1960 U.S. Open

1960 U.S. Open

Tournament information
Dates	June 16–18, 1960
Location	Englewood, Colorado
Course(s)	Cherry Hills Country Club
Tour(s)	PGA Tour
Statistics
Par	71
Field	150, 55 after cut
Cut	147 (+5)
Winner's share	$14,400
Champion
Arnold Palmer
280 (–4)

The 1960 U.S. Open was the 60th U.S. Open. The golf tournament was held June 16–18, 1960, at Cherry Hills Country Club in Englewood, Colorado. Arnold Palmer staged the greatest comeback in U.S. Open history, erasing a seven-stroke deficit during the final round to win his first U.S. Open title.

Arnold 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. Palmer drove the green on the par-4 1st to set up a two-putt birdie, then chipped in 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 for a 280 total. It was the lowest final round in U.S. Open history. Twenty-year-old amateur Jack Nicklaus 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, however, dropped him to a 282 total, two strokes behind Palmer. His second place finish was the best showing by an amateur since Johnny Goodman won the 1933 U.S. Open. Ben Hogan, aiming for a record fifth Open title, was tied for the lead before finding the water on his last two holes and finished in 9th, four back of Palmer. Souchak, meanwhile, struggled to a 75 and finished in 3rd.

Having already won The Masters, Palmer was half-way to the single-season Grand Slam with his win here. His quest, however, ended at the British Open when he lost to Kel Nagle by one-stroke. The 1960 U.S. Open would be the only Open that Palmer would win in his career, although he finished second four times, including three losses in U.S. Open playoffs.

Round summaries

First round

#	Player	Country	Score	To par
1	Mike Souchak	United States	68	–3
T2	Jerry Barber	United States	69	–2
	Henry Ransom	United States
T3	Don Cherry (a)	United States	70	–1
	Bruce Crampton	Australia
	Jack Fleck	United States
	Huston LaClair	United States
	Gary Player	South Africa
	Doug Sanders	United States
	Richard Stranahan	United States
	Joe Taylor	United States

Second round

#	Player	Country	Score	To par
1	Mike Souchak	United States	68-67=135	–7
2	Doug Sanders	United States	70-68=138	–4
T3	Jerry Barber	United States	69-71=140	–2
	Dow Finsterwald	United States	71-69=140
	Jack Fleck	United States	70-70=140
T7	Billy Casper	United States	71-70=141	–1
	Don Cherry (a)	United States	70-71=141
	Bruce Crampton	United States	70-71=141
	Ted Kroll	United States	72-69=141
	Sam Snead	United States	72-69=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

#	Player	Country	Score	To par
1	Mike Souchak	United States	68-67-73=208	–5
T2	Jerry Barber	United States	69-71-70=210	–3
	Julius Boros	United States	73-69-68=210
	Dow Finsterwald	United States	71-69-70=210
T5	Ben Hogan	United States	75-67-69=211	–2
	Jack Nicklaus (a)	United States	71-71-69=211
T7	Don Cherry (a)	United States	70-71-71=212	–1
	Jack Fleck	United States	70-70-72=212
	Johnny Pott	United States	75-68-69=212
10	Gary Player	South Africa	70-72-71=213	E

Final leaderboard

#	Player	Country	Score	To par	Winnings ($)
1	Arnold Palmer	United States	72-71-72-65=280	–4	14,400
2	Jack Nicklaus (a)	United States	71-71-69-71=282	–2	0
T3	Julius Boros	United States	73-69-68-73=283	–1	3,950
	Dow Finsterwald	United States	71-69-70-73=283
	Jack Fleck	United States	70-70-72-71=283
	Dutch Harrison	United States	74-70-70-69=283
	Ted Kroll	United States	72-69-75-67=283
	Mike Souchak	United States	68-67-73-75=283
T9	Jerry Barber	United States	69-71-70-74=284	E	1,950
	Don Cherry (a)	United States	70-71-71-72=284		0
	Ben Hogan	United States	75-67-69-73=284		1,950

(a) denotes amateur

External links

• 1960 U.S. Open
• USGA Championship Database