The 1960 U.S. Open was the 60th U.S. Open, held June 16–18 at Cherry Hills Country Club in Cherry Hills Village, Colorado, a suburb south of Denver. Arnold Palmer staged the greatest comeback in U.S. Open history, erasing a seven-stroke deficit during the final round to win his only U.S. Open title. It is remembered as a crossroads for the three primary contenders in the final round: Palmer, Ben Hogan, and amateur Jack Nicklaus, three of the greatest players in the history of golf.

Having already won the Masters, Palmer was half-way to the single-season Grand Slam with his win at Cherry Hills. His quest ended three weeks later at the British Open, when he lost to Kel Nagle by one stroke at St Andrews. Two weeks later, he finished five strokes back in a tie for seventh at the PGA Championship, the only major that eluded him for his career. This was Palmer's only victory at the U.S. Open; he finished second four times, including three losses in playoffs in 1962, 1963, and 1966.

This was the third major championship at Cherry Hills, which previously hosted the U.S. Open in 1938 and the PGA Championship in 1941. The U.S. Open returned in 1978 and the PGA Championship in 1985. The average elevation of the course exceeds above sea level.

Course layout

Hole123456789Out101112131415161718InTotal Yards346410348426538174411233430 3,3164445632123854701964025484683,6887,004Par444453434354534434543671 Source:

Lengths of the course for previous major championships: , par 71 - 1941 PGA Championship , par 71 - 1938 U.S. Open

Round summaries First round Thursday, June 16, 1960 PlacePlayerScoreTo par1 Mike Souchak68−3T2 Jerry Barber69−2 Henry RansomT4 Don Cherry (a)70−1 Bruce Crampton Jack Fleck Huston LaClair Gary Player Doug Sanders Richard Stranahan Joe Taylor

Second round Friday, June 17, 1960 PlacePlayerScoreTo par1 Mike Souchak68-67=135−72 Doug Sanders70-68=138−4T3 Jerry Barber69-71=140−2 Dow Finsterwald71-69=140 Jack Fleck70-70=140T6 Billy Casper71-70=141−1 Don Cherry (a)70-71=141 Bruce Crampton70-71=141 Ted Kroll72-69=141 Sam Snead72-69=141

Amateurs: Cherry (-1), Nicklaus (E), Beman (+6), Fowler (+6), Courtney (+7), Coody (+8), Kocsis (+8), Carmichael (+9), Chapman (+11), Schmidt (+12), Wright (+12), Donohue (+13), Weber (+13), English (+14), Konsek (+14), Moore (+15), Welauffer (+15), Gardner (+16), Rose (+17), Eisinger Jr (+19), Hane (+20).

Third round Saturday, June 18, 1960 - (morning) PlacePlayerScoreTo par1 Mike Souchak68-67-73=208−5T2 Jerry Barber69-71-70=210−3 Julius Boros73-69-68=210 Dow Finsterwald71-69-70=210T5 Ben Hogan75-67-69=211−2 Jack Nicklaus (a)71-71-69=211T7 Don Cherry (a)70-71-71=212−1 Jack Fleck70-70-72=212 Johnny Pott75-68-69=21210 Gary Player70-72-71=213E

Final round Saturday, June 18, 1960 - (afternoon)

Palmer trailed leader Mike Souchak by eight strokes after 36 holes, and by seven shots after 54 holes. Almost everyone believed he was out of contention beginning the final round, tied for fifteenth place. Palmer drove the green on the par-4 1st to set up a two-putt birdie, then chipped in from for birdie at the second. After nearly making an eagle at 3 and tapping in for another birdie, he holed an 18-footer for birdie at 4 then made two more birdies at 6 and 7. He cooled off the rest of his round, finally carding a 65 (−6) for a 280 (−4) total.

Twenty-year-old Jack Nicklaus, the reigning U.S. Amateur champion playing in his fourth Open, was also in contention during the final round, briefly holding the lead after making eagle at 5 and birdie at 9. Two three-putts on the back-nine dropped him to a 282 (−2) total, two strokes behind Palmer. His second-place finish was the best showing by an amateur at the U.S. Open since Johnny Goodman won in 1933. Aiming for a record fifth U.S. Open title at age 47, Ben Hogan was tied for the lead on the 71st tee, a par 5. On his third shot he hit a wedge on to the green but it spun back all the way off the green into the confines of the water hazard fronting the green and made bogey. Needing birdie to tie on 18, he again found water, triple-bogeyed, and finished in a tie for ninth place. Souchak shot a final round 75 on his way to a tie for third.

PlacePlayerScoreTo parMoney ($)1 Arnold Palmer 72-71-72-65=280 −4 14,4002 Jack Nicklaus (a) 71-71-69-71=282 −2 0T3 Julius Boros 73-69-68-73=283 −1 3,950 Dow Finsterwald 71-69-70-73=283 Jack Fleck 70-70-72-71=283 Dutch Harrison 74-70-70-69=283 Ted Kroll 72-69-75-67=283 Mike Souchak 68-67-73-75=283T9 Don Cherry (a) 70-71-71-72=284 E0 Jerry Barber 69-71-70-74=284 1,950 Ben Hogan 75-67-69-73=284 (a) denotes amateur

Source:

Scorecard Arnold Palmer's final round 65 (−6) Hole123456789Out101112131415161718InTotalPar444453434354534434543671 Palmer 333352344304434434543565 {|class="wikitable" span = 50 style="font-size:85%; |- |style="background: Pink;" width=10| |Birdie |style="background: PaleGreen;" width=10| |Bogey |} Source:

References

External links USGA Championship Database Cherry Hills Country Club