First round Thursday, June 14, 1962 Defending champion Littler took the first round lead with a 69 (−2) before a record opening round gallery of 17,486, mostly following Palmer in the afternoon, paired with Nicklaus. The previous record was 13,916 in
1960 near
Denver.
Second round Friday, June 15, 1962 Palmer carded a 68 in the morning and
Bob Rosburg a 69 to co-lead after 36 holes at 139 (−3), with Nicklaus three strokes back in a tie for fourth. Palmer and Nicklaus were paired together in the first two rounds. The second round attendance record was broken with 19,971 in the gallery, surpassing the previous mark of 15,225 set in
1961 near
Detroit.
Third round Saturday, June 16, 1962 - (morning) Final round Saturday, June 16, 1962 - (afternoon) After 54 holes at Oakmont, Palmer held a share of the lead with
Bobby Nichols, with
Phil Rodgers and
Bob Rosburg a stroke back, and Nicklaus and
Gary Player two back. Rosburg shot a 79 (+8) in the final round and quickly fell out of contention, while Nichols and Rodgers carded scores of 73 and 72, respectively, to share 3rd place. But the story of this day was the duel between Palmer and Nicklaus. Although he bogeyed the 9th, Palmer still led Nicklaus as they made the turn. That would change quickly as Nicklaus birdied 11 and Palmer bogeyed 13, evening up the score. Nicklaus missed a birdie attempt at the last to finish with a 69, while Palmer missed a birdie at 18 from that would have won the championship. This set up an 18-hole playoff between golf's most popular player and the game's rising star. Source:
Scorecard Final round Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par : Source: Palmer then launched one of his patented charges with birdies at 9, 11, and 12 to close within one, but a three-putt bogey at 13 proved to be costly for Palmer. Nicklaus held him off from there and prevailed by three strokes, carding a 71 to Palmer's 74. Nicklaus won the championship on the greens; he had just one three-putt the entire week, while Palmer had 10. Nicklaus became the youngest winner of the U.S. Open since
Bobby Jones in
1923, and became the first since Jones to hold the Open and the
U.S. Amateur championship at the same time; he had won the Amateur the previous year before turning pro in the winter. For Palmer, this began a frustrating stretch as a runner-up in four U.S. Opens in six years, with three in playoffs. His words after the tournament proved prophetic, saying of Nicklaus: "Now that the big guy is out of the cage, everybody better run for cover." • Included in earnings is a playoff bonus of $2,500 each, from the playoff gate receipts. ==References==