Palmer’s string of victories wowed golf world
Arnold Palmer’s death brings back waves of memories of his finest performances, none more so that the comeback at the 1960 U.S. Open at Cherry Hills that came during an era when the final 36 holes were played on Saturday and the break between the third and fourth rounds was long enough to grab lunch.
Palmer asked sportswriters Bob Drum and Dan Jenkins how far they thought a 65 might go in the final round. It would leave him at 280.
“Doesn’t 280 always win the Open?” Palmer asked.
“Yeah, when Hogan shoots it,” Jenkins replied.
Drum’s response: “Won’t do you a damn bit of good.”
Palmer was so mad, he said, he couldn’t finish his hamburger.
The exchange with Drum “set the fire off inside, not that it wasn’t there,” Palmer said. “All I know is, I was pretty” upset.
He hit a few practice shots, went to the first tee, and a few hours later, he had his third major championship and first at the U.S. Open. His 65 leapfrogged a young amateur named Jack Nicklaus and Hogan while leaving third-round leader, Mike Souchak, three shots behind.
Here are some other wins Palmer will be long remembered for:
A 24-year-old Palmer beat Bob Sweeney to win the National Amateur golf championship in Detroit on Aug. 28, 1954. The match pitted a graying millionaire playboy against the upstart Palmer in what many dubbed a battle of the classes.
Palmer captured the Canadian Open championship, his first PGA Tour victory, at the Weston Golf Club. Palmer set a record that held for many years as the lowest score — he finished 23-under — in Open history.
Co-leader Palmer and Ken Venturi, who was three strokes back, were paired for the final round, and Venturi trailed by one stroke by the 12th hole. Then Palmer’s tee shot to the par-3 hole landed behind the green and plugged. Palmer believed he was entitled to relief because the ball was embedded, and Venturi agreed.
But the rules official on the scene did not. He ruled Palmer had to play without relief.
There was an argument, Palmer eventually played the ball and gouged it out of the turf, hitting a poor chip past the hole, then two-putting for a double-bogey 5. Venturi had made par and assumed the lead. But Palmer announced he was playing a second ball and made par. Palmer went on to win by a shot over Fred Hawkins and Doug Ford and by two over Venturi.
Palmer birdied the final t wo holes to win by one stroke over Venturi. It was the second of Palmer’s four Masters victories and the second of his seven major titles.
Palmer won the first of two consecutive British Open Championships by finishing one stroke ahead of Dai Rees. He’d been runner-up the year before in his first Open, but the 1961 victory was the fourth of his seven major titles. He was the first American to win the Claret Jug since Hogan in 1953.
Palmer’s second major championship of the year — and No. 6 of his career — was a runaway at the British Open at Troon Golf Club in Scotland. He finished at 12 under par, six shots ahead of runner-up Kel Nagle — and at least 13 strokes better than anyone else in the field.
Palmer won the first three-way Masters playoff — beating defending champion Gary Player and Dow Finsterwald — for the third of his four titles at Augusta National.
Palmer shot a 31 on the back nine to finish at 68 on Monday, three strokes ahead of runner-up Player.
Palmer easily wrapped up his fourth Masters for his seventh — and final — major. No one had won four times at Augusta National until Palmer reached that number thanks to three rounds in the 60s, followed by a closing 70 that was plenty good enough: He beat runners-up Nicklaus and Dave Marr by six strokes.