June 18, 1962

When Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer faced off in the 1962 U.S. Open, their rivalry already had been established. They were paired together in the first two rounds, as Palmer took the lead and Nicklaus hung close. He pulled even with Palmer in the final round and forced a playoff, stamping himself as the top challenge for Palmer's claim as the top golfer with a win in the extra holes. Twenty-two-year-old Nicklaus, in his first full year as a professional, showed considerable poise and maturity as he held off a late playoff charge by Palmer to earn a three-stroke victory.