Sometimes, 72 holes at the U.S. Open championship just aren’t enough to crown a new major champion.
It’s rare—a U.S. Open hasn’t needed a playoff since Tiger Woods took down Rocco Mediate in 19 extra holes in 2008—but we’ve been flirting with a playoff at the major in recent years. Since 2020, four of the six U.S. Open tournaments have been decided by exactly one stroke: Jon Rahm’s win in 2021, Matt Fitzpatrick’s victory in ’22, Wyndham Clark’s win in ’23 and Bryson DeChambeau’s second U.S. Open title in ’24.
