The U.S. Open is currently the third of four major championships to be played each year. U.S. Open champions are automatically invited to play in the other three majors (the Masters, the Open Championship (British Open), and the PGA Championship) for the next five years, and earn a ten-year exemption from qualifying for the U.S. Open. They also receive membership on the PGA Tour for the following five seasons and invitations to The Players Championship for the five years following their victories.[2] The champion receives a gold champion's medal, and the U.S. Open Championship Cup, which the winner is allowed to keep for a year.[3]
Willie Anderson, Bobby Jones, Ben Hogan and Jack Nicklaus hold the record for the most U.S. Open victories, with four victories each.[4] Anderson holds the record for most consecutive wins with three (1903–05). Hale Irwin is the oldest winner of the U.S. Open: he was 45 years and 15 days old when he won in 1990.[5] The youngest winner of the U.S. Open is John McDermott who was 19 years, 10 months and 14 days old when he won in 1911.[5]Rory McIlroy holds the record for the lowest aggregate score in 2011 at 268. Rory McIlroy and Brooks Koepka share the record for the lowest score in relation to par with their winning scores of -16. [6]
a Par is a predetermined number of strokes that a golfer should require to complete a hole, a round (the sum of the total pars of the played holes), or a tournament (the sum of the total pars of each round). E stands for even, which means the tournament was completed in the predetermined number of strokes.
† indicates the event was won in a playoff; ‡ indicates the event was won wire-to-wire; # indicates the event was won by an amateur; 1942–1945 cancelled due to World War II