Golf’s Greatest Championship: The 1960 U.S. Open

Summary

The 1960 US Open Golf Championship played at Cherry Hills Country Club in Denver, Colorado, remains perhaps the most dramatic, competitive, and passionate of all US Open championships. In 1960, the young lions of the game were eager to reach the top-tier occupied by venerable players such as Ben Hogan and Sam Snead. In this championship game, only a single stroke separated the three leaders—Ben Hogan, Arnold Palmer, and a young but talented amateur named Jack Nicklaus—on the final two holes. The stunning conclusion would prove to be a watershed in the lives of all three players and in the game itself.

Golf's Greatest Championship recounts that fateful game—from the 8:00 a.m. first-round tee-off to the finish—bringing alive a near-mythic moment in modern golf. Along for the journey are some of the greatest players of the time, including Sam Snead, Gary Player, Ken Venturi, Tommy Bolt, Billy Casper, Julius Boros, Bob Rosburg, Dow Finsterwald, Gene "the Machine" Littler, and Art Wall. Golf's Greatest Championship is a suspenseful, richly detailed chronicle of this epic chapter in the game of golf.