OAKMONT, Penn. -- The top contenders at this year’s US Open are scrambling toward the finish, with several competitors in striking distance at the top of the leaderboard. This is par for the course at Oakmont Country Club, where the last five US Opens dating back to 1962 have been decided either via a playoff or a single stroke.
US Open playoff rules have 18-hole Monday tiebreaker format
What happens if there’s a tie at Oakmont?
Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
If there’s a tie at the top of the leaderboard at the end of 72 holes, the USGA mandates the tied players meet in an 18-hole, stroke-play playoff the next day.
In this case, that’d mean teeing off on Monday to settle what couldn’t be settled Sunday.
The viewing public might not like it, because sports fans are accustomed to tuning into a competition with the expectation of ultimately getting a resolution without having to wait another day. But the USGA has resisted changing its format, holding steadfast that an 18-hole playoff is the best way to crown a victor from a tied field at the national championship.
This hasn’t actually happened before since 2008, when Tiger Woods sank a cold-blooded putt on the 18th green at Torrey Pines to force a playoff with underdog Rocco Mediate, who’d been sitting in the clubhouse with a lead. Woods went on to beat Mediate the next day on a 91st sudden-death hole, after the extra 18 weren’t enough.
Oakmont has been the site of two US Open playoffs before. Jack Nicklaus beat Arnold Palmer in a playoff here in 1962, and Ernie Els bested both Colin Montgomerie and Loren Roberts in 1994. If this year’s even reaches a playoff, it’ll on some level just be a continuation of history.
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