U.S. Open: In 1983, Larry Nelson Conquered Oakmont
He won the U.S. Open on the course where this year’s tournament is being held.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.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More
