Jack Nicklaus gives his honest opinion on Oakmont as a golf course ahead of this year’s US Open

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Jack Nicklaus has made his return to the PGA Tour for the week, due to his role as host and founder of the Memorial Tournament.

Scottie Scheffler headlines the field for the Memorial Tournament, which represents the latest event in the PGA Tour schedule.

Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio, plays host to the Signature Event, which involves a stacked field.

But there will be no appearance from Rory McIlroy, with The Masters champion having decided to skip the tournament.

McIlroy has been criticised for missing the Memorial, which has arrived in the calendar shortly before the US Open.

Jack Nicklaus shares Oakmont verdict ahead of US Open

The next major tournament in the season takes place at Oakmont Country Club, with legendary figure Nicklaus now sharing his thoughts on the venue.

“I think it’s a spectacular place to win your first tournament,” said Nicklaus. “I’m being facetious a little bit.

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“No, I like Oakmont a lot. Oakmont’s a very stern test. It’s a tough test. They have had the same spring we’ve had. So you’re going to find Oakmont very much similar conditions to what we have here.

“You’re going to find the fairways a little soft-ish, you’re going to find the rough very deep, and you’re going to find the greens very firm, which is you’re going to find the same conditions here. But Oakmont, it’s a really stern test of golf.”

Jack Nicklaus recalls ‘gracious’ Arnold Palmer during 1962 US Open

Oakmont has played host to many significant tournaments over the years, with Dustin Johnson winning the US Open there in 2016, for example.

And as Nicklaus mentioned, he certainly has fond memories of the venue, having won his first major championship there in 1962.

READ MORE: Former Masters champion who is now on the LIV Tour qualifies for the US Open at Oakmont next month

He clinched the US Open title via a playoff, defeating his close rival and good friend Arnold Palmer in the process.

The American remarkably went on to win 18 major championships in total, four of which arrived at the US Open.

Sharing his memories of Oakmont 63 years ago, Nicklaus said: “Well, you know, I played with Arnold the first two rounds.

“I can’t remember… I think Arnold was, like, 140, maybe I was 142, something like that. I don’t remember. We played 36 holes the last day.

“I do remember the 17th hole, that short par-4, I drove it into the bunker on the right and then hit it out on the fringe and played a poor chip past the hole about five feet, and I made this downhill slider that had it not gone in the hole, it would have gone off the green.

“And Bobby Jones wrote me a note. He says, I came right out of my chair when you hit that putt, which, obviously, he couldn’t.

“But that was the one sort of remark I remember about that. Of course Arnold was very gracious. He was the favourite. It was his hometown.

“You’ll get a kick out of this. I remember him coming over to me. There’s a picture of Arnold walking over to me while we were warming up, and he was talking to me, and he said, Jack, you know, the purse today from the gate from the playoff goes to the champion, to the winner.

“And he says, would you like to split it? I said, Arnold, that wouldn’t be fair to you. I says, you know, I’m just here.

“I may play well, but I said, it’s not fair to you. I says, we should probably just play for it. Because I assumed that he would probably win.

“And well, of course, I won. I got the gate, $1,400. But anyway, Arnold was very gracious. Couldn’t have been nicer. Yeah, I love Oakmont. I think it’s a great place.”