Golf's Greatest Championship

The 1960 U.S. Open. Cherry Hills. Denver, Colorado. In the field were the day's top performers, all legends now. At the start of the last round, one of golf's other greats was seven strokes off the pace, virtually out of the running. His name, Arnold Palmer. He called the score he had to shoot in the locker room, came out with fire in his eyes, birdied six of the first seven holes and carried the day by two strokes. Arnie's famous "charge" was indicative of the man who would single-handedly thrust the sport to a level of popularity it had never known. Tom Parker's engaging voice keeps us enthralled, and Blackstone Audiobooks's packaging and presentation are, as always, first-class. M.D.B. (c) AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine

April 28, 1997
Freelancer Graubart, whose articles have appeared in Golf Journal, makes a convincing case here for adjudging the 1960 U.S. Open, held at Cherry Hills Country Club in Denver, the greatest links tournament to date. In part, its special significance arose because three "generations" of golfers participated: old-timers such as Ben Hogan and Sam Snead, who started to make their reputations in the '30s and '40s; rising stars such as Arnold Palmer and Gary Player; and very Young Turks like Jack Nicklaus, only 20 at the time and still an amateur. The author interviewed many of the participating golfers for this book. The all-but-forgotten Mike Souchak led for the first three rounds but crashed on the last. Hogan, whose putting had been shaky ever since his near-fatal car crash of 1949, had two great rounds but also two poor ones, including the final 18, when he faded. Nicklaus led for a while, even in the final round, but had trouble with the last few holes and finished second. Palmer, seven strokes behind the leader at the end of 54 holes, shot an amazing 65 for the final round to win. When the final scores were posted, eight players were within three strokes of one another, one more reason to deem this contest enormously exciting, and Graubart captures all the suspense. Photos not seen by PW.