High scoring, rather than low, seems to be the hallmark of the US Open, with 8 under par being the lowest winning score until Tiger Woods stretched that to 12 under par in 2000, en route to winning the first leg of his "Tiger Slam" of four consecutive major titles.
The tournament did however see what is often called the finest last round in championship golf, when Johnny Miller shot a 63 at Oakmont to win the 1973 Open, having begun the final round six behind. His 279 total was then only the 10th sub-280 score in the history of the Championship.
Most victories:
Willie Anderson - 4 (1901, 1903, 1904, 1905)
Bobby Jones - 4 (1923, 1926, 1929, 1930)
Ben Hogan - 4 (1948, 1950, 1951, 1953)
Jack Nicklaus - 4 (1962, 1967, 1972, 1980)
Hale Irwin - 3 (1974, 1979, 1990)
Tiger Woods - 3 (2000, 2002, 2008)
15 players have won the championship twice
Oldest Champions:
Hale Irwin - 1990 at 45 years, 15 days
Raymond Floyd - 1986 at 43y, 9m, 11 days
Ted Ray - 1920 at 43 years, 4m 16 days
Youngest Champion:
John McDermott - 1911 at 19 years, 315 days
Consecutive victories:
Willie Anderson - 3 (1903, 1904, 1905)
John J. McDermott - 2 (1911, 1912)
Bobby Jones - 2 (1929, 1930)
Ralph Guldahl - 2 (1937, 1938)
Ben Hogan - 2 (1950, 1951)
Curtis Strange - 2 (1988, 1989)
Wire-to-wire winners (excluding playoffs):
Walter Hagen - 1914
James Barnes - 1921
Ben Hogan - 1953
Tony Jacklin - 1970
Tiger Woods - 2000, 2002
Other wire-to-wire winners (after playoffs):
Willie Anderson - 1903
Alex Smith - 1906
Chick Evans Jnr (A) - 1916
Tommy Bolt - 1958
Jack Nicklaus - 1972, 1980
Hubert Green - 1977
Payne Stewart - 1991
Retief Goosen - 2001
Most under par for 72 holes:
Tiger Woods - 2000, 12 under (272)
[The 272s by Jack Nicklaus and Lee Janzen at Baltusrol and by Jim Furyk at Olympia Fields represented 8 under par totals.]
Highest winning score:
- 331 (84-83-83-81), by Willie Anderson in 1901. He then defeated Alex Smith in a playoff 85 to 86.
First time champions:
Horace Rawlins - 1895
Fred Herd - 1898
Harry Vardon - 1900
George Sargent - 1909
Francis Ouimet (A) - 1913
Biggest gap between victories:
Julius Boros - 11 years (1952 & 1963)
Hale Irwin - 11 years (1979 & 1990)
Biggest gap between first and last victory:
Jack Nicklaus - 18 years (1962 and 1980)
Amateur champions:
Francis Ouimet - 1913
Jerome D. Travers - 1915
Charles Evans Jnr - 1916
Bobby Jones - 1923, 1926, 1929, 1930
John Goodman - 1933
Most frequently used courses:
Oakmont Country Club - 8 times (1927, 1935, 1953, 1962, 1973, 1983, 1994, 2007)
Baltusrol Golf Club - 7 times (1903, 1915, 1936, 1954, 1967, 1980, 1993)
Shortest US Open course:
Shinnecock Hills, in 1896 - 4,423 yards
In recent times: Merion, in 1971 & 1981 - 6,528 yards
Longest US Open courses:
Winged Foot, in 2006 - 7,264 yards
Oakmont, in 2007 - 7,230 yards
Pinehurst No. 2, in 2005 - 7,216 yards
Bethpage Black, in 2002 - 7,214 yards
Congressional, in 1997 - 7,213 yards
Longest hole:
The 5th at Southern Hills in 2001 - 642 yards
Most runner-up finishes:
Bobby Jones - 4 (1922, 1924, 1925, 1928)
Sam Snead - 4 (1937, 1947, 1949, 1953)
Arnold Palmer - 4 (1962, 1963, 1966, 1967)
Jack Nicklaus - 4 (1960, 1968, 1971, 1982)
Phil Mickelson - 4 (1999, 2002, 2004, 2006)
Most top 5s:
Wille Anderson - 11
Jack Nicklaus - 11
Alex Smith - 10
Walter Hagen - 10
Ben Hogan - 10
Arnold Palmer - 10
Most top 10s:
Jack Nicklaus - 18
Walter Hagen - 16
Ben Hogan - 15
Most top 25s:
Jack Nicklaus - 22
Sam Snead - 21
Walter Hagen - 20
Most consecutive appearances:
Jack Nicklaus - 44 (1957-2000)
Hale Irwin - 33 (1971-2003)
Gene Sarazen - 33 (1920-54, no championship 1942-5)
Arnold Palmer - 31 (1953-83)
Tom Kite - 31 (1974-2004)
Highest cut (since WW2) :
- 155 (15 over) in 1955, Olympic Club
Lowest cut:
- 143 (3 over) in 2003, Olympia Fields
Most cuts made:
Jack Nicklaus - 35 in 44 appearances
Most consecutive cuts made:
