The U.S. Open is more than just another golf tournament.
When the 125th U.S. Open comes to the Oakmont County Club this summer. It marks a record 10th time the event has been held in Western Pennsylvania.
“Just look at the trophy and see 1927 so we’ve spent almost 100 years of U.S. Opens at Oakmont and think about some of the great players who have won here,” said USGA Museum and World Gold Hall of Fame Director Mike Trostel.
Over those 98 years, there have been a lot of memorable moments.
“Ben Hogan in his Triple Crown season of 1953 when he won all three majors he entered. Jack Nicklaus, who holds the record for 18 major championships, won his very first one at Oakmont in 1962. Johnny Miller played arguably the greatest round in golf history, a final round 63 in the 1973 US Open. other great champions like Ernie Ells, and then Dustin Johnson in 2016. Really, when you think of the U.S. Open, Oakmont is almost synonymous with that championship,” said Trostel.
For one of the most iconic Opens at Oakmont, you have to go back to 1962, when the rivalry between Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus was ignited.
“Nicholas had just turned pro the year before, and Palmer’s competing at Oakmont, essentially in his backyard, not too far away from Latrobe, Pennsylvania, where he grew up. The fans [were] rooting hard for Arnie, but Jack, I think, at the time, no one knew quite how good he would become,” Trostel said.
Palmer’s place in sports history is woven into the fabric of golf’s legacy in the Western Pennsylvania area.
“When you think of golf and Western PA it really is Arnold Palmer. It begins and ends there. And Arnold did so many great things for the game, for the fans. He had this swashbuckling style, hard-charging style. He was a motive. He was handsome. Everything he did was cool,” Trostel said.
As a new chapter in Oakmont history will be written in just a few short months, golfers are looking to add to their legacy at one of the cathedrals of the sport.
“If you won at Pebble Beach, at Pinehurst, at Oakmont, that really matters,” Trostel said.
The U.S. Open kicks off on June 12th on Channel 11.
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