OAKMONT, Pa. — For an old, cantankerous blue blood of a course, Oakmont Country Club has shown a surprising tolerance of youth. It has accommodated a 22-year-old Jack Nicklaus’s coronation at the 1962 United States Open at the expense of the older, more popular Arnold Palmer; a 26-year-old Johnny Miller’s crowning in 1973; and a 24-year-old Ernie Els’s major title baptism in 1994.
The deep-bunkered, hunchbacked dowager’s patience for golfers who got to the top in a mad rush has apparently worn thin. In the first round of the 116th United States Open, which took two days to complete, Oakmont smiled on the field’s elders and spanked some young stars.