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ArnoldPalmer1962Cropped

1962 / Royal Troon

Arnold Palmer had attracted large galleries when he played at St Andrews and Royal Birkdale but even bigger crowds swarmed over Troon as the wildly popular American defended his title in 1962.

Palmer also encouraged some of his countrymen to make the trip over, including Gene Littler, Phil Rodgers and 22-year-old US Open champion Jack Nicklaus.

On his debut, Nicklaus had a 10 at the 11th and rounds of 80 and 79 in finishing 34th but thereafter he would rarely be out of the top-three for the next couple of decades.

Troon’s fairways were sun-baked and running fast, much to Palmer’s liking. He did not hold back from his attacking style, not even at the dangerous par-5 11th, with the railway line close to the right side of the fairway.

He made two birdies and an eagle in the second round when he hit a 1-iron off the tee and then a 2-iron to 14 feet.

Rounds of 71 and 69 put Palmer two ahead of Kel Nagle, the 1960 Champion Golfer. A 67 in the third round put Palmer five clear and he birdied the last for a closing 69 to win by six from the Australian.

Rodgers and Brian Huggett shared third place a whopping 13 strokes behind the Champion Golfer. Palmer’s winning total of 276 beat the old record by two shots and would not be bettered until 1977.

He became only the second player after Ben Hogan in 1953 to win the Masters and The Open in the same year. He did not win the Claret Jug again but had helped re-establish the game’s oldest major as also the most important.

