What Is The US Open Playoff Format?

The US Open playoff format was changed in recent years - here's everything you need to know

The 18th hole at Pinehurst No.2
A two-hole aggregate playoff will ensue if two or more players can't be separated after 72 holes at Pinehurst No.2
(Image credit: Getty Images)

The 2024 US Open has been a tight contest throughout, with the championship coming right down to the wire on Sunday evening.

With such a close battle taking place, a playoff could on the cards, so let's take a look at what the format is for extra holes in the US Open, which is slightly different to PGA Tour events and other Major championships - and different to previous US Open playoffs.

The fact the Pinehurst No.2 edition of the Major is producing a close contest is not unusual, and there have been plenty of times where extra holes have been needed to determine the winner over the years.

Playoffs have been required on no fewer than 33 occasions in the 129-year history of the US Open. In the past, there would be an 18-hole playoff to determine the winner, although that wasn't the most practical way to settle the contest, and in 2018, the USGA scrapped the format in favor of the one in place today.

US Open Playoff Rules

In the event of a tie at the end of the regulation 72 holes, a two-hole aggregate playoff will take place on Sunday evening as the remaining players aim for one final push to claim one of the most prestigious titles in the game - America's national championship. If they still can't be separated after two extra holes, it then becomes a sudden-death playoff until someone prevails.

That format is unique among the four Majors. In contrast, The Masters goes straight to sudden death, the PGA Championship features a three-hole playoff, while four extra holes are the norm at The Open.

When Was The Most Recent US Open Playoff?

Tiger Woods with the US Open trophy after his 2008 win at the tournament

Tiger Woods beat Rocco Mediate in the most recent US Open playoff in 2018, although back then it had a totally different format

(Image credit: Getty Images)

The most recent plaoff at the US Open came 16 years ago, when Tiger Woods and Rocco Mediate faced an 18-hole decider on the Monday at the Torrey Pines tournament. 

Even that wasn't enough to separate them, and Woods finally won the trophy after the first sudden-death hole, drawing a close to a five-day contest.

Considering there have been 33 playoffs in the US Open history, another one is overdue. Indeed, the current 16-year wait for extra holes is the longest gap in the history of the tournament.

Before Woods and Mediate's epic tussle in 2008, the most recent playoff had been in 2001, when Retief Goosen beat Mark Brooks.

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Mike Hall
News Writer

Mike has over 25 years of experience in journalism, including writing on a range of sports throughout that time, such as golf, football and cricket. Now a freelance staff writer for Golf Monthly, he is dedicated to covering the game's most newsworthy stories. 

He has written hundreds of articles on the game, from features offering insights into how members of the public can play some of the world's most revered courses, to breaking news stories affecting everything from the PGA Tour and LIV Golf to developmental Tours and the amateur game. 

Mike grew up in East Yorkshire and began his career in journalism in 1997. He then moved to London in 2003 as his career flourished, and nowadays resides in New Brunswick, Canada, where he and his wife raise their young family less than a mile from his local course. 

Kevin Cook’s acclaimed 2007 biography, Tommy’s Honour, about golf’s founding father and son, remains one of his all-time favourite sports books.