Jack Nicklaus and Johnny Miller, US golf legends who won their first major titles at Oakmont, on Saturday advised patience in the face of US Open pressure for potential contenders.
Nicklaus, 85, won a record 18 major titles, the first of them at Oakmont in the 1962 US Open while Miller, 78, set a then-major record with a closing 63 to win the 1973 US Open at Oakmont.
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“I was talking to some of the guys in the locker room a few minutes ago,” Nicklaus said.
“I said, Well, putting is the key out here. I three-putted the 55th green. I had one three-putt that week and I’m still ticked off I three-putted that one. That was sort of my mindset.
“Basically you had to figure these greens out and not let them get to you, and be patient. One-under par won the tournament, and one-under par doesn’t win a lot of tournaments today, but it did then.”
It might again this year, with Sam Burns leading on three-under 137, fellow American J.J. Spaun one back and Norway’s Viktor Hovland on 139 as the only under-par players for 36 holes.
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“Patience. Basically that’s what you have to have,” Nicklaus said. “I adjusted my play a lot to who was on the leaderboard. That’s basically what I think guys do if they want to win. They need to know where they are, what their competition is doing and they need to be patient with themselves and play good solid golf.”
Miller said it was crucial to avoid Oakmont’s deep rough but also to be able to cope with the tension.
“You’ve got to be able to handle the US Open pressure,” Miller said. “There’s a lot of guys… that the thought of winning a US Open is a little out of their comfort zone, so there’s only a certain kind of player that can win a US Open.
“I thought the greatness of golf was the choke factor. I just still think the greatness of golf is to be able to handle pressure.”
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Both men won at Oakmont after playing alongside local hero Arnold Palmer and in front devoted “Arnie’s Army” legion of fans.
“The key was to beat Arnold Palmer,” Nicklaus said. “I didn’t know anything about Oakmont. I came in 10 days before the tournament and played a couple of times.
“I finished second in ’60 and fourth in ’61 (as best amateur each time) and I sort of felt like this was my Open. I didn’t realize that, as a 22-year-old might not, that I was in Arnold Palmer’s backyard.”
Miller recalled his own travails alongside Palmer.
“I had played with Arnold Palmer the first two rounds, which back in those days, was a crazy experience,” Miller said. “His gallery, they were crazy. Crazy good. To get through the gauntlet of playing with Arnold on the first two rounds was pretty good.”
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