Past US Open winners at Oakmont, and 2025 Favorites

June 12, 2025 by CollegeFootballPoll.com Staff

One of golf's toughest tests is taking place this week - the U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club in the East Hills suburbs of Pittsburgh.

On FanDuel.com, Scottie Scheffler, the number one player in the world, is +300. He is followed by Bryson DeChambeau at +550 and Rory McIlory at +770.

Jon Rahm, who won the 2021 U.S. Open at Tory Pines, has the fourth-best odds at +1400.

The majority of the course is actually within the limits of Plum and a small portion sits in Oakmont, and the course gets dissected for holes two through eight by the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

Built in 1903, the course hosted its first U.S. Open 24 years later.

Here is list of the nine previous winners in chronological order.

1927 - Tommy Armour - A Scotsman who was nicknamed the Silver Scot, sank a 10-footer for birdie on the 18th hole of the final round to force a fifth round playoff. Harry Cooper led by as much as 2 shots on the 11th and 12th holes, but Armour hung close and tied it on the 15th with each at 5 over. The tide turned on the 16th hole when Cooper had a double bogey while Armour made par. They each birdied the 17th, leaving Armour up by two with one to play. Armour made par on the final hole to finish the playoff round at plus-4 while Cooper bogeyed to close at +7.

Armour, lost sight in his right eye from a Mustard Gas explosion and had a plate inserted in his head and left-arm. He worked on his golf game during his recovery, regained his eye sight and began playing golf for money. He won $500 for his U.S. Open first-place finish. He would later add the 1930 PGA and the 1931 British Open Championship gave him the Grand Slam. Ironically, Walter Hagen also completed the pre-Masters slam in 1931 and they were the only two to ever do so. Armour won 25 PGA Events in his career.

1935 - Sam Parks, Jr. - Parks was given his first lesson by Gene Sarazen as a child, Parks rose to become the captain of his golf team at Pittsburgh and a local pro at nearby South Hills. His 299 total was just 2 shots better than Armour's 301 recorded in the first four rounds. This was his only win on the PGA Tour.

1953 - Ben Hogan - He became a childhood caddy (after his father shot himself when Ben was 9), Ben learned the game alongside Byron Nelson and the two later became constant rivals on the PGA Tour. Four years after he nearly died in a 1949 car crash, Hogan entered three of the four Grand Slam events and won all of them. He also only entered six events all year, and won five of those. He skipped the PGA, which until 1958, was a match play event.

1962 - Jack Nicklaus - The "Golden Bear" is undoubtedly one of the most popular golfers in the history of the sport - especially in the last 60+ years. In 1962, he did the unthinkable and beat Pennsylvania fan favorite Arnold Palmer by 3 shots in an 18-hole playoff by a score of even to +3 after they were tied at -1 through the regulation four-round event. Jack took home a check of $17,500 for the victory.

This was the first of his 18 majors, and the first of four U.S. Open titles with his last occurring almost 20 years later in 1980.

1973 - Johnny Miller - Once again, Arnold Palmer was in the mix, but Miller prevailed by shooting a 63 in the final round to claim the title by 1 shot over John Schlee, 2 shots over Tom Weiskopf, and by 3 shots over Palmer, Nicklaus and Lee Trevino who all finished at -2. Miller birdied the first four holes of his final round, and four of the first six holes on the second nine. He started his final round 6 shots behind the co-leaders which included Palmer. Miller had 25 PGA wins in his career, but just two majors with his other coming three years later in the British Open. He won 18 events from 1971 to 1976, then experienced a resurgence in the early 1980's when he won five more events from 1980 to 1983. He would later capture the 1987 and 1994 Pebble Beach Pro-Am's.

1983 - Larry Nelson - The man won 10 PGA events and 3 of those were majors. He later won 19 times on the Senior Tour. He was a three-time Ryder Cup member and was 9-0-0 after his first two. He also added four wins on the Japan Tour and 3 on the European Tour. The Vietnam Vet was a late learner of golf who didn't take up the game he was 21.

1994 - Ernie Els - The 6'3" South African native is nicknamed "The Big Easy" for his lengthy, fluid swing. It served him well with victories all over the globe on multiple tours. He's still just 55 years old and he has 79 wins around the globe. There were 19 titles on the PGA tour, 28 on the European, and at least 32 more on other professional tours. He captured four majors and the 1994 US Open at Oakmont was his first. He would later add the 1997 U.S. Open and a pair of British Open titles in 2002 and 2012. Arnold Palmer made his last U.S. Open appearance this year and his first in 11 years. Oakmont was also the site of his first U.S. Open in 1953. Palmer shot 84-78 as an amateur to miss the cut in 1953. He shot 77-81 to miss it again in 1994. He won the 1960 open at Cherry Hills

2007 - Angel Cabrera - Only the chain-smoking Cabrera and Anthony Kim could post final round under-par scores and Cabrera held off challenges from the likes of Tiger Woods and Jim Furyk for his first of two major wins as he would claim a Masters title two years later. Cabrera only recently returned to the PGA Champions Tour after serving time for a pair of domestic abuse charges in his native Argentina.

2016 - Dustin Johnson - Per David Shefter on usopen.com.... A year after a heartbreaking three-putt on the 72nd hole at Chambers Bay that cost him a chance to face Jordan Spieth in a Monday playoff, Dustin Johnson got redemption with a three-stroke victory over 2003 champion Jim Furyk, Shane Lowry and upstart Scott Piercy.

The 2025 U.S. Open runs from Thursday, June 11 to Sunday, June 15th.