Name
Finish
R1
R2
R3
R4
Total
Par
Arnold PALMER
Champion Golfer
1
71
69
67
69
276
-
Kel NAGLE
2
71
71
70
70
282
-
Phil RODGERS
3
75
70
72
72
289
-
Brian HUGGETT
3
75
71
74
69
289
-
Sir Bob CHARLES
5
75
70
70
75
290
-
Sam SNEAD
6
76
73
72
71
292
-
Peter THOMSON
6
70
77
75
70
292
-
Peter ALLISS
8
77
69
74
73
293
-
Dave THOMAS
8
77
70
71
75
293
-
Syd SCOTT
10
77
74
75
68
294
-
Ralph MOFFITT
11
75
70
74
76
295
-
Sebastian MIGUEL
12
72
79
73
72
296
-
Jean GARAIALDE
12
76
73
76
71
296
-
Ross WHITEHEAD
12
74
75
72
75
296
-
Harry WEETMAN
12
75
73
73
75
296
-
Jimmy MARTIN
16
73
72
76
76
297
-
John PANTON
16
74
73
79
71
297
-
Roger FOREMAN
16
77
73
72
75
297
-
Christy O'CONNOR SR
16
74
78
73
72
297
-
Dennis HUTCHINSON
16
78
73
76
70
297
-
Bernard HUNT
16
74
75
75
73
297
-
Tony COOP
22
76
75
75
72
298
-
Donald SWAELENS
23
72
79
74
74
299
-
Guy WOLSTENHOLME
24
78
74
76
72
300
-
Lionel PLATTS
24
76
75
78
71
300
-
Brian BAMFORD
24
77
73
74
76
300
-
Hugh BOYLE
27
73
78
74
76
301
-
Keith MACDONALD
27
69
77
76
79
301
-
George LOW
29
77
75
77
73
302
-
Harold HENNING
30
74
73
79
77
303
-
Jimmy HITCHCOCK
30
78
74
72
79
303
-
Harry BRADSHAW
30
72
75
81
75
303
-
Doug BEATTIE
33
72
75
79
78
304
-
Jack NICKLAUS
34
80
72
74
79
305
-
Eric BROWN
34
74
78
79
74
305
-
Johnny JOHNSON
36
76
74
81
76
307
-
Charles GREEN
37
76
75
81
76
308
-
Don ESSIG
37
76
72
79
81
308
-
David MILLER
39
76
74
81
78
309
-
Tom HALIBURTON
M/C
78
75
-
-
-
M/C
Gary PLAYER
M/C
74
79
-
-
-
M/C
Alex CAYGILL
M/C
76
77
-
-
-
M/C
Joe CARR
M/C
77
76
-
-
-
M/C
J.R. MOSES
M/C
75
78
-
-
-
M/C
A. SINCLAIR
M/C
77
76
-
-
-
M/C
Arthur FINNEY
M/C
74
79
-
-
-
M/C
Gene LITTLER
M/C
79
74
-
-
-
M/C
John CANNON
M/C
75
78
-
-
-
M/C
Darrell WELSH
M/C
75
78
-
-
-
M/C
Sandy SADDLER
M/C
76
77
-
-
-
M/C
David BEARD
M/C
80
73
-
-
-
M/C
Gregor MCINTOSH
M/C
76
78
-
-
-
M/C
Ken BOUSFIELD
M/C
77
77
-
-
-
M/C
Jack ISAACS
M/C
76
78
-
-
-
M/C
Peter BUTLER
M/C
72
82
-
-
-
M/C
John JACOBS
M/C
79
75
-
-
-
M/C
Dai REES
M/C
75
79
-
-
-
M/C
Sam KING
M/C
79
75
-
-
-
M/C
Tony FISHER
M/C
79
75
-
-
-
M/C
J.E. STUART
M/C
77
77
-
-
-
M/C
Ian MACDONALD
M/C
77
77
-
-
-
M/C
Adina Test
M/C
80
75
-
-
-
M/C
David SNELL
M/C
77
78
-
-
-
M/C
T.M. GOODWIN
M/C
81
74
-
-
-
M/C
Ronnie SHADE
M/C
81
74
-
-
-
M/C
W.A. EDGAR
M/C
77
78
-
-
-
M/C
J.K. CLARK
M/C
75
80
-
-
-
M/C
David BLAIR
M/C
77
78
-
-
-
M/C
Bill LARGE
M/C
76
79
-
-
-
M/C
George WILL
M/C
79
76
-
-
-
M/C
Bobby LOCKE
M/C
78
77
-
-
-
M/C
Paul RUNYAN
M/C
79
77
-
-
-
M/C
Frank MILLER
M/C
75
81
-
-
-
M/C
Derek CRAIK
M/C
79
77
-
-
-
M/C
Rodney FOSTER
M/C
78
78
-
-
-
M/C
George JOHNSON
M/C
79
77
-
-
-
M/C
Campbell CRAIG
M/C
80
76
-
-
-
M/C
Martin CHRISTMAS
M/C
80
76
-
-
-
M/C
Jack SHARKEY
M/C
77
79
-
-
-
M/C
J.S. MORE
M/C
78
78
-
-
-
M/C
Norman DREW
M/C
77
79
-
-
-
M/C
Bruce DEVLIN
M/C
74
82
-
-
-
M/C
Lew TAYLOR
M/C
76
81
-
-
-
M/C
Brian WILKES
M/C
75
82
-
-
-
M/C
James WALKER
M/C
80
77
-
-
-
M/C
G. GLEDHILL
M/C
77
80
-
-
-
M/C
W.W. EVANS
M/C
77
80
-
-
-
M/C
Barry DAVIES
M/C
79
78
-
-
-
M/C
Walter LEES
M/C
80
77
-
-
-
M/C
Jim HENDERSON
M/C
81
77
-
-
-
M/C
Ramon SOTA
M/C
78
80
-
-
-
M/C
Jaime GALLARDO
M/C
79
79
-
-
-
M/C
Malcolm LEEDER
M/C
76
82
-
-
-
M/C
Cyril PENNINGTON
M/C
79
80
-
-
-
M/C
Charlie WARD
M/C
83
76
-
-
-
M/C
W.C.A. HANCOCK
M/C
79
80
-
-
-
M/C
R. MASON
M/C
78
81
-
-
-
M/C
Norman VON NIDA
M/C
82
78
-
-
-
M/C
John MACDONALD
M/C
78
82
-
-
-
M/C
Arthur LEES
M/C
78
83
-
-
-
M/C
I.A. MACCASKILL
M/C
79
82
-
-
-
M/C
Bill HECTOR
M/C
81
80
-
-
-
M/C
Arnold STICKLEY
M/C
82
79
-
-
-
M/C
M. BUSK
M/C
82
79
-
-
-
M/C
Max FAULKNER
M/C
84
77
-
-
-
M/C
Grant AITKEN
M/C
83
78
-
-
-
M/C
David TALBOT
M/C
82
80
-
-
-
M/C
Sandy WILSON
M/C
85
77
-
-
-
M/C
J.H. MORRISON
M/C
83
80
-
-
-
M/C
J.T. BROWN
M/C
81
82
-
-
-
M/C
Roger COTTON
M/C
79
85
-
-
-
M/C
R.M. SMITH
M/C
79
85
-
-
-
M/C
D. BETHUNE
M/C
87
78
-
-
-
M/C
Tony REES
M/C
80
85
-
-
-
M/C
Bobby VERWEY
M/C
84
81
-
-
-
M/C
David BELL
M/C
86
82
-
-
-
M/C
Jack HARGREAVES
M/C
86
83
-
-
-
M/C
Andre LECLERCQ
M/C
83
87
-
-
-
M/C
Terence LEE
M/C
90
84
-
-
-
M/C

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