Rosburg blew up with a 79 in the final round and quickly fell off the pace. Rodgers and Nichols acquitted themselves OK under the final-round pressure, but Nichols turned in a score of 73 and Rodgers 72, and they finished tied for third.

That left Nicklaus and Palmer to battle it out. The tournament was at Oakmont Country Club in western Pennsylvania - Palmer's home court, so to speak. Palmer was easily the most popular golfer in the world, and Nicklaus was the 22-year-old upstart trying to knock off The King. Nicklaus was not yet himself popular; in fact, as a brash challenger to Palmer, Nicklaus was quite unpopular with this crowd. Nicklaus was taunted by fans throughout the final round, then again in the 18-hole playoff, jeered for his portly figure.

Palmer later said that the catcalls didn't seem to phase Nicklaus one bit, but they did bother Palmer. Something else that bothered Palmer - albeit something Palmer never, then or later, used as an excuse - was a deep cut on one of his fingers that he suffered just prior to the tournament's start, and that required stitches.

Palmer led Nicklaus with nine holes to go in the fourth round, but Nicklaus tied it on the 13th, and the two remained deadlocked until the end of regulation. They finished as the only players under par, each 1-under 283.

In the 18-hole playoff the following day, Nicklaus jumped out to the lead on the first hole, and built a 4-stroke lead after six holes, deflating the crowd, and possibly Palmer. Nicklaus went on to win with a 71 to Palmer's 74.

At 22, Nicklaus was the youngest U.S. Open winner since Bobby Jones in 1923. As the reigning U.S. Amateur champion, Nicklaus was the first player since Jones to hold the U.S. Amateur and U.S. Open trophies simultaneously (although Jones won them in same year).

The biggest difference between Nicklaus and Palmer was their performance on the treacherous Oakmont greens. Nicklaus had only one 3-putt throughout the five rounds; Palmer 3-putted 10 times.

So it was not only Nicklaus' first major, it was his first win as a professional. For Palmer, his runner-up finish here began a frustrating streak of four second-place finishes in the U.S. Open within a 6-year span. Palmer also lost playoffs at the 1963 U.S. Open and 1966 U.S. Open.

Palmer often said in ensuing years that if he had beaten Nicklaus in the playoff at the 1962 U.S. Open, he might have been able to hold Nicklaus off for a few more years. But he didn't, and he couldn't. Nicklaus was soon acknowledged as the best golfer in the game.