Timeline: U.S. Open history at Oakmont

125th U.S. Open | Oakmont

By Gerry Dulac | Post-Gazette

Here’s a look at the previous nine U.S. Opens at Oakmont and some of the legendary winners who emerged.

1927: The Silver Scot

In the first U.S. Open ever staged at Oakmont, Scotland’s Tommy Armour whipped a 3-iron to 10 feet at the 72nd hole to force a playoff and beat “Lighthorse” Harry Cooper for the first of his three major titles. Oakmont was so difficult that neither player broke par during any round of the tournament. What’s more, their 72-hole score of 301 was the highest since 1919 and marked the last time the winning score exceeded 300.

The playoff switched dramatically at the par-3 16th when Armour made par and Cooper double-bogeyed from the greenside bunker, allowing the 31-year-old “Silver Scot” to win the playoff by three shots (76-79). It was the last time the U.S. Open would start on a Tuesday.

Tommy Armour, Oakmont's first U.S. Open champion, in 1927. (Oakmont Country Club Archives)

1935: Hometown champion

Sam Parks, a local professional at South Hills Country Club and a dark horse if ever there were one, stunned the golf world when he outlasted many of the best players in the game to win the U.S. Open with a score of 11-over 299 in brutal conditions. Other surprises would win future U.S. Opens — driving-range instructor Jack Fleck beating Ben Hogan in 1955, Orville Moody winning in 1969 — but it was nothing compared to Parks, a 25-year-old club pro with no prior tournament victories.

Nonetheless, Parks prepared for the moment by playing Oakmont every day for a month prior to the championship. His homework paid off when he grabbed the 54-hole lead after a third-round 73 and won by two shots with a final-round 76

Sam Parks Jr. putts on the 72nd hole to clinch the 1935 U.S. Open. (Oakmont Country Club Archives)

1953: Old and weary winner

Ben Hogan led wire-to-wire and won his fourth U.S. Open title just four years after a bus crash left him badly injured and nearly killed him. At age 40, Hogan nonetheless was no match for the field that included a young Arnold Palmer, winning by six shots over Sam Snead.

Playing a limited schedule, Hogan incredibly won five of the six tournaments he entered in 1953, including three majors. He won the Masters by five shots, the U.S. Open by six and the British Open by four. Snead, trying for his first U.S. Open title, was within one shot of the lead with nine holes to play. But Hogan made three birdies on the back nine to shoot a final-round 71.

Ben Hogan smokes a cigarette waiting to putt on the 9th green during the 1953 U.S. Open. (Oakmont Country Club Archives)

1962: Changing of the guard

In an epic duel that signaled the arrival of the Golden Bear, Jack Nicklaus outlasted Arnold Palmer, the hometown favorite, in an 18-hole playoff to win the first of his 18 major championships. The moment signaled what would come to be known as “the changing of the guard,” with the 22-year-old Nicklaus taking the first step toward replacing the 32-year-old Palmer as golf’s dominant star.

It was not well-received by the local galleries, who taunted Nicklaus and held signs calling him “Fat Jack.” Palmer, the reigning Masters champ, had a chance to win in regulation, but he missed a 12-foot birdie at No. 17 and another from similar length at the 72nd hole to finish tied with Nicklaus. Conversely, Nicklaus navigated Oakmont’s greens with aplomb, three-putting just once in 90 holes.

Arnold Palmer, front row second from left, and Jack Nicklaus, front row third from left, charge across the turnpike bridge during the playoff of the 1962 U.S. Open. (Oakmont Country Club Archives)

1973: The incredible 63

In what is considered the greatest round in golf history, Johnny Miller shot a final-day 63 that set a U.S. Open record but rocked Oakmont members who pride themselves on the difficulty of their layout. Miller’s epic round came one day after he shot 76 and was aided by a layout softened from consistent rains but also because the sprinkler system was inexplicably left on overnight.

Nonetheless, only seven players broke par-71 on Sunday. Miller began the final round six shots from the lead held by four players, including Arnold Palmer. He hit all 18 greens, and his only bogey came when he three-putted the par-3 eighth — curiously, the flattest green on the course — from 30 feet.

Johnny Miller pumps his fist after making a putt in the final round of the 1973 U.S. Open. (Oakmont Country Club Archives)

1983: Rougher rough and quiet champion

Oakmont wasn’t going to have another 63 ruin its reputation, so they grew and thickened the rough so severely that players openly complained, none more than former U.S. Open champion David Graham, who said, “I will never, ever play an Open at Oakmont, even if I’m lucky enough to be defending champion.”

The rough wasn’t a problem for Oakmont’s head professional, Bob Ford, who became the first host pro to make the cut in a U.S. Open in 24 years. And it wasn’t a problem for quiet, unassuming Larry Nelson, who made a monster 62-foot birdie putt at the par-3 16th that allowed him to hold off Tom Watson, the defending champ who would win the last of his five British Open titles one month later. Nelson set a tournament record for the final 36 holes by shooting 65-67—132.

Larry Nelson holds the U.S. Open Trophy after coming from behind to defeat Tom Watson by a shot at the 1983. (Oakmont Country Club Archives)

1994: Ernie was something Els

After a bogey at the 72nd hole dropped him into a three-man 18-hole playoff, Ernie Els outlasted Colin Montgomerie and Loren Roberts in searing heat on a Monday to claim the first of his four major titles. But the championship was made more memorable because it was the final U.S. Open appearance by hometown legend Arnold Palmer.

The Latrobe native had not played in a U.S. Open in 11 years, since the previous time it was staged at Oakmont in 1983, but the USGA gave him a special exemption to make his final appearance at home. Els began the final round with a two-shot lead but opened with a bogey after a controversial ruling at the first hole and finished with a bogey to shoot 73. Els and Roberts were tied after 18 holes, but the 24-year-old South African two-putted the second sudden death hole for par to claim the title.

South African Ernie Els raises the U.S. Open Trophy after surviving the heat and a three-man playoff in 1994. (Oakmont Country Club Archives)

2007: Cabrera was a tiger

While most of Oakmont’s hierarchy was badly hoping for a Tiger Woods victory that would add the world’s No. 1 player to their pantheon of champions, Angel Cabrera began the final round four shots from the lead and shot 69 to become the first player from Argentina to win a U.S. Open.

Cabrera had a three-shot lead with three holes to play, but bogeys at Nos. 16 and 17 and three consecutive birdies by Jim Furyk created a two-way tie. But Furyk bogeyed the drivable par-4 17th, and Cabrera parred the 72nd hole, forcing Furyk and Woods to birdie the final hole to create a playoff. It was the first of Cabrera’s two major championships. Two years later, he won the Masters.

Tiger Woods stalks the potential tying putt in 2007. (Oakmont Country Club Archives)

2016: Johnson dusts the field

A heavy thunderstorm Thursday turned what was a firm, fast Oakmont track into a softened layout, making the course play about 1 ½ strokes easier per round, according to the superintendent. And that’s about where the winning score posted by Dustin Johnson (4-under 276) finished — approximately five shots better than the average winning score for past major championships at Oakmont.

Despite being assessed a one-shot penalty because his ball inadvertently moved on the fifth green during the final round, Johnson finished off his first major victory with a spectacular 5-iron to 5 feet at the 72nd hole. Johnson began the day tied for second, four shots behind third-round leader Shane Lowry, and shot a final-round 69 to finish three shots clear of Lowry, Jim Furyk and Scott Piercy. It was the second runner-up finish in a row for Furyk at a U.S. Open at Oakmont.

Dustin Johnson strikes his approach from the third hole during the final round of the 2016 U.S. Open. (Oakmont Country Club Archives)