Club's hungry bunkers and greedy rough.
So Nelson picked a spot a few inches in front of his ball and looked there rather than at the fairway. He played the remainder of his round 7-under to shoot 65 and get to even par.
“By early Sunday morning, it got to where I got my confidence back in my swing,” Nelson told the Tribune-Review, “and I didn't have to do that any more.”
Nelson shot a final-round 67 to set the U.S. Open's 36-hole scoring record (132) and hold off Tom Watson and Seve Ballesteros for the title.
The USGA prides itself on the history and drama created by the U.S. Open, and plenty of the venerable tournament's signature moments have happened at Oakmont — from its first U.S. Open in 1927, when Scotland's Tommy Armour won in a playoff; to a playoff duel between women's golf icons Patty Sheehan and Juli Inkster in 1992; to 2007, when Angel Cabrera became the first South American to win the title.
“I think Oakmont again and again delivers great drama and certainly produces great championships and great champions,” USGA executive director Mike Davis said.
Nelson's 132 remains the standard for the final two rounds at a U.S. Open, but the number most often associated with Oakmont is 63, Johnny Miller's final-round score in 1973 that earned him the title.
“There are some numbers in sports that just kind of speak for themselves,” USGA senior historian Mike Trostel said. “I think Johnny Miller's 63, pound for pound, is the greatest round of golf ever played.”
Nicklaus won the first of his 18 majors at Oakmont in 1962, beating Latrobe native Arnold Palmer in a playoff to launch his legendary career.
Palmer made five U.S. Open starts at Oakmont. The last — and his last U.S. Open appearance ever — was 1994, when Loren Roberts shot 64 in the third round. Roberts' playing partner that day was 24-year-old Phil Mickelson.
“I don't know how many 25-footers (putts) I made,” Roberts said. “And Phil was hitting it in there 8, 10 feet from the hole and not making them. It was driving him crazy.”
That U.S. Open marked the start of another stellar career. Unknown Ernie Els outlasted Colin Montgomerie and Roberts in a playoff to win the first of his four career majors.
This year, one of the 156 players in the field will add his name to Oakmont's roll call of U.S. Open champions.
“It's one of the greatest golf courses I've ever played,” said Sheehan, owner of six LPGA majors. “It's just a magnificent, classic golf course, and anything can happen out there at any time. It has produced some of the most outstanding champions ever.”
Chuck Curti is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at ccurti@tribweb.com or via Twitter @CCurti_Trib.
