Ronald Reagan was president and “Flashdance … What a Feeling” topped the charts in June 1983 when Larry Nelson won the U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club just outside Pittsburgh, the site of the national championship, which begins on Thursday. Nelson defeated Tom Watson by a stroke to clinch the second of his three major titles.
The two were tied when play in the final round was suspended because of rain with a few holes to play. The next morning, Nelson, who is now 77, made a 62-footer on No. 16 to seize a lead he didn’t relinquish.
Nelson, who served in Vietnam and didn’t pick up the game until he was 21, recently spoke about the week at Oakmont.
This conversation has been edited and condensed.
Is Oakmont the toughest course on the planet?
It can be, depending on the way that it is set up. The Open in 1983 was one of the toughest I ever played.
How were you feeling going into the week?
The year had not been all that good, even though it felt like I was playing pretty good. A lot of things happened the week of the Open. As a matter of fact, my family and I flew up on Monday, but my clubs didn’t get there until Tuesday afternoon. Probably the best thing that could have happened, because I spent a lot of time putting. Anyway, I felt like I was as ready as I could possibly be on Thursday and got off to kind of a rough start.
What happened?
Maybe I was getting a little too tense. When I was looking down the fairway, I could see the rough and bunkers, and I remembered what Jack Nicklaus did. He picked out a spot six to eight inches in front of the ball and lined it up from that spot. I did something a little differently. I decided I wouldn’t look up so I wouldn’t see all that stuff out there.
How did that help you?
I could swing the club without having to worry where it was going to go. And, in doing that, I found out my swing was actually pretty good that week.
Did the rain delay help you?
I don’t know if it helped me, but it certainly didn’t hurt me.
Is it true that when the putt on 16 was 10 feet away you knew it would go in?
When it got over the last little level, it was dead center. The greens were perfect.
Taking up golf so late, are you satisfied with the career you had?
When I started playing golf, it was to make more money than I spent. It wasn’t until 1979 when I finished second on the money list to Watson that I said maybe I can make a living playing golf. Before that, it was a year-to-year type thing.
What took so long for you to play?
I loved baseball, got drafted into the Army out of college, sent to Vietnam, so two years of my life were taken in the military. When I got back from Vietnam, I hurt my arm pitching. I played pool. Gayle, my wife, wanted to keep me out of pool halls, so she bought me a set of clubs in 1969 for Christmas. So, in the spring, I started playing golf and qualified for the tour in 1973.
How do you think Vietnam shaped your career?
The only thing about Vietnam that probably helped me was that pressure didn’t bother me quite as much. It wasn’t life-ending to miss a putt. Not that I never got disappointed when I missed one, but it was so much better than having somebody shooting at you.
Who are you picking for the U.S. Open this year?
It would be hard not to pick Scottie Scheffler. It’s going to require a thinker, not a long-ball hitter. Oakmont was not exceedingly long when we played. It’s one of those courses where you need to just get it in play, and you have to be really careful where you hit your iron shot into the greens. You just can’t brutalize that golf course.
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