This is the sixth in a series of articles, specially commissioned by The Pilot, about eight U.S. Opens considered the best ever played.

What: 1973 U.S. Open

When: June 14-17

Where: Oakmont Country Club near Pittsburgh, Pa.

When locker-room experts or aging golf reporters get onto the subject of the best-ever U.S. Open round, Johnny Miller’s closing 63 in the 1973 Open at Oakmont Country Club invariably makes the short list — but always with an asterisk.

"The greens were soft that day," is the unprompted rejoinder.

Oakmont Country Club might be the only venue where the United States Golf Association has to be concerned that the course the members play every day might be too tough for the U.S. Open. The club is near Pittsburgh, and the members apparently eat scrap metal for breakfast.

Henry Clay Fownes of Pittsburgh was in the iron-manufacturing business at the turn of the century and was a "pretty good stick" in his day, qualifying for the 1901 U.S. Open. Two years later, Henry and his son, William Clark, started Oakmont Country Club, laying out the course in just five months and overseeing all changes to the course over the next three decades.

They created something fierce and tough.

William, for example, worked with the club’s greenskeeper, Dutch Loeffler, to add many penal bunkers, both fairway and greenside. They also made a special rake that left deep furrows in sand.

The bunkers were harsh punishments for errant shots, but the putting surfaces were even nastier. Fownes and Loeffler labored to make Oakmont’s greens the fastest in the country, a recognition they relished acquiring.

They grew deep rough, narrowed fairways, and lengthened holes — whatever it took to keep Oakmont’s reputation. Perhaps only Myopia Hunt Club, a U.S. Open site used four times through 1908, had a "tougher" reputation.

Oakmont, for example, in anticipation of this championship, lengthened the par-four 17th to 322 yards after Arnold Palmer drove the green in the ’62 Open.

Oakmont was scene of some famous outcomes too, where Hogan won his last U.S. Open in 1953 and where Jack Nicklaus won his first in 1962.

Rain fell 27 days in May 1973 before the U.S. Open. This concerned the Oakmont membership, but the rain also helped grow significant rough — a trade-off.

The PGA Tour was enjoying a good year. Nicklaus in 1972 was the first player ever to win more than $300,000 in a year. He was playing well in 1973 despite his limited schedule that focused on major championships. He won the Bing Crosby Clambake, New Orleans Open, Tournament of Champions and Atlanta Open.

Arnold Palmer, the aging King, winless since 1971, broke through in the spring, claiming the Bob Hope Desert Classic, his last PGA Tour title. The U.S. Open was once again in his backyard.

Lee Trevino and Australian Bruce Crampton were multiple tour winners by June.

And Sam Snead was entered in a record 27th consecutive Open.

Johnny Miller had not won yet in 1973, but he took a title in each of the two previous seasons. He had a good U.S. Open record, beginning in his amateur days back in 1966 at the Olympic Club in his hometown, San Francisco.

Gaining entry in his first Open as an alternate, Miller tied for eighth at age 19. He had made the 36-hole cut in the last four Opens as a professional, tying for fifth in 1971 and taking seventh in 1972 at Pebble Beach.

Rain fell throughout Tuesday of U.S. Open week. But Thursday’s opening round had ideal conditions for scoring, warm with little wind.

The membership’s attitude was not entirely positive when Gary Player led with a first-round 67, four under par, three ahead of anyone else. That Player led was okay with them. The score bothered them, and even the USGA would like to have seen some higher numbers.

Further, Nicklaus drove the green of the stretched-out 17th and made eagle two.

On Friday, scoring was even better; and Player led by one with a five-under-par total. This day, 19 players broke par, including club professional Gene Borek of East Norwich, N.Y., whose 65 was a portent of Miller’s round to come.

Rain fell early Saturday morning and, off and on, heavily through the third round. Another barrage of low scores resulted from softened greens. Jerry Heard had the day’s best, 66, that led to his three-under-par total of 210. He was tied with John Schlee, Julius Boros and Arnie, making a run for a second Open title.

Palmer’s 68 was the most-reported round of the day, and two rather lamentable scores went almost unnoticed. Player shot 77 to fall from contention. Miller, who was only three shots out of the lead at the halfway mark, shot 76, falling six shots behind.

Rain fell Saturday evening. Miller was so discouraged, in fact, that he instructed his wife, Linda, to have the car waiting after he finished. They’d move on to the next event.

Johnny and Miller Barber started their round nearly an hour before the leaders. Palmer and Schlee were in the second-last group, drawing most of the vocal gallery.

Johnny hit a drive and five-iron shot to the first green and sank the five-foot birdie putt. He made an easy one-footer at the second and a rather difficult 25-footer at the third. He reached a greenside bunker with his second shot on the par-5 fourth and holed another easy birdie putt just as the leaders were about to start.

After three straight pars, Johnny bogeyed the tough 244-yard eighth hole, three-putting to fall four shots behind. He rebounded with a four at the birdie-able par-5 ninth. He shot 32 but was still four shots behind.

After a routine par at the 10th, Johnny made three more birdies, dropping putts of 15, 15 and five feet.

Finally, he made an impression on the leaders, standing seven under par for the day and four under par for the championship. In fact, he was tied with Palmer, Boros and Tom Weiskopf for the lead.

He kept up the pressure, just missing a 10-foot birdie putt at the 14th and canning a 10-footer at the 15th to take the lead.

Palmer, four under par at this point, hit what he thought was a perfect drive at the 12th when he saw a leaderboard. "Miller, -5."

Jolted by this surprise, Arnie had another shock when found his ball in heavy rough rather than short fairway grass. He bogeyed not only this hole but also two more. Ultimately, he shared fourth place with Nicklaus and Trevino.

Miller parred the last three holes, posting 63—279. His round was a U.S. Open record. His total was an Oakmont record.

Linda did not have the car ready for a fast escape. Johnny had an hour of restless waiting for everyone else to finish. Schlee and Weiskopf had shots at his total, but neither made the necessary homeward birdies and finished second and third, respectively, one and two shots behind.

So, were the greens soft enough that Sunday to warrant an asterisk by Miller’s name?

He hit every green in regulation the last day and had five birdie putts inside five feet. His game that day was exceptional, and he would prove in the next couple of years that he was capable of hot streaks like no other player of the time.

Only four players broke 70 the last day, an indication that a scoring feast was not on this Sunday afternoon.

The mean score dropped each day at Oakmont, and the scoring average on this Sunday was three shots lower than a year earlier at Pebble Beach.

But Pebble Beach had been windy that last day in ’72, and the Oakmont Sunday average was a half shot higher than the last-day scores in ’71 at Merion Golf Club.

Miller, obviously prompted by his Oakmont finish, tied for second in the British Open a month later. In 1974, he won eight PGA Tour events and was the leading money winner.