After two rounds, he was at even par, seven shots off the lead and wasn’t even the low amateur (Don Cherry was at 1 under). But on the 36-hole final Saturday, Nicklaus shot a 69 in the morning. Not only did that move him ahead of Cherry, but now he was just two shots behind leader Mike Souchak going into the afternoon’s final round.

Among the other chasers were 47-year-old Ben Hogan, the legendary Texan making one more bid at glory; and 30-year-old Arnold Palmer, who had won the Masters two months earlier but seemed out of contention now, trailing by seven shots going into the final round.

It was the intersection of the past, present and future in golf.

Nicklaus and Hogan were playing partners that day, and each held the lead at some point in the final round. Jack, after making an eagle on the fifth hole and a birdie at the ninth, made the turn with the lead. But this was not to be his day.

Nicklaus, his putter turning cold on the back nine, gave way to Palmer, who started his round by famously driving the green at the par-4 opening hole. Palmer made up the deficit in a career-defining afternoon to win his only U.S. Open. Nicklaus finished solo second, the best result by an amateur at the U.S. Open in 27 years. Hogan, worn out by the long day, tied for ninth.

That 1960 performance was a foreshadowing of things to come for Nicklaus. A year later, he finished top-10 in both the Masters and U.S. Open. He then won the 1962 U.S. Open in a playoff over Palmer in Arnie’s backyard at Oakmont.

Though he didn’t win at Cherry Hills, the summer of 1960 still proved to be a pivotal one in the life of Jack Nicklaus. He and Barbara were married in Columbus a month after the U.S. Open. Their wedding date coincided with that year’s PGA Championship in Akron, but Jack didn’t care – as an amateur, he wasn’t eligible.

One day, Charlie Nicklaus asked Hayes which sport his son should focus on.

“I’ve seen him play football and I’ve seen him play golf,” Hayes replied. “Keep him away from my game.”

He didn’t mean it as a rebuke of Nicklaus’ football ability. Hayes saw what others in the Columbus area were figuring out — Jack Nicklaus had a special gift for playing golf.

Hayes, who won five national championships at Ohio State, became an enthusiastic fan of Jack’s. Hayes followed Jack at the 1959 U.S. Amateur at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and phoned in reports back home to the local Columbus newspapers. He also attended a handful of U.S. Opens early in Jack’s career.

Those days, Jack was emerging as a rival to the popular Arnold Palmer, and the gallery treated him rudely — especially at the 1962 U.S. Open in Palmer’s backyard at Oakmont. Hayes, so incensed by the crowd’s reaction, had to be restrained from going after one fan. The guy who restrained him was Charlie Nicklaus.

“If Woody liked you and supported you, you’d better not be saying something against who he’s supporting,” Jack said. “That was Woody. He was something else.”