10 Greatest Stars in US Open Golf History

The U.S. Open is tough.

As the great Tom Weiskopf said, "When people say they dream of playing in the U.S. Open someday, what they're really saying is, they'd like to be good enough to play. Trust me, the U.S. Open is not fun."

No other event in professional golf has the U.S. Open's reputation for separating the wheat from the chaff. No other event so brutally punishes its competitors, so consistently forces them to bring their very best to the course or so callously punishes them when they do not.

The USGA's annual competition has produced some of the most memorable victories in the history of the game. The U.S. Open, too, has has been the genesis of legend and myth, of heroes and epic performances.

Here are the greatest stars in the storied 100-plus-year history of the U.S. Open.

10. Curtis Strange

U.S. Open Resume

Victories: 1988, 1989

Additional top-10s: 1984, 1987, 1994

Signature Moment 

Curtis Strange's first U.S. Open win in a playoff over Nick Faldo is the signature moment in his career at the USGA's flagship event. The Wake Forest alumnus methodically outpaced Faldo, who was already a major winner, firing a 71 to the Englishman's 75.

Why He's Here 

The back-to-back U.S. Open winner earns a spot on this list ahead of the many two-time winners because of the impressive nature of winning golf's most difficult tournament two years in a row and the strength of the modern fields he competed against.

9. Payne Stewart

U.S. Open Resume

Victories: 1991, 1999

Runner-up finishes: 1993, 1998

Additional top-10s: 1985, 1986, 1988

Signature Moment 

Four months before his death in a plane crash, Payne Stewart won the 1999 U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2. Stewart memorably holed a 15-foot putt on the 72nd hole and struck one of the most iconic poses of spontaneous exuberance in golf history.

Why He's Here 

The late Southern Methodist University alumnus won 11 times on the PGA Tour. Two of his victories came at the U.S. Open.

There are numerous great players with two U.S. Open victories, including Lee Janzen, Ernie Els, Lee Trevino and Billy Casper. However, Stewart makes this list not out of some nostalgia or lament for his untimely passing, but rather for the brightness of his star and the compelling nature of his victories.

8. Gene Sarazen

U.S. Open Resume

Victories: 1922, 1932

Runner-up finishes: 1934, 1940

Additional top-10s: 10

Signature Moment 

Of course, Gene Sarazen's career signature moment came at the Masters when the struck "The Shot Heard 'Round the World." However, the inventor of the modern sand wedge won his first U.S. Open at the age of just 20 in 1922.

Sarazen fired an impressive final-round 68 to foil the efforts of a younger upstart, Bobby Jones. The '22 Open at Skokie Country Club in Glencoe, Ill., introduced both Sarazen and Jones to the golfing world.

Why He's Here 

"The Squire," a winner of two U.S. Opens, like many greats, nudges ahead of Payne Stewart on this list due to the strength of his overall Open resume. From 1921 to 1929, he didn't finish outside the top 20, and he even tied for 33rd at the age of 50.

7. Walter Hagen

U.S. Open Resume

Victories: 1914, 1919

Runner-up finish: 1921

Additional top-10s: 13

Signature Moment 

Walter "The Haig" Hagen's signature U.S. Open moment came in his maiden triumph in the competition at the Midlothian Country Club in Midlothian, Ill. The club professional opened the tournament with a fabulous 68, while suffering from food poisoning, en route to his first major championship.

Why He's Here 

American professional golf's original star narrowly edges out Sarazen due to his superior number of top-10 finishes.

6. Hale Irwin

U.S. Open Resume

Victories: 1974, 1979, 1990

Additional top-10 finishes: 1975, 1978, 1980, 1984

Signature Moment 

The oldest-ever U.S. Open champion's signature moment came during his 1990 triumph at Medinah Country Club. Hale Irwin poured in a 45-footer for birdie on the final hole of the tournament to take the clubhouse lead.

The 45-year-old then excitedly took a victory lap around the 18th green. He eventually thwarted Mike Donald's victory efforts in a 19-hole Monday playoff for his third U.S. Open win.

