76 Golf WorldAugust 2017
defined the decade. Arriving in New Jersey, Palmer had
won six major championships during the 1960s and
had 15 additional top-10 major finishes. Nicklaus also
had six majors along with 10 other top 10s in that span.
But five years since the US Open play-off in which
Nicklaus beat Palmer – the younger man establishing
himself as a serious threat to the throne – Nicklaus had
the major mojo, winning three since Palmer’s last.
Still, Palmer had played better than Nicklaus in 1967,
winning twice to the Golden Bear’s lone title. Nicklaus’
putting was an uncharacteristic problem going into the
US Open, and he had shot opening-round 77s in two
recent tournaments. But his putting fortunes changed
as he prepared at Baltusrol a week before the championship
thanks to Fred Mueller, an amateur friend of Beman’s
and sales representative for Jantzen sportswear. Playing
a practice round, Nicklaus became intrigued by Mueller’s
centre-shafted Bulls Eye model, painted white to make
it easier “to keep an eye on the stroke and tell if the
blade was open or closed”. Mueller let Nicklaus borrow
the club, which would come to be known as ‘White
Fang’, and the Golden Bear made six consecutive birdies
in his last practice round on the Lower Course and shot
a 62. “It gives me confidence,” he smiled.
With Palmer shooting 69-68 and Nicklaus 71-67,
they were one-two going into the third round and
paired together for the first time while contending for a
major title since Oakmont in ’62. Despite Nicklaus’
ascension in the game – or perhaps because of it – the
gallery seemed as much pro-Palmer as it had been in the
Pennsylvanian’s backyard five years earlier. You were
either Arnie or Jack, the divide as firm as a barrier in the
middle of a Jersey highway. “Nicklaus’ friend PutPiermandescribeditasa“brutalenvironment”.While
there were cardboard cut-outs in support of Palmer
visible among the periscopes, large signs among ‘Arnie’s
Army’ carried a different message to Nicklaus. ‘Right
Here, Jack’, read one the size of a blanket located exactly
where Nicklaus wouldn’t want his ball to land.
The commotion outside the ropes wasn’t helping the
mood inside them. “Let’s stop playing each other,”
Nicklaus told Palmer on the 8th tee, “and play the golf
course.” But neither played well on the Saturday,
shooting 72 and 73 respectively to tie Casper at even-
par 210 and trail Fleckman by one.Sunday Service
In one of the early bows of a sports body to television,
the USGA sent the leaders out very late on Sunday
afternoon. Nicklaus and Palmer teed off at 3:08 with
Casper and Fleckman in the final pairing at 3:19. Taut
with tension, Fleckman wilted early and would end
with an 80. As he fell, the galleries watched enthralled
as the two titans took over at the top of the leaderboard.
“I’ve been in a lot of Arnold Palmer and Jack
Nicklaus galleries,” ABC’s Jim McKay said on the air,
“and I’ve never seen one with the enthusiasm and vitality
this one has.”Palmer never
regained his
composure
after the 7th.‘The atmosphere was brutal. You were
for Arnie or you were for Jack, the divide
as firm as a barrier down the highway’