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1966 U.S. Open (golf)

Field	Value
name	1966 U.S. Open
dates	June 16–20, 1966
location	San Francisco, California
course	Olympic Club, Lake Course
tour	PGA Tour
org	USGA
par	70
yardage	6719 yd
field	151 players,
64 after cut
cut	151 (+11)
purse	$147,490
winners_share	$26,500
champion	USA Billy Casper
score	278 (−2), playoff
previous	[1965](1965-u-s-open-golf)
next	[1967](1967-u-s-open-golf)
map	USA#USA California
map_relief	yes
map_label	Olympic Cllub
map_caption	Location in the United States##Location in California
coordinates

64 after cut The 1966 U.S. Open was the 66th U.S. Open, held June 16–20 at the Lake Course of the Olympic Club in San Francisco, California. Billy Casper, the 1959 champion, staged one of the greatest comebacks in history by erasing a seven-stroke deficit on the final nine holes to tie Arnold Palmer; he then prevailed in an 18-hole playoff to win the second of his three major titles.{{cite magazine |url=https://www.si.com/vault/1966/06/27/609587/at-olympic-a-summit-of-drama http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1078692/index.htm--|magazine=Sports Illustrated |title=At Olympic: a summit of drama |last=Wright |first=Alfred |date=June 27, 1966 |page=22}} It was the fourth playoff in five years at the U.S. Open, and the third for Palmer, the 1960 champion.

Of the fifteen sub-par rounds posted in this U.S. Open, four belonged to Casper. He one-putted 33 greens and did not three-putt a green until the 81st hole.

Three future champions made their major championship debuts and all made the cut: Lee Trevino and collegians Hale Irwin and Johnny Miller. Irwin was entering his senior year at Colorado, where he was also an all-conference defensive back for the Buffaloes in football. Miller was a San Francisco native and junior merit member of the Olympic Club entering his sophomore year at BYU; he finished tied for eighth and was the low amateur by three strokes.

It was the penultimate appearance at the U.S. Open for four-time champion Ben Hogan; he finished twelfth at age 53. Cary Middlecoff, champion in 1949 and 1956, made his final appearance this year but withdrew after the first round. Sam Snead, 54, failed to qualify for the U.S. Open for the first time in thirty years;{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=aGEqAAAAIBAJ&sjid=UE8EAAAAIBAJ&pg=7225%2C206546

The winner's share was $25,000 and both playoff participants received a $1,500 bonus. Daily admission was five dollars for the first two rounds, seven dollars on the weekend, and five for the playoff.

This was the second U.S. Open at the Lake Course of the Olympic Club, the first was in 1955 and also ended in a playoff. The U.S. Open returned in 1987, 1998, and 2012; all three were won by one stroke.

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, June 16, 1966

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	USA Al Mengert	67	−3
T2	USA Don Massengale	68	−2
USA Gene Littler
4	USA Billy Casper	69	−1
T5	USA Phil Rodgers	70	E
AUS Kel Nagle
USA Doug Sanders
USA Johnny Miller (a)
T9	USA Arnold Palmer	71	+1
USA Jack Nicklaus
USA Tony Lema
USA Dave Marr
USA Bob Goalby
USA Wes Ellis
USA Tom Nieporte

Source:

Second round

Friday, June 17, 1966

The grouping of Jack Nicklaus, Tony Lema, and Bruce Devlin was instructed to speed up by a USGA official and Nicklaus promptly made four consecutive bogeys. They had been in the rough often early in the round and finished in less than four and a half hours, but nearly an hour longer than others.

Place	Player	Score	To par
T1	USA Billy Casper	69-68=137	−3
USA Arnold Palmer	71-66=137
T3	USA Phil Rodgers	70-70=140	E
USA Rives McBee	76-64=140
T5	USA Jack Nicklaus	71-71=142	+2
USA Johnny Miller (a)	70-72=142
T7		USA Julius Boros	74-69=143	+3
USA Dave Hill	72-71=143
AUS Kel Nagle	70-73=143
T10	USA Bob Goalby	71-73=144	+4
USA Al Mengert	67-77=144

Source:

Third round

Saturday, June 18, 1966

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	USA Arnold Palmer	71-66-70=207	−3
2	USA Billy Casper	69-68-73=210	E
3	USA Jack Nicklaus	71-71-69=211	+1
T4	USA Phil Rodgers	70-70-73=213	+3
USA Dave Marr	71-74-68=213
6	USA Rives McBee	76-64-74=214	+4
T7		USA Tony Lema	71-74-70=215	+5
USA Bob Goalby	71-73-71=215
USA Al Mengert	67-77-71=215
10	USA Johnny Miller (a)	70-72-74=216	+6

Source:

Final round

Sunday, June 19, 1966

Palmer began the final round with a three-stroke lead over Casper, his partner in the final pairing. Palmer shot 32 (−3) on the front nine and with Casper's 36, the lead was seven strokes at the turn. With his eye on Hogan's U.S. Open scoring record (276 in 1948), Palmer needed to shoot just 36 (+1) on the back nine for 275. But after the turn, his game quickly unravelled; he bogeyed 10, rebounded with a birdie at 12, but bogeyed 13. At the par-3 15th, Casper made birdie and Palmer missed a par putt, dropping the lead to just three. After another birdie-bogey swing at the par-5 16th, Palmer's lead completely disappeared with another bogey at 17. Palmer needed a difficult up-and-down from the rough for par on 18 just to force a playoff.

