Oakmont memories: Jack, Arnie, O.J., and Johnny Miller’s 63

OAKMONT, Pa. — This is a tale of a kid from San Francisco who became a champion, Johnny Miller. 

And, of a kid from San Francisco who became a pariah, O.J. Simpson. 

And of a kid who became probably the best golfer in history, Jack Nicklaus.

And of a kid, when no longer a kid, helped turn the game into the intriguing and popular sport it has become, Arnold Palmer.

And of a golf course above the Allegheny River in Pennsylvania, to which all the individuals are linked.

And also has a unique connection with a sportswriter, me.

For the tenth time, the golfing championship of our nation, the U.S. Open, will be played at historic, captivating Oakmont starting Thursday. It’s unlikely the future can match what happened there during the Opens of the past. On the course where, in 1973, Miller set a record low score that lasted some fifty years, 63. Or off the course, where OJ’s memorable pursuit by the police on the Southern California freeways. That happened on June 17th, which was my anniversary. 

Now come the personal references. 

Until 1965, the US Open schedule required the final 36 holes to be played on Saturday, which meant that if there was a tie, there would be an 18-hole playoff on Sunday. 

Which is what happened in 1962. In that playoff match, it was the big guy from Columbus, Ohio, Nicklaus, and the local favorite, Arnold Palmer, who lived just thirty miles away in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. I was at the Santa Monica Evening Outlook. I saw Jack winning on TV. I couldn’t cover it because I was getting married that day.

But I know that Arnie, a bit shaken, said, “Now that the cage is open, everybody better run for cover.”

Arnie had another chance at Oakmont in 1973. He was one of the leaders going into the last day. But Miller, six shots behind and in 13th place, started with four consecutive birdies, and had closed to within two before the leaders had even teed off.

When I was a golf writer for the Chronicle, Miller finished eighth in the 1966 US Open at San Francisco’s Olympic Club. We became friendly at a time when writers and athletes had no problems talking to one another.

Johnny’s triumph at Oakmont was great news in the Bay Area, of course, and I was fortunate to be peripherally linked. What stays in my mind that day was John’s wife, Linda, who had stayed back to pack for their trip home, dashing to the course in time to watch her husband win.

That other guy, O.J. Simpson, I covered when he was at USC and later with the Bills and Niners. He was always cooperative during interviews. Who knew?

Miller, the one-time boy wonder at San Francisco’s Lincoln High—the same school that produced another U.S. Open champion, Ken Venturi—turned 78 a few weeks ago. Always outspoken and painfully honest, he went from the fairways—he also won a British Open—to the airwaves, starring as a TV commentator for a long while. He wasn’t afraid of taking a shot or taking credit.

That last round at Oakmont in ‘73, he not only overtook Arnie, but also stars such as Jerry Heard, Tom Weiskopf, Lee Trevino, and Julius Boros.

“It was just all the who’s who in golf who were vying for that U.S. Open,” Miller told Bob Harig, then of Sports Illustrated, a couple of years ago. “I had to go through all those guys to win it outright. That’s what makes the story of the round honorable. Makes it cool.”

It was more than that. For decades, it was untouchable.