Jack's First Major

[turtleback]

Anyone catch the hour-long Golf Channel show about Jack's first major, when he beat Arnie in a playoff for the US Open at Oakmont in 1962?  I don't know if it was new, or a repeat, but I really enjoyed it.  For anyone who knows the history it didn't really break any new ground but there was lots of great color video of the event.  It gave a lot of the back story and showed how the sainted Arnie had fans that were far more obnoxious than anything Tiger brought into the game.  I also though that Arnie kind of wimped out a little, since he said he was disturbed by the behavior of his fans towards Jack but he never seemed to do anything to get them to stop.  Karma prevailed.

TGC also has a show coming up on 9/12 where Jack, Arnie, Gary, and Lee sit down for a roundtable discussion.  I already have it set to record.

[bplewis24]

I watched it a month ago, or so when (I think) it originally aired.

For somebody like me who isn't much of a golf historian, it was pretty revealing.  I always knew that Arnie was considered a media darling and fan favorite.  But I didn't realize how discourteous they were towards Jack.

[turtleback]

Originally Posted by bplewis24

I watched it a month ago, or so when (I think) it originally aired.

For somebody like me who isn't much of a golf historian, it was pretty revealing.  I always knew that Arnie was considered a media darling and fan favorite.  But I didn't realize how discourteous they were towards Jack.

I must have missed it first time around.  Glad I caught it this time.  I am a bit of a golf history buff so I knew about it - but hearing guys like Player talking about it brought it home more.

There is a good book called Arnie and Jack: Palmer, Nicklaus, and Golf's Greatest Rivalry by Ian O'Connor about the whole Jack/Arnie relationship.  The interesting thing is that each guy envied the other.  Arnie envied Jack his sterling record and Jack envied Arnie his unparalleled popularity.

The show also reminded me about those Oakmont bunkers and the way they used those wide-tooth rakes to rake furrows at right angles to the line of play so the balls would nestle down.  I think Jack did the bunkers at Muirfield Village for the Memorial a similar way a couple of times and there was weeping and gnashing of teeth.

[TourSpoon]

I would love to see this. Let us know if you see it popping up on TGC again.