Historic crossing: Jack, Arnie and Oakmont

Young Nicklaus surpassed peak Palmer in 1962 playoff; Hastings is low am; purse holds fast

Young Jack Nicklaus got the jump on local legend Arnold Palmer in Oakmont playoff (Bettmann Archives/Getty Images)

OAKMONT, Pa. — It is sometimes forgotten or perhaps overlooked that before Jack Nicklaus arrived at Oakmont Country Club for the 1962 U.S Open, he had yet to win as a professional golfer.

Nicklaus, then 22, was the reigning U.S. Amateur champion and had contended in each of his previous U.S. Open starts — finishing second to Arnold Palmer in 1960 at Cherry Hills — but still had yet to win anything as a pro.

Nicklaus, now 85, recounted some of that on Saturday morning at Oakmont, were both he and Johnny Miller — who shot 63 on Sunday to win 1973 U.S. Open at Oakmont — were in attendance as honored guests.

“I finished second in ’60 and fourth in ’61 and I sort of felt like this was my Open,” Nicklaus recalled. “I didn’t realize that, as a 22-year-old might not, that I was in Arnold Palmer’s backyard.

“The key to me was that I loved USGA setups. I loved the way (USGA executive) Joe Dey set up golf courses. I knew that you had to drive the ball straight. I knew that putting was going to be a premium on this golf course.

“I was talking to some of the guys in there, in the locker room a few minutes ago, and … they said, ‘What do you think?’ I said, well, obviously putting is the key out here. I said, I three-putted the 55th green. I had one three-putt that week and I’m still ticked off I three-putted that one. That was sort of my mindset.

“Basically you had to figure these greens out and not let them get to you, and be patient. One-under par won the tournament, and 1-under par doesn’t win a lot of tournaments today, but it did then.

“I always had my laughs with Arnold. You’ve heard me say it before … I shot 39 at Cherry Hills to lose to him there, and I told Arnold, I said, ‘Arnold, if I hadn’t shot the 39 the last nine at Cherry Hills nobody would have heard of you.’ And he said, ‘Yeah, and if I hadn’t 3-putted eight times at Oakmont nobody would have heard of you either.’ It works both ways, and that’s probably right.”

Nicklaus defeated Palmer in an 18-hole playoff after they were tied through 72 holes. As it was near Palmer’s hometown of Latrobe, Pa., the U.S. Open at Oakmont was special to him and one he later lamented not getting.

“Arnie was the top player in the game at the time,” Nicklaus said. “He had won the Masters earlier in the year. He was the guy you had to beat if you wanted to win, and particularly here.

“It was really kind of funny because I never really heard the gallery. I was a 22-year-old kid with blinders on and not smart enough to figure out that people rooted for people. I just went out and played golf. That’s what I did.

“I never really considered Arnold as something different. Arnold took me under his wing when I turned pro, and he never treated me anything other than as an equal, and became one of the closest friends I’ve ever had in the game. …

“He was just another guy that he wanted to beat me and I wanted to beat him, and I guess that’s what happened through the years with the two of us.”

Palmer was in contention when Miller blew by him in 1973 to win the U.S. Open.

“I had played with Arnold Palmer the first two rounds, which was, back in those days, a crazy experience with his gallery,” Miller said. “His gallery was — they were crazy. Crazy good. But to get through the gauntlet of playing with Arnold on the first two rounds was pretty good. We both shot 140.”

Palmer played his last U.S. Open at Oakmont in 1994 when he missed the cut at the tournament won by Ernie Els. He press conference remains one of the most emotional in golf history. He left the press room to a standing ovation on the same day as O.J. Simpson’s Bronco chase in California.

“Arnold obviously had an enormous impact on the game,” Nicklaus said. “Arnold in many ways popularized the game of golf. He came along basically when television came along, and maybe television was great for Arnold, but Arnold was great for television and great for the game.

“He had a flair about him that nobody else had, and people loved him. And rightfully so. He earned what he got. He did a great job.”

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Shooting 73-73 earned Cayman Islands golfer Justin Hastings low amateur (Jeff Haynes/USGA)

No Hastings retreat from low amateur

Justin Hastings continues to live the dream. The Cayman Islands golfer who became the first from his tiny Caribbean nation to play in the U.S. Open also made the cut shooting 73-73 (6-over) and earned low amateur honors. No other amateur made it to the weekend.

