US Open – 20 Top Triumphs and Upsets to Remember

#9: Billy Casper was king for a day when he charged past Arnold Palmer to win the 1966 event.

While experts still hold him in high regard, Casper seems to have been unjustly forgotten by many golf fans. That’s a shame – in his heyday, the California native could go toe-to-toe with the greatest of his contemporaries, including Arnold Palmer. Case in point: the 1966 US Open at the Olympic Club saw Casper erase a seven-stroke deficit over the final nine holes to force a playoff with the King, which he won handily.

Casper and Palmer shared the lead at the midway point, but the latter managed to forge a three-stroke lead after Saturday’s third round. On Sunday, he kept his good play going to start the round, extending his lead to seven after the front nine, but he quickly bogeyed two of his next four, stifling any momentum. Casper made just three birdies on the back nine – a bit of a low number for a charge – but Palmer’s total of five bogeys torpedoed his chances, and they completed their rounds with the same score.

Palmer started well in the Monday playoff, but back-to-back birdies for Casper on 12 and 13 allowed him to take a lead that he would not relinquish. He beat his opponent by four, thus completing one of the greatest major comebacks of all time.

Next: 1962: Jack Nicklaus