| | Iconic Moment V: The
1960s
June 3, 2008
Ontheandfor Golf History opened to the public following a
three-year renovation and expansion project. The new
exhibitions in thepresent the game's history in a unique and original
way, viewing golf within the context of American social,
cultural and political history. USGA champions and memorable
moments in championship history are placed at the forefront
of the visitor experience. Central to each gallery is a main
story - an iconic moment - pivotal for understanding the
game's development. Our national identity is inextricably
linked to these defining championships.
This is the fifth in a six-part series highlighting each
iconic moment.
Click here to go back to the main page
to see the other parts of the series.
By Doug Stark, USGA
Far Hills, N.J. - While individual athletic performances
often leave indelible impressions in people's minds, it
is the rivalries between players, teams and cities that more
often shape our national consciousness. Rivalries
summon the best that athletes have to offer, challenging them
mentally, physically, and emotionally, putting on display
their best and worst traits. Passions can run high on both
sides.
Sports in the 1960s were defined by great battles. The
Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants continued their
long-standing rivalry on the west coast, 3,000 miles from
where it began in New York. The Boston Celtics and Los
Angeles Lakers battled yearly for basketball supremacy, while
Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain waged a more personal duel
for best player in the NBA.
Nowhere, though, was individual rivalry better realized than
with Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus. Sons of the Rust
Belt who learned the game from their hard-driving fathers,
Palmer and Nicklaus waged golf's greatest duel.
If
Francis Ouimet's historic victory in the 1913 U.S.
Open
gave birth to golf in America, and
Bob Jones unprecedented Grand Slam feat in 1930
made golf American, then Palmer and Nicklaus propelled golf
into mainstreamAmerica. Their rivalry, Palmer's
personality, and Nicklaus's talent took the sport and
elevated it to the same level as baseball, football, and
basketball in people's minds. Golf became a major
sport in terms of the numbers of players, media coverage, and
genuine passion elicited among fans. Golf had arrived as
a national game.
Together Palmer, Nicklaus, and the comparatively new medium
of television ushered golf into a new era. Young,
charismatic, and talented, Palmer and Nicklaus became the
single most important golfers since Ouimet, as they launched
the game into an unprecedented era of growth and success that
continues to this day. With their help, golf became
modern.
All of the game's innovations and contributions since
Ouimet - Walter Hagen's exhibition tours during the
Roaring Twenties, the great number of public courses built in
the 1930s, the expansion of junior and senior golf, and the
increased visibility of athlete-endorsers - reached their
zenith with Palmer and Nicklaus. The two became the
vehicle for fully realizing the game's full commercial
power and popular appeal.
The 1962 U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club in Oakmont, Pa.,
provided the venue for the world to watch both face off
against each other. Palmer and Nicklaus were paired for
the four rounds of championship play, as well as the
playoff. Fans, media, and the golfing community finally
could answer the question of what would happen if Palmer and
Nicklaus were paired together with the U.S. Open championship
on the line.
Close throughout, tension mounted during the final
round. As they made the turn, Nicklaus trailed by
two. But that changed quickly when Nicklaus posted
birdie at the 11
th
and Palmer bogeyed the 13
th
. Both players missed birdie putts at the final hole
that would have secured a victory. In the playoff the
following day, Nicklaus opened a four-stroke lead after six
holes. Palmer would close the gap to one with birdies at
the 11
th
and 12
th
, but a three-putt at the 13
th
proved fatal. Nicklaus would go on to win the playoff by
three strokes.
In a decade defined by great individual battles, theirs
stands alone for its longevity and significance. While
the other great battles of the 1960s proved important for
their sports, they were largely confined to that decade.
Moreover, they were largely waged in the sports arena.
Palmer and Nicklaus extended their rivalry beyond athletic
competition. As businessmen, authors, golf course
architects, and entrepreneurs, their competitive drive set
the standard for golfers over the next 40 years. In
building business empires, their success recast the modern
athlete as an individual corporation. In the process, their
rivalry might be regarded as the most enduring and
significant rivalry in the history of sports.
DougStarkis the USGA's Curator of Education and Outreach.
E-mail him with questions or comments at dstark@usga.org.
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