Why He's Here 

The first of the three-plus U.S. Open winners on the list, Hale Irwin is positioned ahead of Strange, Stewart, Sarazen and Hagen because of more Open wins, but behind other Open winners due to their superior records and notable performances.

5. Willie Anderson

U.S. Open Resume

Victories: 1901, 1903, 1904, 1905

Runner-up finish: 1897

Additional top-10 finishes: six

Signature Moment 

At the historic Myopia Hunt Club in South Hamilton, Mass., Willie Anderson defeated Scotland's Alex Smith in an 18-hole Monday playoff. Trailing late in the playoff, Anderson finished with five straight fours to defeat Smith by a stroke in the first playoff in U.S Open history.

Why He's Here 

Anderson's record is incredible. Certainly, there's no apples-to-apples comparison between early-era golfers and those from the modern age. However, in 14 appearances in the national championship, Anderson never finished worse than 15th. He won four out of five years, twice in playoffs.

4. Bobby Jones

U.S. Open Resume

Victories: 1923, 1926, 1929, 1930

Runner-up finishes: 1922, 1924, 1925, 1928

Additional top-10 finishes: two

Signature Moment 

The greatest amateur of them all won the third leg of his 1930 Grand Slam at the U.S. Open at Interlachen Country Club in Edina, Minn. The signature moment of Bobby Jones' victory was a 40-foot birdie putt on the final hole to secure a two-stroke victory over Macdonald Smith.

Why He's Here 

Jones faced slightly stiffer competition than Willie Anderson. As such, he moves ahead of the Scotsman, even with one fewer U.S. Open win.

3. Tiger Woods

U.S. Open Resume

Victories: 2000, 2002, 2008

Runner-up finishes: 2005, 2007

Additional top-10s: 1999, 2009, 2010

Signature Moment

Tiger Woods' clinical dissection of Pebble Beach in 2000 en route to a 15-stroke victory is his most impressive U.S. Open win. However, his ineffably gutsy win on a mangled leg at the 2008 U.S. Open is the essential Tiger Woods victory. His birdie on the 72nd hole to force a playoff, and the resultant primal celebration, is his signature moment.

Why He's Here 

Tiger is third on the list ahead of Mr. Anderson because (with all due respect) there is no competition between the competition, as it were. The depth of the fields, the pressure of competition and the difficulty of the courses in Woods' era vastly outrival those quantities in the early 1900s. Similar logic bumps him ahead of Jones.

2. Jack Nicklaus

U.S. Open Resume

Victories: 1962, 1967, 1972, 1980

Runner-up finishes: 1960, 1968, 1971, 1982

Additional top-10s: 10

Signature Moment 

As Arnold Palmer, whom Jack Nicklaus defeated in a playoff at the 1962 U.S. Open, said following the tournament, "Now that the big guy is out of the cage, everybody better run for cover."

Nicklaus' signature moment was really this explosion on the golfing scene in his rookie year. He'd finished second and fourth at the tournament the previous two years as an amateur to introduce himself. However, his playoff win over one of the game's best set the stage for the signature achievement of his storied professional career: winning more majors than any other golfer.

Why He's Here

With four U.S. Open victories, the greatest major winner of all time places third on this list. Nicklaus necessarily lands ahead of Woods, et al. for a simple reason: He has more wins in the tournament. Nicklaus places ahead of Jones because of the strength of his competition.

1. Ben Hogan

U.S. Open Resume

Victories: 1948, 1950, 1951, 1953

Runner-up finishes: 1955, 1956

Additional top-10s: nine

Signature Moment 

Ben Hogan's 1-iron approach to the 72nd green in 1950, as captured by photographer Hy Peskin, is one of the most iconic images in golf. The ailing Hogan went on to par the hole, forcing a playoff with Lloyd Mangrum and George Fazio, which he won by four strokes, completing a miraculous tournament.

Why He's Here 

Unfortunately, the records of professional sports don't allow for "what ifs" and counterfactuals.

However, if Hogan hadn't experienced a head-on collision with a Greyhound bus at the pinnacle of his career in 1949 and World War II hadn't wiped out four competitions, the Texan almost certainly would have won additional U.S. Opens. As it stands, "The Hawk" still soars above the rest.