Walter Hagen - 22 (1913-36, no championships 1917-8)
Gene Sarazen - 22 (1920-41)
Gary Player - 22 (1958-79)
Jack Nicklaus - 21 (1964-84)
Oldest player to make the cut:
Sam Snead, 61 in 1973, finished tied 29th
Jack Nicklaus, 58 in 1998, finished tied 43rd
Birdied the 72nd hole to win:
Hale Irwin, in 1990 (to force a playoff)
Bobby Jones, in 1926
All four rounds in the 60s:
Lee Trevino, in 1968
Lee Janzen, in 1993
Lowest nine hole score:
- 29 by Neal Lancaster, 4th round, back nine, 1995
- 29 by Neal Lancaster, 2nd round, back nine, 1996
- 29 by Vijay Singh, 2nd round, back nine, 2003
Lowest 18 hole score:
- 63 by Johnny Miller, 4th round, 1973
- 63 by Jack Nicklaus, 1st round, 1980
- 63 by Tom Weiskopf, 1st round, 1980
- 63 by Vijay Singh, 2nd round, 2003
Lowest first round score:
- 63, Jack Nicklaus & Tom Weiskopf, 1980
Lowest second round score:
- 63, Vijay Singh, 2003
Lowest 36 hole score:
- 133, Jim Furyk (67-66) and Vijay Singh (70-63), 2003
Lowest third round score:
- 64, Ben Crenshaw, 1981
- 64, Keith Clearwater, 1987
- 64, Loren Roberts, 1994
Lowest 54 hole score:
- 200, Jim Furyk, 2003
Lowest fourth round score:
- 63, Johnny Miller, 1973
All four rounds under par:
Lee Trevino in 1968
Tony Jacklin in 1970
Lee Janzen in 1993
Curtis Strange in 1994
[Sam Snead (1947) and Billy Casper (1966) also had four rounds under par, but one was in a playoff]
Best fightback by a winner:
Last round: Arnold Palmer in 1960, 7 shots, Cherry Hills
Last 36 holes: Lou Graham in 1975, 11 shots, Medinah
Last 54 holes: Jack Fleck in 1955, 9 shots, Olympic Club
Holes in One:
- 39 are recorded since 1907, but records for early years are incomplete
Tom Weiskopf has holed in one twice (1978 & 1982)
Most consecutive birdies:
George Burns - 6 (2nd to 7th), Pebble Beach, 1982
Andy Dillard - 6 (1st to 6th), Pebble Beach, 1992
Most consecutive threes:
Hubert Green - 8 (9th to 16th), Baltusrol, 1980
Hubert Green - 7 (10th to 16th), Southern Hills, 1977
Peter Jacobsen - 7 (1st to 7th) Brookline, 1988
Playoffs:
- 32 times (out of 106 championships)
Foreign-born (non-American) winners:
- 26 players, with 31 victories
Horace Rawlins, England - 1895
James Foulis, Scotland - 1896
Joe Lloyd, England - 1897
Fred Herd, Scotland - 1898
Willie Smith, Scotland - 1899
Harry Vardon, England - 1900
Willie Anderson, Scotland - 1901
Laurence Auchterlonie, Scotland - 1902
Willie Anderson, Scotland - 1903, 1904, 1905
Alex Smith, Scotland - 1906, 1910
Alex Ross, Scotland - 1907
Fred McLeod, Scotland - 1908
George Sargent, England - 1909
Ted Ray, England - 1920
James Barnes, England - 1921
Cyril Walker, England - 1924
William Marfarlane, Scotland - 1925
Tommy Armour, Scotland - 1927
Gary Player, South Africa - 1965
Tony Jacklin, England - 1970
David Graham, Australia - 1981
Ernie Els, South Africa - 1994, 1997
Retief Goosen, South Africa - 2001, 2004
Michael Campbell, New Zealand - 2005
Geoff Ogilvy, Australia - 2006
Angel Cabrera, Argentina - 2007
Worst score ever recorded on a single hole:
- 19, by Ray Ainsley on the par 4 16th at Cherry Hills in 1938
Worst ever scores:
We believe the highest ever completed card to be a 157 by J.D. Tucker in the first round of the 1898 championship at the Myopia Hunt Club.
Rounds in the low 100s were not uncommon in the early years. O. McCammon shot 116 in the 4th round in 1899, having shot 110 the previous year in the third round. W.E. Stoddard shot 106 in the second round in 1899.
In the first championship in 1895, Horace Rawlins began with a 91 and went on to win.
High scoring, rather than low, seems to be the hallmark of the US Open, with 8 under par being the lowest winning score until Tiger Woods stretched that to 12 under par in 2000, en route to winning the first leg of his "Tiger Slam" of four consecutive major titles.
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