Palmer shot 39 (+4) on the inward nine, Casper 32 (−3), and the two tied at 278 (−2), seven strokes ahead of solo third-place finisher Jack Nicklaus, the 1962 champion. The Bay Area's affable Tony Lema tied for fourth. He and his wife were killed in a plane crash a month later. Four-time champion Hogan, age 53, shot even par in the final round to finish alone in 12th place and received a standing ovation from the thousands on the hillside overlooking the 18th green.

Place	Player	Score	To par	Money ($)
T1	USA Billy Casper	69-68-73-68=278	−2	Playoff
USA Arnold Palmer	71-66-70-71=278
3	USA Jack Nicklaus	71-71-69-74=285	+5	9,000
T4	USA Tony Lema	71-74-70-71=286	+6	6,500
USA Dave Marr	71-74-68-73=286
6	USA Phil Rodgers	70-70-73-74=287	+7	5,000
7	USA Bobby Nichols	74-72-71-72=289	+9	4,000
T8	USA Wes Ellis	71-75-74-70=290	+10	2,800
USA Doug Sanders	70-75-74-71=290
USA Mason Rudolph	74-72-71-73=290
USA Johnny Miller (a)	70-72-74-74=290	0

:(a) denotes amateur Source:

Scorecard

Hole	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18
Par	5	4	3	4	4	4	4	3	4	4	4	4	3	4	3	5	4	4
USA Casper	E	E	+1	E	+1	+1	+1	+1	+1	+1	+1	E	E	E	−1	−2	−2	−2
USA Palmer	−4	−5	−5	−5	−5	−4	−5	−5	−6	−5	−5	−6	−5	−5	−4	−3	−2	−2
''Palmer's lead	7	6	6	6	5	5	3	1	0	0''	--

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par :{|class="wikitable" span = 50 style="font-size:85%; |- |Double Eagle |Eagle -- |Birdie |Bogey |Double bogey |Triple bogey+ -- |} Source:

Playoff

Monday, June 20, 1966

The 18-hole playoff proved similar to the final round, with a Monday gallery of 12,000 under sunny skies. Palmer took a two-stroke lead to the back nine, only to fall apart once again. The pair halved 10 and 11, but Casper birdied 12 and Palmer bogeyed to even up the playoff with six holes remaining. Palmer bogeyed 14 and 15, then double-bogeyed the par-5 16th. Casper finished with a one-under 69, four strokes ahead of Palmer, who shot a 40 (+5) on the back nine. For Palmer, it marked his third loss in as many playoffs at the U.S. Open (1962, 1963, and 1966).

Place	Player	Score	To par	Money ($)
1	USA Billy Casper	69	−1	26,500
2	USA Arnold Palmer	73	+3	14,000

Included in earnings is a playoff bonus of $1,500 each, from the playoff gate receipts.

Scorecard

Hole	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18
Par	5	4	3	4	4	4	4	3	4	4	4	4	3	4	3	5	4	4
USA Casper	E	E	E	E	+1	+1	E	−1	E	E	E	−1	−2	−2	−2	−1	E	−1
USA Palmer	E	E	E	−1	−1	−1	−2	−2	−2	−2	−2	−1	−1	E	+1	+3	+3	+3

:{|class="wikitable" span = 50 style="font-size:85%; |- |Double Eagle |Eagle -- |Birdie |Bogey |Double bogey |Triple bogey+ -- |} Source:

References

Grimsley, Will. (June 17, 1966). "Mengert takes Open lead with great first round 67". Spokesman-Review.
"U.S. Open history: 1966". USGA.
(June 21, 1966). "Casper coolly collects 2nd U.S. Open". Spokesman-Review.
"US Open 1966: Casper Wins".
(June 20, 1966). "No decision (final round scores)". Toledo Blade.
(June 21, 1966). "Casper wallops Palmer in playoff, 69-73". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Sixty, Billy. (June 16, 1966). "Expensive Day". Milwaukee Journal.
(June 17, 1966). "U.S. Open scores (First round)". Spokesman-Review.
(June 19, 1966). "Feud over, says Jack, after 69". Eugene Register-Guard.
(June 18, 1966). "'Brute' Palmer, Casper deadlocked in U.S. Open". Eugene Register-Guard.
(June 19, 1966). "U.S. Open scores (Second round)". Spokesman-Review.
(June 19, 1966). "Open scores". Eugene Register-Guard.
(June 20, 1966). "Hot Casper catches Arnie to throw Open into playoff". Spokesman-Review.
(June 20, 1966). "Leaders' cards". Montreal Gazette.
(June 21, 1966). "Playoff score cards". Montreal Gazette.

Info: Wikipedia Source

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