Arnie's Final U.S. Open: Drives Down Memory Lane

OAKMONT, Pa. - Arnold Palmer is playing in his last U.S. Open this week.

Fittingly, his farewell is taking place at Oakmont Country Club, a course he played as man and boy for some 50 years. A course where he has already played four U.S. Opens and where he lost one to Jack Nicklaus in a playoff in 1962, when Arnie was king and Jack was a crewcut kid who had turned pro just a few months earlier.

Yesterday, they played a practice round together, Arnie, 64, and Jack, 54, along with a couple of young fellows, defending champion Lee Janzen and Rocco Mediate.

When they had finished, Palmer and Nicklaus sat together, towels around their shoulders like fighters, or old men concerned about the air conditioning, and talked.

Now, the end is near.

"I'm not unhappy," Arnie said. "Everything comes to an end. I really thought I had ended my U.S. Opens several years ago (he hasn't played in one since 1983), but being able to come back here is icing on the cake. And it should be my final Open. It's that time.

"I'd like to play some respectable golf . . . but the chances of that are, on a scale of one-to-10, about a three or four. I'll still enjoy the week. The golf course is going to provide some excitement and this is a great field.

"That's what it's all about, and has been since the day I started. It's been fun and it will be fun this week."

Palmer said the first time he played Oakmont, he was about 12 years old.

"It was one of the most exciting days of my life," he said. "I remember details. I thought it was the most elegant locker room in the world. I remember the carpeting in the clubhouse. The Pennsylvania Turnpike wasn't even here. That was a railroad track. I used to stand on the bridge and watch the trains go by."

Nicklaus leaned over and whispered something in Palmer's ear and they laughed heartily.

"He asked me if there were cars then," said Palmer.

Palmer and Nicklaus, the greatest of their eras and among the greatest of all time, were partners in a little match with Janzen and Mediate yesterday. It cost the two Hall of Famers about $50 apiece. Nicklaus said, "When I won here, I three-putted once in 90 holes. Today, I probably three-putted seven or eight times, wouldn't you say, Arnie?"

Palmer deadpanned, "If we could play alternate shots, we'd be OK. If I could drive it, Jack could get it on the greens and somebody else could putt for us, we'd do OK."