Golf Timeline

pre-1900 | 1900-30 | 1930-60 | 1960-80 | 1980-2000 | 2001+

1960's

The sixties got off to a swing for Arnold Palmer with a double major year in 1960 - a second Masters triumph followed by a win at the US Open. The following year he won the Open at a blustery Birkdale and defended the claret jug in 1962 with a new 72-hole record of 276 at Troon - that year also saw a third Masters victory.

By now, the groundwork set by players such as Walter Hagen, was reaping the rewards - professional gofl became a celebrity status game, as televised tournaments brought the big names to huge household audiences. This effect was further boosted with the rivalry which developed between Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus.

Jack Nicklaus collected his first major after a play-off win against Arnold Palmer for the 1962 US Open at Oakmont. The following season Nicklaus was victorious at the Masters and the US PGA. He would go on to dominate golf for the next 20-odd years.

1963 saw Bob Charles of New Zealand become the first left-hander to win the Open.

1964 saw Tony Lema win the Open at St Andrews. Within two years he would be dead, killed in a tragic plane crash.

Mickey Wright winning a record fourth US Women's Open title. It was also the year that gave us the World MatchPlay Championship, staged at Wentworth every year - Arnold Palmer, who had earlier won his fourth Masters title, triumphed over Neil Coles in the inaugural final.

Gary Player became only the fourth player to win all four majors with his US Open win in 1965, while Jack Nicklaus added a second Masters win to his growing list of triumphs.

With the sixties came a revolution in club technology. The process of "investment casting" allowed the creation of perimeter-weighted and cavity-backed irons, which helped to expand the "sweet spot". This era also saw the advent of metal woods and bigger clubheads, with aluminium and fibreglass being used as new shaft materials.

Peter Thomson bagged his fifth Open title in 1965 to join the great James Braid and J.H. Taylor in golf's hall of fame - just one victory behind Harry Vardon.

Jack Nicklaus completed the Grand Slam of all four majors when he followed a third Masters win with success at the Muirfield Open of 1966. The next year saw the "Golden Bear" claim his second US Open victory.

Gary Player added a second Open title to his impressive haul of victories in the 1968 competition at Carnoustie, while the popular Lee Trevino landed the first of his major victories with success at the US Open and in doing so was the first player to break 70 in all four rounds.

1969 saw the first British winner of the Open since 1951, in the shape of Tony Jacklin.

1970's

The seventies began with Jack Nicklaus capturing his second Open title, at the expense of Doug Sanders - who famously missed a three foot putt for victory and lost out in a play-off. Tony Jacklin won the US Open.

1971 saw Lee Trevino win the US Open for a second time - beating Jack Nicklaus in a play-off. Weeks later Trevino triumphed at what was100th Open Championship Royal Birkdale after an epic struggle with the unknown Liang Huan Lu from Taiwan.

Trevino successfully defended the claret jug a year later, with the help of a wonder-shot at the 71st, when he chipped his fourth shot into the hole after missing the green.

Jack Nicklaus lifted his second US PGA trophy in 1971, while the following season was another two-major year with victories in the Masters and US Open. In 1973 Nicklaus won his fifteenth major with a third US PGA title.

Royal Lytham in 1974 saw Gary Player add a third Open title to his impressive collection of triumphs, while he had won his second Masters earlier in the season. Lee Trevino picked up his fifth major in with a win at the US PGA that same year.

1975 was a fourth two-major year for the incredible Jack Nicklaus with wins in the Masters and US PGA. That same year Carnoustie saw the unheralded Tom Watson win the Open at his first attempt - the first of five victories in the oldest major.

The first British Women's Open was held in 1976 with Jenny Lee Smith heading the field.

Tom Watson won a second Open title at Turnberry in 1977 after a thrilling head-to-head with Jack Nicklaus. Both men broke the Championship aggregate record score, each shooting 65 in the third round, with the man from Kansas edging home by one stroke with another 65 over the final 18 holes. Watson had again narrowly pipped Nicklaus to win the Masters earlier in the season.

In 1978 St Andrews witnessed Jack Nicklaus become Open champion for a third time - establishing a record of at least three wins in all four majors, while Gary Player won his ninth major with success at the Masters, aged 42.

Seve Ballesteros became the first Spaniard to win the Open with victory at Lytham in 1979 and the first continental European since Arnaud Massy in 1907. Jack Nicklaus was second in the race for the claret jug for a record seventh time.

1979 also saw the Ryder Cup change from a Great Britain and Ireland team to a side representing Europe, although the change in format did not hinder the ease with which the Americans continued to win the event - the Americans had only tasted defeat three times since the competition's inception back in 1927.