The U.S. Open is golf’s toughest major, first played in 1895 and won most recently by J.J. Spaun, who became the 125th champion in 2025 with a dramatic two-shot win over Robert MacIntyre at Oakmont Country Club.
Four players share the all-time record with four titles each: Willie Anderson (1901–1905), Bobby Jones (1923–1930), Ben Hogan (1948–1953), and Jack Nicklaus (1962–1980). Tiger Woods and Hale Irwin are next with three apiece. Below is the complete year-by-year breakdown of every U.S. Open champion, plus the players who have won it most.
The record holders
No one has ever won the U.S. Open more than four times, and the four men who reached that mark span the entire history of the championship. Willie Anderson did it first in the early 1900s, winning three in a row from 1903 to 1905 — a three-peat no one has matched since. Bobby Jones, the legendary amateur, claimed his four between 1923 and 1930 before retiring from competition at just 28.
Ben Hogan’s four came in a remarkable six-year stretch that included his famous 1950 comeback win at Merion, 16 months after a near-fatal car crash. Jack Nicklaus rounded out the group with titles across three different decades, from 1962 to 1980. Just behind them, Tiger Woods and Hale Irwin sit on three wins each, with Woods’ 15-shot demolition at Pebble Beach in 2000 still regarded as one of the most dominant major performances ever.
The modern era
Recent U.S. Opens have been defined by parity and a few repeat winners. Brooks Koepka went back-to-back in 2017 and 2018, and Bryson DeChambeau has two titles (2020 and 2024), winning the most recent in a tense final-hole duel with Rory McIlroy.
The championship has also become more international: in the last 25 years, winners have come from the United States, England, Spain, Germany, Northern Ireland, Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. The 2025 edition at Oakmont produced a first-time major champion in Spaun, continuing a pattern of the U.S. Open crowning unexpected names alongside the favorites.
The takeaway
The U.S. Open has been played since 1895 and has crowned 125 champions, with Willie Anderson, Bobby Jones, Ben Hogan, and Jack Nicklaus tied for the most titles at four each, ahead of Tiger Woods and Hale Irwin with three. J.J.
Spaun is the reigning champion after his 2025 victory at Oakmont. The 2026 championship heads to Shinnecock Hills in mid-June, where any of the tournament’s active two-time winners — DeChambeau, Koepka — could move within one of that four-win record that has stood untouched for over a century.