Adam, et al / re: 12th hole at PB:
Adam, since you stated Jack's ball hit the back end of the frontal bunker and only as a result of that did the ball indeed go over the green -- I 've enclosed below the review of the '72 US Open by known other than Dan Jenkins writing for SI.
Be sure to send me your mea culpa on who has the better understanding of what happened that final round day at the 12th hole at PB when Nicklaus hit his tee shot there.
One other thing Rich G's previous statement, "Any pro or elite player who cannot hit a 200-yard high cut should get on this web site and whinge, as it is probably that he or she really can't play golf." Yeah, I guess Jack can't play golf.
My point then -- and now -- is the 12th is often doctored to do the things it does. Reject good shots when hit and provide no real distinction between the good, not so good and the terrible.
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June 26, 1972 issue of SI
" ... It was then at the 12th hole, a par-3, that Nicklaus demonstrated his relentless courage. He hit what he thought was a perfect three-iron right at the flag. It struck the green 10 feet in front of the hole but simply zoomed past it, and then bore relentlessly down a steep slope and out of sight in thick ground cover.
As Jack walked onto the 12th green, he scowled at P.J. Boatwright Jr., the USGA's executive director who was refereeing, and said, "What'd you do with all the grass?"
Nicklaus was referring to the fact that on top of everything else that makes Pebble Beach so dangerous, the USGA, for the final round, had seen fit to roll and triple-cut the small, wind-dried greens, making them next-to-impossible to hold or putt.
Later Jack would say, "I went to bed Saturday night thinking I had to shoot at least 70 to win. But this morning when I saw the first green and the wind, I knew it would be a tough son of a gun and I'd have to have patience,"
Nicklaus found his ball in a dreadful lie on the 12th. He gouged at it, moving slightly up the hill. He gouged again and sent it eight feet past the cup. That left him with a super character-builder, as they call it, to avoid another double bogey that might destroy his confidence totally. And although he could not know it, he was in danger of losing his lead altogether. At this moment two holes ahead, Palmer was lining up a makeable birdie putt which, combined with a Nicklaus miss on 12, would put Arnold a stroke ahead. As Palmer said later: "It certainly would have given me a more personal interest in the Open."
Indeed, this had been an extraordinary Open for Palmer. He began it with three straight bogeys and a 77, but exploded back into contention on Friday with a magnificent 68, a score nobody bettered in the tournament. A 73 on Saturday kept him two strokes behind Nicklaus.
For a while on Sunday it seemed possible that Palmer might catch his old rival. On the 1st hole, to shouts of "Go Arnie," he hit his approach seven feet from the flag. Thunderous cheers. Then he left the putt short. Short. Thunderous groan. He missed another birdie putt on two, but rolled in a 40-footer on the third, which put him just one stroke back. After that it was a struggle -- he made no more birdies and finished with a 76 -- but then everyone was struggling out there, Nicklaus included, so that if Palmer could just sink his birdie put on the 14th. ... It didn't happen. Palmer missed. And Nicklaus did not miss ..."