The British Open: A quiz
By Bill Felber
Jack Nicklaus, British Open rookie
A. Somewhere down on the leader board
The 1962 Open at Troon is memorable for two reasons. It’s first and foremost memorable because Arnold Palmer charmed the Scottish galleries to his second of two successive Open titles, defeating Kel Nagle by a decisive six strokes.
It was Palmer’s sixth of an eventual seven Major wins.
It’s also memorable for the debut of Nicklaus, who would soon supersede Palmer as the star of American golf.
But 1962 was not that year. Possibly confused and certainly inexperienced with the ways and means of British golf, the U.S. Open champ played indifferently. He tied somebody named Eric Brown for 34th place, a numbing 34 strokes behind Palmer.
Nicklaus would quickly figure out the British game. Third in 1963 and second in 1964, he won the 1966 event, his first of three Open titles and his third of an astonishing 16 top five placings. More mind-numbing, 11 of those top fives came in succession between 1970 and 1980.
Question 8. Between Nicklaus’ last win in 1978 and Tiger Woods’ first in 2000, three players won three British Opens? Name them.
Greg Norman, Seve Ballesteros and Nick Price
Tom Watson, Nick Faldo and Bernhard Langer
Seve Ballesteros, Tom Watson and Nick Faldo