The Latin America Amateur Championship victory in January earned Hastings spots in the Masters, where he missed the cut, the U.S. Open and next month’s Open Championship at Royal Portrush.

“I’m obviously so grateful,” Hastings said. “What I’ve been doing the last little while. And I try not to take any of this for granted. I mean playing the Masters and kind of getting that first one under your belt definitely has made me feel a lot more comfortable out here.

“I feel like I’m more comfortable than I’ve been in the past out here. Hopefully it continues to feel like that.”

Since missing the cut at the Masters in April, Hastings has kept busy. He finished his college career and graduated from San Diego State. Along the way he won the Mountain West Conference individual championship and was named the conference’s golfer of the year.

Hastings completed his collegiate career with the best scoring average in San Diego State history — 71.17 over 129 rounds and bettering the previous mark of 71.50 held by Xander Schauffele, who played at the school from 2012-15 and won two major championships last year.

He also had a two-week visit back on Grand Cayman where he worked on his game before heading back to the States.

Hastings played two practice rounds at Oakmont last week before heading to the Arnold Palmer Cup, an amateur competition pitting a team of international players against a U.S. squad that was contested at Congaree Golf Club in South Carolina.

Led by Hastings, who went 4-0 in his matches, the International side defeated the Americans 35-25 in the competition named after the late Palmer — a local hero in western Pennsylvania. Hastings might not be aware of Palmer’s history at Oakmont, but he certainly got a taste of what makes Oakmont so stout.

“You definitely see what everyone talks about,” Hastings said. “It’s as hard as they make it out to be. I mean, I always tell myself that I like stuff like that because, I mean, we’ve heard a lot of guys say it this week … but that means a certain percentage of the field is already going to be incapable of doing very well. It’s mental.

“So I think the harder the golf course is, the more mental side kind of comes into it. And I think if you can understand that and use it to your advantage, then you’ll have an edge on the field. So I’m going to try and do the best I can at that this week and hopeful enough good golf for the rest.”

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Oakmont U.S. Open champions Jack Nicklaus and Johnny Miller (Jason E. Miczek/USGA)

Record U.S. Open purse: $21.5 million

The USGA announced the purse for the 2025 U.S. Open at $21.5 million — the same as it was in 2024 when it increased to become the second largest purse on the PGA Tour behind only the Players Championship ($25 million).

The winner on Sunday will receive $4.3 million and even solo fourth place collects more than $1 million. Players who missed the cut get a $10,000 stipend.

The Masters increased it’s purse from $20 million to $21 million in April while the PGA Championship increased from $18.5 to $19 million in May. The prize fund for last year’s Open Championship was U.S. $17 million.

The payouts differ substantially from when Jack Nicklaus won his first U.S. Open in 1962 at Oakmont as age 22. When the young Nicklaus took down Arnold Palmer in an 18-hole playoff for his first professional win, the purse was $73,800, and the winner cashed a check for $17,500.

Nicklaus and Johnny Miller were on site Saturday to discuss their historic victories at Oakmont in 1962 and 1973, respectively. They were naturally asked about the money today’s golfers play for compared to purses in their era.

“Actually, I don’t think it would have made any difference,” Nicklaus said of making the millions of today versus the relative pittance that he made for most of his 18-major winning career. “We played in a time when it was what it was.

“We had to win tournaments to make a name to make a living. Today, they make a living playing golf.”

For the 90 holes that week, Nicklaus earned $194 a hole as the winner. With no playoff this week, the 125th Open winner will make $59,700 per hole.

“Would I have loved to have had what’s going on here when we played?” Nicklaus said. “Yeah. Obviously, all of us would. But I also was really pleased that — I know Johnny (Miller) and myself both trailblazed the way for what’s happening today. I think if you look back at Hogan and Snead and those guys, they trailblazed it for us.”

Nicklaus doesn’t believe that paydays like today’s millions would have changed the way he’s lived his life for 85 years. He loved playing professional golf, his course design work and helping others through charities.

“But would it have changed our lives? I would hope not. I would hope that we probably would try to live our life very similar,” he said. “I’ve enjoyed what I’ve done. I’ve loved playing the game of golf. I’ve loved my design work. I love being involved with being able to take and utilize what I have to be able to — n charity and help others. They’re all things that I don’t think that would have made any difference, whether we were playing for what we played for or what they’re playing here today. If we would have had the ability to do this, I think we would have tried to do the same thing.”